Trump famously asked why we can’t have more immigrants from Norway and fewer from “shithole countries.” But what makes a country a shithole country? I have often approached this from the other end: What makes a country civilized? I have generally offered two minimal requirements: 1) True universal healthcare 2) Good public transportation (especially high-speed […]
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) ethical concerns have been raised about whether AIs can be conscious. And whether they can suffer. I find this interesting for many reasons. Notably, we already know that the animals we eat can suffer, yet we raise them in horrific factory farming conditions. Why the speculative concern about […]
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If there were cameras in every public space, it might lower the prison population. How? Fear of being caught is an effective deterrent. That concept comes from Italian criminologist Cesare Beccaria’s 1764 publication On Crimes and Punishments: Certainty of punishment is more important than severity of punishment. Researcher Daniel Nagin refined this claim in his […]
Much was written for America’s 250th birthday. But some points bear viewing from a new angle. First, the U.S. was the first country that established a secular government, not tied to any religion or supernatural-adjacent authority. Past monarchs claimed their power derived from a sky god. The Founders were a product of the Enlightenment. They […]
Over six years ago (March 26, 2020), I published an article “Voting Paradoxes?” that showed how a candidate disliked by most voters can win an election. After I wrote that, it happened in Santa Barbara. Randy Rowse became mayor while winning just 38.6% of the vote. Because two opponents split the opposition vote. Nearly two-thirds […]
In the early days of the internet our company had a software engineer who managed our internet connection as a side job. When something went wrong, he often had this answer: “Works for me!” How often do you encounter someone with this attitude that if it works for them that is all that matters? If […]
The Wheat and Chessboard legend tells of a king being so thrilled with the invention of chess, he allows the inventor to name his reward. The inventor makes what seems like a small request: Just give me one grain of wheat on the first chessboard square. Two on the next. And just double the number […]
After the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in March 1979, a strong movement formed against nuclear power. Nuclear power had been pitched after the 1953 Atoms for Peace speech as “energy too cheap to meter.” Suddenly, the price was too high to meter. I then attended a rally where a speaker noted that no one […]
Our country seems very divided now. But who are the sides in this divide? It turns out that the 2024 election would have gone to Harris over Trump in a 58-40% landslide. If just one group were removed from the electorate. Which group? White evangelical and born-again Christians. Of which, 82% voted for Trump. We […]
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You may know the following quote from German pastor Martin Niemöller. More about him below. “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. […]
In the 1980s, Reagan was waging wars around the world that most Americans were blissfully unaware of. One of those was in El Salvador. Yes, the same El Salvador that kept delivering refugees to our doorstep. And that Trump lawlessly uses as a torture prison. Our Central America Response Network raised awareness and direct aid […]
You might be surprised that the short answer is: Yes. How can that be? There are no tanks or soldiers rolling down the streets of our major cities. Oh, wait. Yes there are. But we have elections. And legislators and courts. And private institutions and billionaires with their own power. And private media. When we […]
My editors invited me to offer my predictions and/or hopes for the year ahead. I claim no special talent for making predictions. Nixon and Reagan were fond of psychics, notably the Republican Jeane Dixon. Dixon gained fame by claiming to predict the assassination of President Kennedy. Sort of. She also predicted that Nixon would win […]
Trump has ordered the military to blow up boats in international waters based on a claim that they are part of a drug “war” against the U.S. He has presented no evidence for this claim. A debate began after a September 2 attack when the U.S. military destroyed a boat and then killed the survivors. […]
