In every single Presidential election in recent times, much talk has centered around special interests, specifically accusations among the candidates that they have sold out to special interests. Frankly, I think it’s time for us to be adults about this issue and get used to the fact that every single candidate is sold out [...]
Entries from February 2004
Special Interests
February 21st, 2004 · Comments Off
The reality of outsourcing
February 20th, 2004 · Comments Off
The Economist ran an article this week about the current job picture in America, stating in essence that outsourcing of jobs to cheaper labor markets has been part of the global economy for centuries and isn’t going away, and that not many jobs are lost to it anyway. As a fan of free trade, I’m [...]
The SUV Menace
February 20th, 2004 · Comments Off
Malcolm Gladwell: Big and Bad. Gladwell’s article talks about the difference between feeling safe and being safe, and how that has led Americans to swarm to large SUVs. Full disclosure: I drive a Jeep Cherokee (not Grand). On the other hand, that’s an improvement — all of my previous vehicles were Ford F-series pickup trucks. [...]
What’s an echo chamber?
February 20th, 2004 · Comments Off
David Weinberger has a good piece at Salon today talking about the myth of the Internet as an incubator for “echo chambers.”
Common sense on spam
February 20th, 2004 · Comments Off
Eric Allman has some common sense on spam. Right now I bear the costs of filtering spam, but at least it’s working pretty well for me.
Best roleplaying game ever
February 19th, 2004 · Comments Off
My favorite roleplaying game ever, Paranoia, is being revived with a new edition this fall.
Growing authoritarianism
February 19th, 2004 · Comments Off
Billmon has a good post today about the rise of authoritarianism as a political movement in America. Worth thinking about anyway.
First day at the new job
February 19th, 2004 · Comments Off
I had a crazy day today — first day at the new job and no computer access at all. Regular updates will hopefully resume tomorrow, or even later tonight.
Server side aggregators
February 18th, 2004 · Comments Off
The other day I talked about switching to a server side aggregator. I wound up trying Feed on Feeds, and I’ve been satisfied enough that I haven’t used anything else since. A reader suggested BlogLines to me, but I haven’t tried it yet. Unlike Feed On Feeds, which you have to install [...]
Winding up the military service issue
February 18th, 2004 · Comments Off
Newsweek demonstrates its usefulness by running a long piece this week on the military service of both John Kerry and President Bush, and how the Vietnam Wars affected their lives. In it we learn that Bush detested hippies and war protesters, but his feelings about actually going to fight in Vietnam don’t seem that far [...]