Artificial Ignorance (AI)

 So much hype and hypothetical bullshit being spread as fertilizer to reap cash from the latest digital wunderkind, AI.  And handwringing as just another avenue of hype.  What am I more worried about? 

Consider two simple digital tools: 1) the clock and 2) the calendar.  Mere tools, and yet they rule, indisputably.  Consider how many billions of dollars have been wasted; megatons of CO2 poured into the atmosphere to accomodate adherence to the clock and calendar. There is a simple observation that can only be made near a major metropolitan area, but most can imagine... In the US or Australia, compare the traffic on an eight-lane freeway, say, 8:30 in the morning on a Tuesday, versus 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning.  Those eight lanes aren't enough on Tuesday morning.  And yet they sit, millions of tons of concrete and steel, nearly empty on a Sunday morning.  

A shift of only one hour, which in many places happens twice a year related to daylight savings time, will correspondingly shift the peak load on weekdays, but barely nudge the Sunday morning effect.  This amazing Sunday affect - social tradition; specifically tied to every seventh day on the calendar.  The lesser weekday shifts related to other social traditions; a business will open at 8 a.m., 8:30, or 9.  All employees with the exception of the boss are expected to be in their assigned locations.  Depending on the business, the boss may have worked late and been allowed compensation, or may simply have greater status, and be allowed the freedom.  

There is a notion that the COVID pandemic of 2019 might have changed this set-in-stone dynamic.  Businesses that could, allowed working from home.  Now that it's over, managers are pushing a return to pre-2019 customs, in spite of productivity evidence, because... they like to manage?  Much of the traffic has returned, and a lot of people want to "get back to normal" - even when that includes everyone getting on the freeway at a certain time; even when it has been been demonstrated to be unnecessary.  Will machines take over the human race?  Ahem.  Whom does the clock serve more; you or your boss?

Artificial ignorance - Chapter 2.

(US) States that want history to be properly sanitized, genders to stay in their lanes, and certain public discussions to remain taboo (yet ironically clamor about their free speech being taken away).  And so-called leaders who fail to see the parallel with the enforced cultures of Afghanistan, Iran, and China.

Sam Altman - Board Communications

 You read it here first:  Sam Altman accused of using ChatGPT to author his communications with the board of directors.  Yes, the whole drama was just a "hallucination".  Nothing to see here.

Baby fetish land

One of the pervasive cultural elements of Indiana that I find irritating, and I think has links to the anti-abortion issue, is the baby fetish culture.  The public sharing of ultrasounds and gender reveal parties were obvious extensions.  To be honest, on my recent visit this wasn't in my face as much as the past, since my siblings have aged out of that phase.  However, I inherited a digital photo frame from my mother, and the number of baby photos in rotation made me want to throw the thing out the window.  If my mother were considered the first generation, we're midway through the flowering of the third; generations run shorter in baby fetish land.  To be honest, around the age of forty-five I was ready to invest in a mini-me project but timing and collaborators were not in sync.

Of course everyone thinks their baby is a miracle, and children should be embraced with a positive attitude.  That part is perfectly fine, and important for creating healthy adults.  Maybe the second clause of the previous sentence is where I veer into the sacrilegious?  Healthy adults?  While Margaret Atwood explored well the aspect of women as recipients and incubators, she didn't much illuminate the specter of a culture where the only and greatest role to which any adult should aspire is be "fruitful and multiply"; to spend all free hours either working to support or directly nurturing children.  In baby fetish land, there is no adult world, other than in service of offspring. It's a great place to raise kids - if you want them to grow up thinking the only purpose in life is procreating (or worshiping a god who admonishes you to either do so or remain celibate). 

I'm not *deleting* photos, however, the frame gives the option of hiding photos, and my first task has been hiding all the relatively unidentifiable, generic newborns.  I'm sure the parents could identify these peanuts, or potatoes, depending on birth weight.  I'm sure in the moment, my mother was happy for whomever; "Oh look! It's here! It's got five fingers, two eyes, a nose, and mouth - thank heavens."  As far as whose eyes, hair, nose, etc - maybe give it a year or so?  "Barbara had...10 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; ... and several nieces and nephews"  We debated whether a few limbs on the tree, which were actually from neighboring trees, should be counted in this; and this doesn't include great nieces and nephews - enough to populate a small town. 

Believe me, I understand how much having children changes your life.  There are some aspects I'll never know, but my regrets are not massive.  My concerns are more about the warping of culture; where adults become slaves and childhood is the ideal; where expensive weddings are the fairy tale ending, and the mentality doesn't seem to grow much after high school.  My parents quickly pushed us into the realm of child labor; it was bible camp and flipping burgers - not space camp.  Because baby fetish land is all about keeping the working class hard at work.

Vaccine miscalcuations

 The vaccine situation in Australia is a mild clusterfuck.  But at least the spread of the delta variant has lit a fire under the seats of both the government and population.  As I write this, I am half-vaccinated, and scheduled for my second dose of AstraZenica.  However, projections are that Australia will not reach 70% vaccination rate until the end of the year or slightly later.

The initial problem was two-pronged - a strategy that made perfect sense, but didn't pan out.  The government decided to put all or most of its eggs in one basket - contracts for AstraZenica.  That is the vaccine that can be stored at refrigerated temperatures; it's a traditional vaccine; not the RNA technology. Arrangements were made for both importation and locally licensed production.  The easier storage and transportation of AstraZenica, combined with easily ramped-up local production made it a logical choice.  And then news came out of the rare possibility of a clotting disorder.  

The USA paused to make sure all doctors were aware of how to treat the condition, should it arise, and issued the data on who was most at risk.  Australia, which at that moment had virtually zero COVID cases, outside of quarantined incoming travelers, decided to declare AstraZenica only be used for people over 60 years old.  For people under 60, since there was little risk of catching COVID, and less risk of it being fatal, the Pfizer vaccine was recommended - as soon as supplies arrived.  And there was a contract for Pfizer from a supplier in Italy.  Which all seemed fine until the delta variant hit Italy and the EU decided it couldn't spare the supply.  

At that point, things were getting back to normal in Sydney.  There was a flare-up in Melbourne, but lockdown knocked it back.  And so there was no urgency among the population to get vaccinated, since there were virtually no cases on the loose.  At that point I was happy to be in Australia instead of the US.  We went to a theater to see Hamilton (wearing masks).  Then... delta variant.  One limousine driver - who happened to do a fair amount of shopping while contagious, and even brief contacts were coming up positive.  And two guys from a moving company, who drove a truck from Sydney to Melbourne, then Adelaide - not only carrying the virus to those cities and small towns along the route, but as news of their fine of a thousand dollars each hit the news, within a day or two, news also that their mother had just died from the delta variant.  Shortly after, I received a text from my physician's office saying their switchboard had gone from 80 calls a day to about 800; seems everyone was looking for vaccine.  The physician's office gave an email address for regular patients who couldn't get through their phone line.

The Prime Minister, feeling heat for having gone entirely with AstraZenica at the outset, announced, apparently without broader consultation with medical groups, that those under 60 should consider getting the AstraZenica vaccine - the risks from COVID were now higher than any risk from AstraZenica.  This caused backlash from one state premier, and another, who had requested Pfizer as a priority for areas with critical threat, complained about the lack of supply - the federal government's responsibility.  

As a direct result of this back-and-forth about the risks of AstraZenica, some of the public, even those over 60 with little risk, began to see Pfizer as the preferred alternative.  Except there wasn't enough supply.  An acquaintance who will remain unnamed said they registered a false birth date for their mother, in hopes that she could get Pfizer along with the family members under 60.  Considering you are required to present your Medicare card (everyone here has Medicare) - I doubt the fake birthday will go unnoticed; the question is whether it will cause a disturbance at the vaccination site.  It seems if they were smart, they'd have both vaccines on hand for just such situations.  

And so, as the delta variant is still spreading in the community: 105 people hospitalized; an additional 32 in ICU in Sydney; we have a fair number of younger people who are saying they'll take whatever vaccine they can get as soon as possible.   But we also have a significant chunk of all ages who want Pfizer, and are holding off, not getting AstraZenica in hopes of getting Pfizer before they catch COVID.  The Prime Minister has said he will not rush any shipments of Pfizer to critically affected areas; everyone will have to wait (some of this almost seems a retaliation for criticisms by state premiers).  As I mentioned; I already have my first shot, and an appointment in a couple of weeks for my second at my regular physician's office.  They moved the date forward by a few days because they're re-shuffling to have fewer people in the waiting area, due to increased virulence of the delta strain.  My wife was vaccinated with Pfizer as a priority, since she works in healthcare.  I could have gotten Pfizer as her spouse, but at that point, already had an appointment with my physician, and carried through that route.

Test workaround Facebook ban

Go crazy, thrill-seekers.

Jetski group criticised for 300km trip through croc-infested Far North Queensland waters

Misinformation now rules!

 Facebook's new policy in Australia is that links to known Australian and even established international news media outlets (via URL identification) will now be blocked.  Apparently, links to half-baked, non-professional "news" sites will not be blocked.  This means that established journalism is no longer allowed in Australian Facebook, but crackpots and amateurs will NOW RULE !!!

Make-up and face masks...

 From where I sit, while I have seen people of all genders ignore suggestions to wear masks, but the videos I've seen of people getting a bit crazy about the issue have been women.  Of course, this is not a scientific sample, but I did actually run into friend of a friend, woman who said "I just can't do masks".  I'm wondering how much of this is about make-up?  I have known women who would rather die than appear in public without make-up, and a face mask confounds the problem.  And so, literally, they may die or subject those around them to potential death because of this make-up issue.  When I Google, first page I see all sorts of tips on how to apply make-up that complements the face mask.  Aie.  Unfortunate that something like that has become an issue to the point of people losing it in public.  Thoughts??

Exercise overrated - fitness underrated

My theory on exercise is that it's overrated.  Look at Stephen Hawking - he didn't get much exercise for the last fifty years of his life and he lived to 76, which isn't bad.  Look at people lying in nursing homes who don't leave their beds for years.  The difference - those people don't eat whatever they want.  They are fed by a tube, get weighed, and their institutional diets adjusted accordingly.  So diet is probably more important than exercise in preventing sludge buildup.

But if you want to do something besides lie in bed all day, or if you want to walk instead of having someone push you in a wheelchair; if you want to climb a mountain or paddle a canoe, fitness is important.  And if you want to avoid injury, you work your way up to it gradually. 

Return of the ammo-sexuals

A friend who's a hospitalist; physician in Oregon lamented the revived protests by the ammo-sexuals.  Ah yes - I remember the word from back when one group decided to seize federal land and other groups across the country became adamant about their right to carry firearms into grocery stores. 

The ammo-sexual is the hero of countless movies where justice is eventually meted out by a gun.  Or a sword.  The courts are too slow and corrupt for an action movie.  When America Was Great™ the hero was always a male; even the lone woman with enough grit to live alone in the countryside eventually realized the advantages of having that alpha male around.  She could resist every man's clumsy advances until the true alpha male came into town.

How the city-slicker from New York City became the hero of ammo-sexuals, and hero of the Religious Right, and now it seems maybe even anti-vaxxers (at least the ones on the libertarian end of the movement), was a coalition shuffling that surprised even The Great Orange One. 

And now, as The Great Orange One's stature seemed to be on the verge of humbling by an invisible virus that defied his hunches and a Deep State of scientists and physicians, newly joined by Bill Gates standing in for George Soros, the ammo-sexuals are back in the streets to rescue their hero.

They are the white alpha males, whose asses had generally been kicked around until The Great Orange One rose to power.  And now The Deep State was telling them whether they could leave their homes, go to work, or even cough in public without their neighbors casting an eye of aspersion.  The Great Orange One initially denied the common enemy, then relented to the so-called experts.  The ammo-sexuals felt The Great Orange One's pain as he struggled to intuitively crunch the numbers and balance between lives lost and points of the Dow Jones.  He vacillated enough times to give the day traders a few rallies and short-calls.  But no one tells The Great Orange One OR the ammo-sexuals what to do. They don't want government handouts to stay at home - they want jobs and to walk freely in public.  They're tired of standing aside for The Deep State of scientists, and doctors, and even an invisible virus - no, they are not afraid.  They are the alpha males.  They are the ammo-sexuals.

As the United States becomes number one*

*in the number of deaths.

While the election of Donald Trump seemed like a step backwards for the United States, his actual leadership (or lack thereof) is what diminished the US as a consistent anchor in global politics.  Similar to the domestic front, the attention and global markets shifted from "what is the United States going to do" to "what kind of mood is Donald in today?"  "Who will be the next person in his administration to get fired?"

Still, because of US economic and military might, other leaders were required to humor him, and stay on top of the tweets, even as they sorted out how they were going to manage in a world that no longer had the US as a consistent global voice.  And of course, every country has its own set of priorities.  The pandemic has only heightened that trend, with the only upside being that Trump has virtually zero (actually, less than zero) standing in this global situation.  While the US consulate has made some posts about US assistance to other countries, the headlines have been dominated by every country scrambling to save their own people (and Republicans in the US pushing policies to increase deaths in some countries they consider enemies).  At least in Australia, the only major collaborative news was about China sending a team to Italy.   And so, it seems this pandemic, at least as far as the Trump administration is concerned, has cemented the US position as a non-leader.  Even Trump himself has tried to push his "states rights" agenda towards saying that the management of the pandemic is up to governors; not a federal issue.  While another administration might have thought globally in response to a global issue, as I say, Trump's response has been less than zero; overall increasing the likelihood of deaths. 

Does this mean the end of an empire?  The United States is still a large population with a large economy and that doesn't end overnight.  Regardless of whether the US has good leadership or not, its economy will still carry weight, even if its military becomes dysfunctional and demoralized.  But lack of leadership will definitely be a factor in recovery.  Economists and Congress seem to have grabbed the reins, but in the absence of any sense of shared destiny, the US recovery may take the same path as its initial response to the danger - too much partisan squabbling and not enough coherent action.  Inside the United States, the last catastrophe was known as the sub-prime mortgage crisis.  Outside the US, it's referred to as the GFC - Global Financial Crisis.  Even if the US is not a leader, it drags the rest of the world along whatever trajectory.  In that regard, seeing the decline of the US as a global leader is like the death of a drug cartel leader.  While it's an opportunity for someone, it means a lot of unrest and violence as they claw their way into the void. 

Bullets and toilet paper

Hygiene.  Some people think they need to hoard toilet paper.  Some people think foreigners are dirty and the problem would be solved if we just keep them out and get rid of them.  Those people are buying up ammo.  Trump's political career has relied, and continues to rely on the dystopian notion that it's always the foreigners that are the problem, so he insists on calling it the China virus to continue on the political theme of his campaign to remain in power.  Unfortunately for the spread of the pandemic, this distracts from the real hygiene that's required. 

Two Boys from Indiana

There are now two boys from Indiana on the national stage: Pete Buttigieg, and Mike Pence.  One of them believes that no one is really gay, it's just a lifestyle decision.  The other believes it's not just a decision, and is open about it.  Both of them claim to serve the Lord, because, well, that's a popular stance in Indiana, but one of them seems to be a bit in the closet when it comes to who his real boss is.

Storm run-off

What I find interesting about this article is Washington DC's approach, but also, that someone recently suggested a similar concept not for raw sewage leakage, but for Sydney Australia's water shortage.  The person suggested that Sydney's run-off should be captured by a system such as this and that would help reduce the water shortage problem.  I might add, the City Council in which I reside has program incentives for building permits to reduce hard spaces and create spaces where storm water will be more slowly released.  To my knowledge, Australians don't use wells for water as much as the US does - it seems in many locations the water is unsuitable for drinking.  The storm water reduction effort is largely to keep water at the beaches cleaner.

E.P.A. Is Letting Cities Dump More Raw Sewage Into Rivers for Years to Come

Difficult goodbyes

This post is about leaving Facebook, which I intend to do in the near future.  My two strongest beliefs in this moment are 1. that the current President of the United States is not fit for that office and 2. the management of Facebook is not fit for the level of access to personal data that they have.  I don't believe that either of those entities will ever be capable of the level of responsibility they should have.  They may have earned their position, and taking it away from them may be difficult, but it's past time, and damage has been done.

Six ways to Sunday

The man who works in government complains about the government in his life. There's a simple way to get the government out of your life Barnaby - get your life out of the government! And as for your cattle, two wives, and ten children... If I were a praying man I'd say "Dear God, could you send Barnaby a more explicit sign? Because he has interpreted every message you've sent as being for someone else." Barnaby's Rant

Mail order, trust

In the US, I made numerous purchases through the internet; delivered to home.  The biggest headache, which has been much parodied on YouTube, is that you're never home for a package that requires a signature.  They've made attempts to remedy that problem by adding drop-boxes or convenient pick-up locations.  There are extra layers of trust required over just buying something at brick-and-mortar. 

Now in Australia, I've made a few purchases; not as many.  And already, I've run into the nightmare - the missing package.  For a couple of weeks, the internet tracking said it was enroute.  Considering I made two purchases from the same retailer on the same day, both were in stock and one was delivered, the several week delay started seeming suspicious.  So I called the Australian Postal Service. At 4:30 pm, and after 17 minutes I started getting concerned that I was going to be on hold until after 5 pm and everyone had gone home.  Fortunately, it was holiday overload keeping them busy, aaaaand...  most peculiarly... although the web site was showing that the package was still enroute, a courier somewhere in the system (but not visible through the web interface), had recorded that they dropped off the package and got a signature.  So why wasn't that recorded in the web interface?  And so now they are investigating.  Australian Post has a pretty good reputation, but when the courier dropped off the other package, they were running away as I opened the door, and when I said something about signature required, they waved me off.  Did the other package go to the wrong address?  If it's lost forever will I be able to purchase another item at the sale price?  I am supposed to get more information within five business days.

Plutocracy - Anand Giridharadas and Preet Bharara

Some may know that I spent three years working in an office that gave away $5 million per year to nonprofits.  Though the duration of that time was short, it had a disproportionate influence on my philosophy.  That $5 million given away was the dividend from a $100 million investment.  Today's ultra-wealthy are worth more than ten times that much. 

Related to my own experiences, there's a valuable discussion in Preet Bharara's podcast conversation with Anand Giridharadas, related to Giridharadas' latest book Winners Take All.  I'll advise that some of the best commentary is towards the end. At the beginning, most of Bharara's hypothetical scenarios are inadequate, but the challenge of inventing a suitable hypothetical scenario, and the answers to those hypothetical scenarios give you a glimpse of the magnitude of the problem. 

Bharara is not just playing devil's advocate. The American Dream is part of what keeps the US economy going, but it's also created a hollowness to the economy that has led to major and minor collapses.  I agree with Bharara that motivation is an extremely valuable thing.  I disagree with some of Giridharadas' solutions or ideas that eliminating motivation might be good.  My take is that the goal is not to eliminate motivation, but to make the motivation realistic - a stable economy cannot be based on the notion that everyone is going to win the lottery in the near future.  And the point of the book is that the goal is to promote democracy; not plutocracy.*

*democracy itself is showing some of its weaknesses lately, but part of the problem is the influence which has risen as in the book's title Winners Take All.  There is never perfection, but there are goals worth working towards; a better democracy being preferable to plutocracy, monarchy, or dictatorship.

Kiteboarding - update

Yesterday one of my fears was realized... I lost my board out in the bay.  I am still learning - not up on the board yet.  But I saw another guy taking lessons, and they were having him body drag while holding the board.  I decided that would be a good thing to do.  Except...  obstacles...

The beach has a few swimming areas with shark nets (sharks are rare in that area, but they do travel up the river on the other side).  There was also rock jetty just south of the net.  I was out maybe three times the length of the jetty.  As I was playing with the kite and turning around to head back in - ideally towards the place where I first left the beach - I did a kite loop that threw me a bit off, and I dropped the board as I regained control. I surveyed the situation, thinking about how to maneuver back to my board, while also checking out how much distance I had before I would get too close to the net.  I felt like I probably could have gotten the board, but if I started getting too close, I could always head away from shore and leave the board.  But then a guy on a board whizzed by and yelled, "Go back!"   

This made me reassess.  I think he thought I wasn't paying attention to the net that I was drifting towards, or that I wouldn't be able to move away from it if necessary.  So in that moment, I decided to head back to shore - BUT - go around the net and jetty to the next open strip of beach downwind rather than trying to cut back in and risk having my kite drift into the netted area.

So it takes me awhile to get past the net and jetty.  In hindsight, I probably could have used the kite to power downwind a lot faster, but since I was unnerved about dropping my board, decided to go gently.  I actually enjoyed being out in the water, though I didn't want to do any loops with the kite and risk losing control and wearing myself out.  By the time I get back to shore, get my kite landed, and walk back around, the instructor who was standing on shore motioned that the other guy had brought my board to shore.  I hadn't walked past it, so I thought maybe he put it with all the other equipment.  I looked everywhere, then ran into the guy who had brought it in.  He said he dropped it on the shore by the shark net.  I walk back twice.  I ask a few people on the beach.  Nothing.  Later, I run into him again and he says "there were some people looking at it when I put it on the shore; they could have picked it up."  

The board had a sticker on it with my phone number, and since I bought it used, the previous owner's number, though pretty faded.  So I was hoping maybe when I got home to my phone, there might be a message.  Nope.  Now my conundrum...  That board was $650 USED - not cheap!   I'd love to get a split board - would be easier to carry on my motorcycle.  But a split board is twice that price.  Until I get up to speed, I should probably just get a cheap board.  But even a cheap board is a lot of money to lose. Sigh.

Also of note... I don't feel like I need more lessons at this point - I feel like I just need more practice.  When I do something wrong, I feel like I know what I did wrong, and it seems silly to pay someone a lot of money to tell me what I'm doing wrong.  If I don't feel like I'm making progress, sure, then I'll consider more lessons.  But for now, I just need more time on the water.  

Baby culture

I grew up in a place where everything revolves around the family - having children; family activities.  If you don't have children, there's probably something wrong with you.  Having children is right; not having children is wrong... gay? medical problem?  It's not a choice; it's mandatory unless you have a valid excuse; a note from your doctor; people whisper.  So Facebook comes along and everyone's posting ultrasound photos.  Then someone invented the gender announce party.  I guess I wasn't really surprised to see the photo above.  What sorta surprised me was the amount of plastic involved in these pregnancy tests.  OK, maybe it's the equivalent of a toothbrush... nope - I looked it up - there are actually electronics involved in what could be a simple dipstick.  So not just plastic - electronic waste.  Inside is a CR2016 battery, three LEDs, the processor, and of course, the readout screen.  Seriously?!  This test could be performed by a simple dipstick, but in their moment of crisis (or aspiration?), people can't wait for ambiguity.  Except (see above)... three days in a row?  Because... ambiguity.

So while some places are considering banning plastic straws, in the land where having children is mandatory, I wonder how many of these pregnancy tests are going into the electronic waste bin versus landfill?  Why am I not happy for the young couple?  Why are environmentalists such killjoys?!  This device... well, it's slightly worse (more electronic waste) than the music-playing greeting card.  Of course I'm happy for them.  But I'm a bit shocked at the evolution of pregnancy tests from frogs to rabbits to whether it turns blue to... electronic waste?   Are environmentalists really killjoys?  Somehow we need to repackage the message to compete with the marketing of electronic waste - for the future of the children whose existence is being detected.

Global trade - autos; oil

This morning's trivia surrounding the notion of free markets and global trade... I was going to say the beginning of the end for the US auto industry was the oil embargo in the 70's. The acronym OPEC comes to mind, but guess what? It wasn't OPEC :-)

"The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization."  OPEC

How about... OAPEC?
"The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations perceived as supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The initial nations targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States with the embargo also later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen nearly 400%, from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12 globally; US prices were significantly higher."
Wikipedia

And just for the record:  (OAPEC*) "Member countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. (Egypt’s membership was suspended in 1979, but it was readmitted in 1989. Tunisia ceased to be a member in 1987.)"
Britannica

Here's a nice graph, with the results of the oil embargo being the blip in the middle.  Production in the US has risen substantially with the discovery of the Williston Basin, but the US is still not producing as much as it consumes.  And large vehicles are still as popular as ever.

*"Iraq initially declined to join, preferring to work under the umbrella of the Arab League, considering OAPEC too conservative. Equally the three founders considered Iraq too radical to be desirable as a member.  However, by early 1972, the criterion for admission had changed to oil being a significant source of revenue (rather than the principal source) of a prospective member nation; and Algeria, Iraq, Syria and Egypt had been admitted. Consequently, OAPEC became a much more activist organization, contrary to the original intention."    Wikipedia