http://www.apsanet.org/content_77049.cfm?navID=988
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON MEETING STATUS
Current Status: MEETING IS CANCELED

UPDATE (August 28, 2012, 5:49pm Eastern): President G. Bingham Powell announces the cancellation of the 2012 APSA Annual Meeting.

A primary function of the association is to provide the highest quality meeting experience possible. In light of revised information we have from local officials about the trajectory of Isaac, we now anticipate the potential for sustained rain, flooding, power outages and severely restricted transportation into the city on Thursday. Under these circumstances, it is not prudent to convene the meeting.

Given the generally incompetent status quo attitude of the APSA, stimulating aggregate demand in New Orleans seems wasteful, given the countinued existence of such predictable natural phenomenon. I mean seriously, blaming Bush for Katrina is only part of the story. At some point folks have to realize that they are living in Hurricane country, and demand some real political change that thinks outside the box.

So I blame the APSA. The stoicism of the south thus seems to be an excuse not to be “progressive” and employ reason and technology. Just about all of it could be done via the internet anyways, so there is technology in this sense. These presentations could also be boiled down into powerpoint form if the proffs did not maintain such a luddite anti-microsoft(the last meeting was in Seattle?)/technology view-point. Of course the APSA mainly deals with “trademark”/”copyright”, and other mushy forms of property, like the Rock Soundbook:), and New Orleans/Big Easy cultural feel.

But it would be interesting if maybe the APSA could decide to do something productive in terms of stopping Hurricanes, because otherwise it really just is the End of History, and as soon as you back down on driving technological innovation the Malthusian clock gets ya’.

While it may be controversial because I currently disagree over the importance of budget deficit, you don’t necessarily have to wait for another recession before you “brain- storm” (pun intended) a massive infrastructure project. (It just synch’s up better with a Keynesian theory, and timming issues are certainly an endless debate at the APSA).

In concrete terms, you guys do realize that Microsoft R+D, and other related (intellectual ventures lab) developed with Microsoft money have a bunch of “patents” (yes I realize that patents are not familiar subject matter for true “political scientists”) on devices (Salter’s sink) which at a cost effective price can cool the surface temperature of the ocean/gulf of mexico, thus reducing and possibly eliminating the need to sit back and crack amphropomorpholized jokes about “Isaac”. The political science problem is that this is really a market and legal failure… there are too many complications over liability and international property intertests in tropical storms (the worry is that this would change rainfall and thus crops for countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, et al.)

But we are pretty sure that for under a Billion dollars we could end all huricanes, and the project need not even be funded so ambitiously. Jindal can be forgiven a poor rebutal speech at the State of the Union if he implemented Salter’s sinks. (they should theorectially also increase the shrimp yield in the gulf…(thus encountering political pressure from those who have invested in non ocean based shrimp farms)?

I mean this was too easy in terms of carry over…APSA in seattle 2011 (where Salter Sink/Microsoft/intellectualventureslab) to APSA in New Orleans in 2012…

Trying to drive across its path is lunacy. Just accept that you’ll be staying home.