User Blogs

THE PREAMBLE: In most solidly "blue" states, voting is a pretty simple and straightforward process on a technical level, which is why I generally have little respect for eligible voters who choose to abstain. However the process of deciding who to vote for is becoming increasingly difficult. The candidates on offer seems increasingly intolerable, and the campaign coverage people are most likely to see has long been skewed, inadequate, and increasingly irrelevant. What makes matters worse, our boards of election apparently are ill-equipped and/or unwilling to provide sufficient/basic information about candidates to voters. Though it's not actually their responsibility to provide detailed candidate info (that's what campaigns are for), they should provide basic, vetted information about candidates and relatively detailed nonpartisan information on ballot proposals.

THE POINT: I haven't been following 2017 NYC Election campaign coverage closely and I'm under the impression that turnout will be pathetically low, but nonetheless I did do enough research to be able to cast an absentee ballot containing a few votes for listed candidates and a couple of write-ins. One particularly hard decision to make was which judges candidates to vote for, if any. My Queens election guide did not contain ANY information about the judges on the ballot, and it was not very easy to find a website with information on them. I did eventually find information via the website of the New York State Unified Court System. If you're looking for info on your county's New York Supreme Court and NYC Civil Court candidates, you should be able to find information on the site... IF a bio and statement was submitted for the candidate. For example, James J. Kevins, Jr (running for Supreme Court in the Eleventh Judicial District) does not have any information showing on the site. Perhaps he figures next to nobody would ever read it anyway. And that might be a correct assumption... sadly. 

In case of a divorce, if the couple has a child together while married, both the parents have equal parental right over their child. Each parent has the right to the custody of their child when they separate. It will be decided by the court to which parent child custody should be given. The court strives to reach a decision in the best interest of the child. The number of factors that a court looks into before making a final decision includes

• The age of the child

• The wishes of the child (The child should be of adequate age to inform the court about his/her wishes)

• The relationship of child with each of the parents, siblings and other family members who may significantly impact the child's best interests

• The child’s comfort in his home, school and community

• The mental and physical health of both the parents as well as child

 If you are going through a battle for child custody, you must be aware of the laws and how decisions about your child will be made. The Child custody Lawyers in Boca Raton can help you to know the details of child custody and may help you to make your chances of winning the child custody strong.

Original Publication Date: January 18, 2011

Before I get into the role and importance of engineering, I’d like to make the terms “Engineer” and “Engineering” clear in the reader’s mind. Webster’s Dictionary defines Engineering as “the applications of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, construction, and operation of efficient and economical structures, equipment and systems.” An Engineer is an individual who is educated to use the principles of Engineering to create technology and wealth for society.

The role of engineers in society and their importance is rather simple yet profound. Engineers are the designers for nearly all man-made objects and all others are still only made possible by the existence of engineers and engineering. The reason is simple. Anything that has to be built needs a design, a blueprint. All infrastructure in society, all vehicles on the road, air and sea, all technological and electronic devices, and so on—all these objects needed to be designed before being built. Those designers are engineers.

As you can see, most of the material world outside of Mother Nature herself was possible only because of engineers. Whether it be a mechanical engineer, civil engineer, electrical engineer, or another type of engineer, some kind of engineer was ultimately responsible. Besides the man-made objects that make up our physical world, there is also the interaction between peoples, countries and cultures that give us “society” and our current global culture. The means of interaction being the ability to travel (planes, cars, trains, ships…) and the ability to communicate (telephone, internet…). Again, both are made possible by engineers. So if you love your iPhone / Droid / Smartphone, don’t thank Steve Jobs or whoever else runs the company. Thank all the engineers working for him that actually made the phone.

Given the above, does it seem odd that this profession isn’t as recognizable as say, doctors or lawyers? When one thinks of a highly respected profession, doctors and lawyers are typically the first to mind. I credit this mostly to mass media (think of all the doctor and lawyer shows there are), their high paying wages, and their profession’s ability to make their line of work seem extremely vital. I will elaborate on this in a future post.

The point being, engineers are absolutely vital to the existence of society. Therefore, they should be given the kind of recognition that other so-called “top professions” get. It obviously seems ridiculous to consider this but the kind of treatment celebrities and professional athletes get is far more deserving of engineers, a profession that contributes more to society than all celebrities and athletes. When considering why you admire who you admire, one of the fundamental principles should be to consider how much that person contributes to the progress of humanity. Great leaders and thinkers, artists and poets, generals and soldiers, engineers and architects, these are the kinds of people we should look up to. Those who expanded our understanding, improved our thinking, inspired us to greatness, protected our freedom to live our lives, and allowed us the ability to live at all...those are the kinds of heroes humanity should praise.