(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 –>>

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 –>>

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 –>>

  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 –>>

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 –>>

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 –>>

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 –>>

A recent NYTimes article from 10.23.2023, “New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American Education,” alerted me to a report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges” The report begins with —>> read more –>>

The public upsurge in white supremacist politics in the last year or so has refocused my attention on the ongoing need to get our history right. To continuously struggle to challenge every assumption about how and why life is organized in the fashion that we find today. In July of —>> read more –>>

This week’s fraud trial appearances by the Trump boys, Don, Jr. and Eric, Executive VP and Executive VP of Development and Acquisitions respectively in the Trump Organization, caused me to reflect on the duties of a manager. “As he [Eric] started his testimony, he said he “never had anything to —>> read more –>>

What expectations and constraints should be placed on the development and ongoing deployment of AI systems? If one thinks about how we evaluate the merits of human sources of knowledge, we can see some useful practices that may help us develop expectations and constraints to govern AI and keep it —>> read more –>>

The NY fraud trial of Trump and his children for flagrantly overstating the valuations of properties is set to start Monday 10.2.2023 with Trump and his offspring called as witnesses. The Attorney General released this graphic showing the impact on his net worth compared to expert valuations. Keep in mind —>> read more –>>

I walk up and down Warren St., about a mile up and a mile back frequently. Sometimes, I claim it as exercise, but mostly it is an opportunity to get out and chat with people. Over the last years of the pandemic, there have been a lot of political/cultural stickers —>> read more –>>

Google turns 25 today. It has a surprisingly benign public image. Google describes its mission as: “Our mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Forgotten or ignored is that Google (part of the holding company Alphabet, Inc.) is just a giant advertising machine. —>> read more –>>

With four indictments and 91 charges of crimes committed one cannot help but be buoyed by the notion that Trump might spend his remaining years in jail. His crimes are so many and so manifestly obvious that this seems entirely just, even required. But MAGA America is not just going —>> read more –>>

A video version of the earlier post, “$47 Trillion – the ripoff by the rich and corporations – in two charts – maybe a few more…..” is available on YouTube:

The other day I was poking around in TikTok to see what it is all about. Came across a quote from Karl Marx that struck a chord. “There must be something rotten in the very core of a social system which increases its wealth without diminishing its misery.” Here we —>> read more –>>

I was already 31 years old when the rip-off of America began in 1979. I was busy, and the changes in American life were only occasionally to be noticed.  By the mid-1980s my management life started to feature the early signs of the financialization of the corporation. I knew of —>> read more –>>

My previous post, “$47 Trillion – the ripoff by the rich and corporations – in two charts – maybe a few more…..” raises the question of exactly what 47,000,000,000,000 amounts to. There are so many “0”s! Let’s work with a one-dollar US paper bill. So how many dollar bills do —>> read more –>>

What More Needs To Be Said? 91 Felony Crimes Charged Trump has now been indicted for 91 different felony crimes spanning his four indictments to date. 34 counts for the Stormy Daniels NY state hush-money case, 40 in the Federal classified documents case, 4 in the Federal Jan. 6th case, —>> read more –>>

insurrection ĭn″sə-rĕk′shən noun 1. The act or an instance of open revolt against civil authority or a constituted government. 2. A rising up; uprising. 3. The act of rising against civil authority or governmental restraint; specifically, the armed resistance of a number of persons to the power of the state; —>> read more –>>

Recently I came across the Summer 2023 issue of Jacobin (self-described as “a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture.”). The lead article is “The Iraq Invasion Twenty Years Later“. This reminded me of all the lies and posturing that led up to —>> read more –>>