Stuff about politics and politicians.
Legalize the giving, but not the receiving, of bribes, giving the briber every incentive to report the bribee — including getting his bribe money back. I have to admire the guy who came up with this. The only reason to criminalize the giving of a bribe is moralistic outrage, a system like this would be …
Continue reading ‘“Reducing Bribery by Legalizing the Giving of Bribes”’ »
Apparently today is supposed to be the Beginning of the End: the Rapture. At least according to Harold Camping, the latest of many to take up the job. If you believe, and think that your heart is truly pure, I’d suggest watching this for advice. And if you have pets, better call these guys too. …
Continue reading ‘“Social Media: Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse”’ »
Knowledge really is power — power that the Internet is moving from governments and large corporations to the people. Nothing I haven’t talked about before, though I’m frankly shocked at how fast it’s happening. Let’s hope that the people use it well.
As I’ve gotten older and learned more about what’s going on in the world, I’ve been shocked and dismayed at the problems that I see. To the point that I’ve had serious thoughts about avoiding having kids, much as I want them, because bringing them into this kind of world seems to be a disservice …
Continue reading ‘“The story of history is of more for less”’ »
There’s a growing movement to “do something” about the massive inequality of wealth in the US, but no one seems to know what to do, or even what can be done. The obscenely wealthy essentially control the politicians (if you don’t believe me, just look at the rhetoric of “tax cuts for the wealthy!” that …
Continue reading ‘“Stiglitz: wealth concentration will be America’s downfall”’ »
I’m sure some of you have been following the Wikileaks news recently… how the founder and spokesperson for the organization, Julian Assange, has been arrested in England, over an accusation in Switzerland. There are reports, which I haven’t been able to confirm, that the US is trying to criminalize Wikileaks retroactively and get him extradited, …
Continue reading ‘“Silencing Wikileaks is silencing the press”’ »
I’ve been against wide-spread spy cameras on privacy principles, ever since I heard about plans for them a few years ago. Now it seems that my concerns are unfounded… there’s no incentive to install them in any new cities, and the existing ones will probably scrap them soon, as they discover the same thing.
First, for those of you who know and care about it: after seven years of work, the theory for Project X is successfully finished! (Hurray!) However, I haven’t found a simple — but not too simple — use for it so I could prove that it works. I’m not sure I’ll be able to commercialize …
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know my stance on global warming. Or rather, my former stance: I wasn’t precisely a skeptic, but I wasn’t convinced, because the evidence that was being put forth smelled fishier than a tuna trawler. As it turns out, my doubts were well-founded, but wrong. …
Talk about fighting dirty… 😉 Really though, this is a pretty shrewd move. Scent is a powerful anchor for memories. Anyone with a sense of smell who looks at this is going to be hard-pressed forget the association. Of course, it might backfire. Think “my esteemed opponent, when he’s not playing in garbage…” 🙂 I …
Continue reading ‘“Republican NY governor candidate sends out garbage-scented fliers”’ »