News on Youtube Oct 3 2017

Hey there.

This week I have been lucky enough to stay with friends in Bavaria, a southern region

of Germany.

It's been a super traditional Oktoberfest trip.

It's been fun, but walking around Bavaria has gotten me thinking about the ends of empires,

and how powerful states lose their place on top.

I'm from the United States, and I think a lot about American Empire, or the American

world Order, and how it's going to end.

I'm not a big fan of American empire, but what I want is a peaceful evolution, an evolution

into a system that everybody can buy into.

What I don't want is a fiery crash into war.

And that's exactly what I think Washington, DC is working towards.

I'm not just talking about Donald Trump.

US policy, from Clinton through Bush and Obama Has been geared towards more war.

They don't know much about history in Washington, DC, and they're missing one of history's

central lessons.

There is nothing worse for the traditional power on top than war.

Bavaria illustrates this very nicely.

For centuries Bavaria was an independent country, and it wasn't the only one.

Germany was a mess of separate states up until 1871.

They had different interests, and they'd frequently go to war against each other.

For two hundred years, France had been the most powerful country in Europe.

It always took massive coalitions of European powers to defeat France.

So what changed all of this?

What made France lose its traditional position on top?

It was War.

Bavaria was tremendously proud of its independence, it still is to some degree today.

But French aggression was the main driver of German unification.

Over centuries, before and after the French revolution, Kings, Republican Dictators and

Emperors thought that invading German states was the right way to prop up their power.

That's what Napoleon III, the French leader in 1870, thought as well.

He attacked Germany one last time.

It was the final catastrophe.

It convinced the Bavarian king to join the German Empire.

France lost to Germany in 1870.

It took the United States to save France from Germany in 1918, and France lost to Germany

completely in 1940.

Germany remains the most powerful country in Europe today, even after losing two world

wars, and it's the French love of war that made this happen more than anything else.

We see this again, and again and again in history.

The Austro-Hungarians, and Ottomans thought that World War One would save their tottering

empires.

Instead, the war destroyed both of them.

The British won World Wars One and Two, but the cost of those wars ended their empire

as well.

The central point I'm making here is that there is nothing more dangerous to the country

on top than war.

Even if you win, you lose valuable resources, and you create resentment.

Nobody in Washington, DC seems to understand this simple principle.

Not Trump, not the generals who are keeping the government functioning, and nobody in

Congress either, Republican or Democrat.

The United States is not France in 1870.

But we may be France in 1800.

It's a horrible thing to contemplate, but we still have the power to utterly destroy

Iran or North Korea.

We're still the first Napoleon rather than the Third.

But we're at the start of a bad process.

Napoleon III's failure was set up by the first Napoleon's successes.

Our constant aggression is already turning the rest of the world against us.

The American world order really does have the potential to survive long after the Chinese

and Indian militaries are larger than ours.

But it won't survive if we keep inventing reasons to start wars.

After having the stage set by 16 years of desperately stupid Middle East policy, Trump

now risks creating a grand coalition of countries against us.

The Trump Administration, and all of Washington, DC desperately needs to learn this simple

lesson.

There is nothing worse for the country on top than War.

Thanks for watching, please subscribe, and and please consider contributing to our crowd-funding

thing on Patreon.

It's Patreon, more than anything else that makes this channel possible.

I'll be uploading a longer version of my Oktoberfest drumming experience just for the

patrons.

Actually I'm not sure whether or not that's an incentive..

Anyway.

Thank you.

For more infomation >> War Is The Problem Washington, DC Does Not Understand - Duration: 5:45.

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The Access Technology Center at the University of Washington - Duration: 6:03.

[Music]

>>Dan: Hi I'm Dan Comden.

I'm manager of the Access Technology Center.

And in this space in the basement of Mary Gates Hall,

we provide consulting services for accessible design

of web pages and online applications.

We also do accommodations for students, faculty and staff

who have disabilities who need some help using computing technology.

One of the biggest parts of our job right now is

working with developers of webpages and online applications

to make sure that those offerings are as accessible as possible.

>>Hadi: My name is Hadi Rangin

and I'm a member of IT Accessibility Team at the University of Washington.

My primary responsibility is to work with on-campus developers

as well as vendors making sure that their products are more accessible and usable

to everyone including those with disabilities.

>>Gaby: My name is Gaby de Jongh and I'm an IT accessibility specialist for ATC

and my primary responsibility is to ensure the accessibility

of all electronic documents at all the three campuses,

so UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, and UW Bothell.

>>Doug: My name is Doug Hayman.

I work at the University of Washington in the Accessible Technology Services group

and my function here in this group is working around captioning efforts,

getting groups on campus to be thoughtful about that sort of access mode

and how they can make their videos more accessible.

[Music]

>> Dan: Here in the Access Technology Center we've got a wide array

of alternate keyboards and mice.

We have accessible furniture so that faculty and staff

who want to try different seating arrangements can test drive chairs.

For folks who have repetitive stress issues we have a wide variety of different

mouse alternates and keyboard alternates.

Here we've got a trackball.

Here we've got something called a roller mouse.

This is a mouse alternate attached to this Mac right here.

We've got adjustable height tables.

[Sound of desk going up]

>>Dan: So speech input is really useful for people who have a difficult time

using their hands, either due to a spinal cord injury,

maybe due to a temporary disability like a broken hand or a broken arm.

It can really make a difference in being able

to stay productive and create text and documents.

>>Dan dictating: This is a demonstration of speech input. Period.

As you can see, comma, I must speak all punctuation.

Dash.

It takes a little getting used to. Period.

Any questions? Question mark.

Select all.

Read that.

>>Computer reads it back: This is a demonstration of speech input.

As you can see, I must speak all punctuation –

it takes a little getting used to.

Any questions?

>> Dan: We have a flatbed scanner that has a nice high edge

that lets you scan bound material and then convert it into

the electronic format of their choice

[scanner starts]

so we can make accessible Word files or accessible PDF files,

whatever the student prefers.

They can then take that file, put it on a thumb drive,

or save it to the cloud and have access to it wherever they need it.

And in our Center here we provide all the Braille services for campus.

That includes academic materials for students as well as any other requested materials

for the public that are visiting for events or faculty or staff.

The process is relatively simple.

We start with an accessible Microsoft Word file.

Now, this Word file may have been created through our scanning process

or it may be content that was developed by faculty.

So we start with this file and

this is what it looks like in Microsoft Word

and we open it in our Braille translation software.

So it looks like standard text.

This software will convert to Braille format with just one keystroke.

So we see the simulated Braille on screen

that we can then send to our embosser over here in the corner.

[Loud clicking of Braille embosser]

>>Gaby: Next time you're at Mary Gates Hall

we would love it if you would come visit us

at the Access Technology Center.

For more infomation >> The Access Technology Center at the University of Washington - Duration: 6:03.

-------------------------------------------

Man dead in police-involved shooting in Canton Township, Washington County - Duration: 0:59.

For more infomation >> Man dead in police-involved shooting in Canton Township, Washington County - Duration: 0:59.

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Washington County, Tennessee schools receive high distinction for excellence in academic growth - Duration: 2:29.

For more infomation >> Washington County, Tennessee schools receive high distinction for excellence in academic growth - Duration: 2:29.

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10/2/17 3:51 PM (801 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA) - Duration: 0:17.

For more infomation >> 10/2/17 3:51 PM (801 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA) - Duration: 0:17.

-------------------------------------------

Adults' prom in Washington raises money for programs benefiting special needs children - Duration: 0:40.

For more infomation >> Adults' prom in Washington raises money for programs benefiting special needs children - Duration: 0:40.

-------------------------------------------

The Access Technology Center at the University of Washington - Duration: 6:03.

[Music]

>>Dan: Hi I'm Dan Comden.

I'm manager of the Access Technology Center.

And in this space in the basement of Mary Gates Hall,

we provide consulting services for accessible design

of web pages and online applications.

We also do accommodations for students, faculty and staff

who have disabilities who need some help using computing technology.

One of the biggest parts of our job right now is

working with developers of webpages and online applications

to make sure that those offerings are as accessible as possible.

>>Hadi: My name is Hadi Rangin

and I'm a member of IT Accessibility Team at the University of Washington.

My primary responsibility is to work with on-campus developers

as well as vendors making sure that their products are more accessible and usable

to everyone including those with disabilities.

>>Gaby: My name is Gaby de Jongh and I'm an IT accessibility specialist for ATC

and my primary responsibility is to ensure the accessibility

of all electronic documents at all the three campuses,

so UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, and UW Bothell.

>>Doug: My name is Doug Hayman.

I work at the University of Washington in the Accessible Technology Services group

and my function here in this group is working around captioning efforts,

getting groups on campus to be thoughtful about that sort of access mode

and how they can make their videos more accessible.

[Music]

>> Dan: Here in the Access Technology Center we've got a wide array

of alternate keyboards and mice.

We have accessible furniture so that faculty and staff

who want to try different seating arrangements can test drive chairs.

For folks who have repetitive stress issues we have a wide variety of different

mouse alternates and keyboard alternates.

Here we've got a trackball.

Here we've got something called a roller mouse.

This is a mouse alternate attached to this Mac right here.

We've got adjustable height tables.

[Sound of desk going up]

>>Dan: So speech input is really useful for people who have a difficult time

using their hands, either due to a spinal cord injury,

maybe due to a temporary disability like a broken hand or a broken arm.

It can really make a difference in being able

to stay productive and create text and documents.

>>Dan dictating: This is a demonstration of speech input. Period.

As you can see, comma, I must speak all punctuation.

Dash.

It takes a little getting used to. Period.

Any questions? Question mark.

Select all.

Read that.

>>Computer reads it back: This is a demonstration of speech input.

As you can see, I must speak all punctuation –

it takes a little getting used to.

Any questions?

>> Dan: We have a flatbed scanner that has a nice high edge

that lets you scan bound material and then convert it into

the electronic format of their choice

[scanner starts]

so we can make accessible Word files or accessible PDF files,

whatever the student prefers.

They can then take that file, put it on a thumb drive,

or save it to the cloud and have access to it wherever they need it.

And in our Center here we provide all the Braille services for campus.

That includes academic materials for students as well as any other requested materials

for the public that are visiting for events or faculty or staff.

The process is relatively simple.

We start with an accessible Microsoft Word file.

Now, this Word file may have been created through our scanning process

or it may be content that was developed by faculty.

So we start with this file and

this is what it looks like in Microsoft Word

and we open it in our Braille translation software.

So it looks like standard text.

This software will convert to Braille format with just one keystroke.

So we see the simulated Braille on screen

that we can then send to our embosser over here in the corner.

[Loud clicking of Braille embosser]

>>Gaby: Next time you're at Mary Gates Hall

we would love it if you would come visit us

at the Access Technology Center.