Month: August 2002

As we experience a massive downturn in the technology sector, I am continually surprised by the inability of technologists to equate their economic health and well being to what congress and the President are doing to limit, truncate, and abort technological progress in this country.  Sure, all the other issues are interesting, but if you are unemployed or about to be because the technology industry is in a DEPRESSION, don’t let the politicians distract you with the usually panoply of hot button issues that change little, but always offer an infamed debate.
Vote your pocket book. [John Robb’s Radio Weblog]

It’s not just Congress and the President that’s the problem, it’s the entire government. That includes the judicial branch and the massive unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy.

How strange, the number of comments that was shown in the comment links has suddenly disappeared.

People who think Washington is passing big laws that screw up the Internet should read Ernie the Attorney’s legislative agenda for DC. It’s funny but when you’re finished rolling on the floor, give it some thought. The courts and a little civil disobedience can fix a lot of bad laws.  [Scripting News]

Unfortunately, although the courts (and especially jury nullification) and civil disobedience could fix bad laws, in practice they don’t. Most Americans don’t know that they can vote against bad laws when serving on a jury, and civil disobedience doesn’t work if the government is perfectly willing to lock up the entire country. Just look at the War on Some Drugs.

Ford learns about environmental politics the hard way. [OpinionJournal]

bq. Ford is a storied company with great human resources, and we wish it well. But we also hope Mr. Ford has learned from his mistake of ceding the moral and political high ground to environmentalists. These critics won’t be happy until the internal combustion engine is banished. Businesses needn’t apologize for making products that other Americans want to buy. Their first obligation is to their shareholders and employees and that means above all making an honest profit.

NY Times: “These days, Internet users complain of a proliferation of Web sites that offer a peek up Anna Kournikova’s skirt or that hawk pills to increase the size of their sex organs. The Internet was supposed to make people’s brains bigger.”  [Scripting News]

This Internet user could care less about such web sites. After all, I don’t have to look at them. What does bother me is the proliferation of spam advertising said web sites.

A fantastic weblog covering the World Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thanks to Shelley Powers for the link. [Scripting News]

Know your enemy.

How to handicap elections this fall. [John Robb’s Radio Weblog]

I found this quote on the site:

bq. The Political Oddsmaker has set odds and picked winners in over 1,600 elections across the nation since 1995. It correctly picked winners in 98% of the races.

Gee, I can do that too! For any race, my pick is “the incumbent.” Watch, and you’ll see I’m right 98% of the time.

Megnut: “For those of us that are self-employed, and for those that are unemployed, health insurance continues to be a big expense, and an even bigger pain in the neck.” Amen. [Scripting News]

It’s a big expense for those of us working for large companies too. Just because it doesn’t show up as a big deduction on my paycheck doesn’t mean I’m not paying for it. If I had a choice I would gladly give up my company-provided health insurance in exchange for the $10,000/year (or whatever) that Symantec spends on it.