Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted – The Deficit Myth: The Biggest Lie In Politics | 1Dime

This video from 1Dime is a very good introduction to the actual workings of money in the economy. Though for my tastes, the video is burdened with way too many gratuitous visual gimmicks and fluffery, it is very well researched and presented. You will get a solid introduction to most —>> read more –>>

Other

2023 – favorite books, articles, videos, and exhibitions

Journal Article – Carter C. Price and Kathryn A. Edwards, “Trends in Income From 1975 to 2018” (RAND Corporation, September 14, 2020), https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WRA516-1.html. This is by far the most important single read of the year. Price and Edwards asked a question, one that they describe as “counterfactual”, what would American —>> read more –>>

Politics

Anonymity revisited – AI

In my June 15, 2020 post, “End Anonymity” I wrote: “Anonymity is a plague in our lives, public and private. The web is filled with anonymous material authored by anonymous creators. Facebook is filled with millions of anonymous fake people who are really, it frequently turns out,  paid actors for —>> read more –>>

Politics

Whose Opinion (Advice) Is This?

(originally posted 1.1.2002) The Problem At a time when we are quite aware of the need for and value of transparency in the reporting of the activities of corporations (thanks most recently to the Enron affair), we could quite usefully extend this transparency metaphor to other parts of day-to-day life. —>> read more –>>

Justice/Jails

Parole and probation increase the burdens of our mass prison system

I’ve reported several times earlier about our international lead in jailing people. 1.9 million in jail Earlier posts: The State of Mass Incarceration – 2022 and The US Wins Again – Incarceration in Global Context (2017) You can see a wonderful graphic of how each US state compares with most —>> read more –>>

No Picture
Human Nature

Survival of the Fittest – a destructive re-writing of evolution

We live in a society whose cultural values and politics are significantly bound to an individual’s needs for self-fulfillment and enrichment. Society is structured to provide the maximum opportunities for the individual to enrich and empower themselves. From the Libertarian Society: “It is the only political party that respects you —>> read more –>>

Other

Stonewalls – something different to consider

  As a lifelong resident of the Northeast of the US, stonewalls are a ubiquitous feature of any walk in the country. They are a constant reminder of our geology and the industriousness of our ancestors. Some people think of spring as a season of flowers and rebirth. Farmers in —>> read more –>>

Politics

Is it time to get serious about Trump? What to do?

For the most part, I avoid ever listening to Trump, reading news about him, or engaging in discussions about him.  After living through his Presidency and watching the catalog of his false or misleading claims reach a total 30,573, I have not felt the need to add to my knowledge —>> read more –>>

Briefly Noted

Why are we spending $1.5 trillion on nuclear weapons?

The December 2023 issue of Scientific American contains three articles and an editorial about our nuclear weapons production, plans to spend tons of money “modernizing it”, and the environmental consequences. BOOM TIMES: The new costs—and long shadow—of living in a nuclear nation. by Abe Streep SIDE THE PIT FACTORY: For —>> read more –>>

Economy

ChatGPT 4 making stuff up, maybe hallucinating

Here at 114 Warren, our nearly twenty-year-old Bosch dishwasher has begun to leak water out of the bottom of the door chronically. So, investigations of the gaskets and repairs on the web have led to numerous posts and videos. The symptoms are somewhat mysterious. The leak only appears about 10 —>> read more –>>