Category: Politics and Government

April 11, 2023

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See a Pattern Here? Will the Country?

 

The news has been full of some of the worst political extremism imaginable of late, by those in power, mostly at the state level. A few examples:

   – The Texas judge who decided he knows medical safety better than the FDA in ruling against a drug on “safety” grounds, even though it has a solid record of many years. I don’t think anyone buys the subterfuge – this is a veil to impose a view on abortion on everyone. Fortunately, a judge in Washington state did a counter ruling.

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Martin Luther and Information Technology

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The Man Left Us a Good Idea

Think Much about Information Technology?

Sure, of course you do. We all do, pretty much daily. Let us take a quick look at what has us fired up/afraid/hopeful in the world of information technology. It is an odd list of things that have long driven us nuts and some new stuff we are still trying to figure out.

We have long worried about security, ranging from loss of personal information to loosing control of our hardware. Social media is a two-headed entity, opening the world to us but also deluging us with lies and conflict.

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March 28, 2023

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An Assortment of News and Views of the Day

The Passing of a Founding Father

Gordon Moore, as in Moore’s Law, has died at the age of 94. Moore posited the theory, way back in the 1960’s that computer circuits would double the number of transistors in such a unit every 18 months. Many thought that was absurd and would run out of possibilities shortly.

Moore was, of course, more than right. When he wrote his idea, the best circuit around had 50 transistors. Today they have billions. And we are not done yet.

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There is No Shortage of Talent and Promise

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A Brief Look at Democratic Up and Comers

Good News?

I mentioned last week that we would take a look this week at some promising politicians among Democrats, looking towards 2024 and beyond. This is by no means an exhaustive list – this is simply a few that I have noticed that auger well for the country should they continue to rise in the ranks.

Legislators

Let’s start at the top. It is too soon in his tenure too say for sure, But Hakim Jeffries is giving every indication of being an exceptionally solid and capable leader in the House.

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The Ides of March are Upon Us

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A Few Things to Contemplate in This Time of Warning

Beware the Ides

Most of us, even those who were not literature majors nor regular readers of Shakespeare, remember the phrase “Beware the Ides of March.” Well, that time on the calendar is almost here. Let’s look at a couple of things that are indeed worthy of our wariness.

The Havana Syndrome

A report is in from an interagency intelligence task force on the mysteries set of symptoms that have beset American diplomats and others overseas with a baffling and debilitating set of medical problems.

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Watch for Big Stuff Coming Soon

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Be on the Lookout for Major Outcomes

What’s Up?

As always, a lot is on the horizon, much of it important. What follows is not the definitive list by any means, but the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I think about the following issues and potential outcomes. I would be major outcomes on the following items in the next 4-6 months, for better or worse.

International

Ukraine: The war is, unfortunately, not likely to end in this short time frame, but my sensing is that the expected Russian Spring offensive is not going to amount to much.

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January 21,2023

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Presidents, Trains, Insurrection,  and Talking to the Animals

President Carter

As this is being written, it has been announced that President Jimmy Carter is going home for hospice care. It appears we will lose him in the near term. Always sad to note a death, even for a long life of contributing and living values, but at 98 all indications are that he has decided it is time leave this realm.

Carter is a most interesting person. I voted for him, and glad that I did, but his administration had a good dose of errors,

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February 7, 2023

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Politics, Drones, and Sports – Competition Abounds

The New Democratic Primary Calendar and the Old Republican One

The Democrats made the expected change and rearranged their primary calendar in a big way. Some thoughts about all that:

  • It is way past time to make such a change. Setting the pace with Iowa and New Hampshire has made no sense for a very long time. I personally like the Iowa caucus model, and New Hampshire’s tradition of just about everyone personally meeting the candidates has appeal. But neither state is representative of the country at large,

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Thoughts on 3 Countries, 1 Forest – and a Jar

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January 31, 2013 – The New Year is Already a Month Old and Full of News

New Zealand

Like many people around the world, I was disappointed and saddened to learn of the resignation of NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She had justifiably caught the world’s attention as a bright, bold leader, a young female just starting a family and while she was at it, dealt with a deadly plague and terrible gun violence effectively.

Her departure could be a complicated set of rationales – hard to tell what was most important. She no doubt felt that as a female leader and a young leader,

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Six Views for Your Consideration

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Security, Books, Pizza, and More

Securing Classified Documents

We have heard in recent days, and will hear a lot more, about classified papers on the loose at the presidential level. There are elements yet to be resolved on the Biden end; we know the story on Trump. Still, we know enough overall to call out the following essential elements.

  • Both cases involve mishandling of classified data. That is serious and has to be treated as such. As noted below, there are important differences in these two cases, but appointing a Special Prosecutor for both has its merits.

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