I’ve been on the internet more than half my life. I consider myself a digital native. Today many people are protesting the SOPA and Protect IP Act legislation that threatens the internet. This threat is real, as this legislation breaks some fundamental things about how the internet works. If you are interested in the technical…
Category Archives: Politics
Why politics is important…
Politics can make a difference. And it all starts with ideas. Some ideas are more universal and meaningful than others. My children are the center of my world—and when I think about the issues facing our nation right now, I think about what that means for our girls, and the world that we’re leaving for…
Just How Big Was It?
Some figures… CBS News commissioned the same group to analyze the crowd size at the Stewart-Colbert rally it used to estimate the crowd at Glenn Beck’s August rally. The CBS numbers: Beck drew 87,000 people to his rally, Stewart and Colbert drew 215,000. Excerpt from: Just How Big Was The Stewart-Colbert Rally? | TPMDC Plus…
We have good reasons to be angry
These are scary times, there is no doubt. but I hope in the end people focus on what we can accomplish, not just what we fear. Bill Clinton recently put it well… Clinton exhorted the crowd to “keep on being mad. But concentrate your anger so that it clarifies your judgment instead of clouding it….
Yes on 19… (California)
I’m backing California Proposition 19, even though I’m personally disinterested in marijuana. Paul Buchheit makes the argument beautifully, so I thought I would share. Not only is prohibition an attack on our basic right to control our own bodies and minds (a philosophical point which most people probably don’t care about), but prohibition also provides a…
Mint CEO Patzer: “I personally don’t think Mint … should even be covering this particular topic” – Fortune Tech
I grumbled a bit to myself when I saw the Mint infographic on the “Economic Impact of Immigration”, but didn’t bother to take it any further. I’m happy to read that Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint, saw the problem and has taken steps to correct it. Fortune Tech reprinted his email in their coverage:…
Bringing you the news
Importance of “filters” has been over-stated. As my friend John Pederson puts it: Managing your own filter is critical. The other kind of filter that lets things in vs. preventing things from coming in. [From Dean Shareski on attention.] A filter is a screen that keeps things out. My information problem isn’t solved by keeping…
Stereotypes…
Stereotyping is easy for all of us. Our brains are categorizing machines, shoving every thing we see and do into tidy little boxes within boxes. A stereotype that conjures fear is even more powerful, because nothing gets our attention faster than danger – this also is built-in our wiring. So it’s great to see more…
Stowe Boyd on Free Trade
Indeed: Free trade is a game rigged so that global corporations can arbitrage over all sorts of cost factors, based on a patchwork quilt of labor and environmental laws, and nearly always choosing what makes the most money. Shouldn’t our core principle be doing what causes the least harm? [From /Ground: Protectionism and The Unions:…
Obama on Veterans.
Barack Obama spoke a few weeks ago in West Virginia, and this is an excerpt of the speech where he addresses Veteran issues:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Obama08AudioPodcast/~3/298555412/20080512_CharlestonWVfull-podcast.mp3
Personally, I lost an uncle to suicide largely stemming from his tour in Vietnam. … I feel very strongly that our service men and women are heroes, …
