Don’t Let the Terrorists Win – White Supremacy Edition
14 Aug, 2017
“Don’t let the terrorists win.” We said that a lot after 9/11, and have for the last 16 years. As air travel became absurdly cumbersome, as civil liberties were eroded, as people were arbitrarily blacklisted or detained without room for appeal – we said the…
R e a d M o r eWhy Trump Won’t be Impeached Any Time Soon
16 Jun, 2017
I see any impeachment of Trump before 2019 as extremely unlikely. Here’s why. First, for context, I believe the GOP as a party would be better off with a swift impeachment and resignation than a protracted scandal. Interestingly, even as partisan debate dominates headlines, analysts…
R e a d M o r eHealthcare Improvements Republicans Could Make
25 Mar, 2017
Here are some things the GOP could productively do on healthcare, that have little or nothing to do with repealing the ACA: 1. Price transparency and consistency. Require all providers (hospitals, doctors, etc..) to clearly publish their prices by service and by diagnosis in advance,…
R e a d M o r eTo Fight Climate Change in the Trump Era, Focus on the States
20 Nov, 2016
Summary: Focus on the states. Advocate for clean energy. (This is a follow-up to my post on pushing for progress at the state level.) Short Version If you read nothing else in this post, follow these three steps: Note: Say “Clean Energy” instead of “Climate Change“…
R e a d M o r eTrump Isn’t Hitler. The US isn’t 1930s Germany
11 Nov, 2016
Trump isn’t Hitler. And, more importantly, the US is a far different place than Germany in the 1930s. We’re a 240-year-old nation, not a 14-year old republic reeling from WWI. Our institutions are more solid and stable. They can’t be swept away in the way…
R e a d M o r eWe Can Push For Progress at the State Level
10 Nov, 2016
Donald Trump won. The GOP has the Senate and the House. They’re likely to retain the Senate in 2018. Trump will get to appoint at least one, and probably multiple Supreme Court justices, with a (presumably) friendly Senate. Yet we live in a republic. And…
R e a d M o r eHow to Think About the Paris Climate Deal
13 Dec, 2015
Over the weekend, the world agreed to a new climate deal. Brad Plumer explains it well. Reactions range from celebration to dismissal of it as a fraud. It’s rare to see James Hansen (a tireless campaigner for addressing climate change) and Bjorn Lomborg (one of the…
R e a d M o r eCitizens Led on Gay Marriage and Pot. We Can on Climate Change Too.
15 Jul, 2015
A decade ago, it was nearly inconceivable that in 2015, gay marriage would be legal across the US and marijuana fully legal in four states plus the District of Columbia. Yet it happened. It happened because citizens who wanted change led, from the bottom up,…
R e a d M o r e2014 Was a Good Year: Better Than You Remember
21 Dec, 2014
Eric Garner. Michael Brown. The Sony hack and surrender to fear. 2014 seems to be ending on a crappy note. My twitter feed is full of people expressing good riddance to the year. 2014 was better than that. I want to take a moment to…
R e a d M o r eThe Best Books Threaten the Powerful – My Video Message on Banned Books Week
19 Sep, 2014
My old friend Derek Wolfgram asked me to record a video message for Banned Books Week, on behalf of the California Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee. So here are some thoughts about the global brain, censorship as brain damage, and why the books that are…
R e a d M o r ePolitical Polarization: Seek First to Understand
12 Jun, 2014
America is now more politically polarized than at any point in the last 20 years. This isn’t just Congress – this is the American people. That polarization shows up in beliefs about politics, about everyday life, and even in where conservatives and liberals live. And…
R e a d M o r eCan We Beat the Surveillance State? My Keynote at CFP 2014
10 Jun, 2014
I was honored to be one of the keynote speakers at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2014 Conference this year. My talk gave an overview of the surveillance state we’re building today, and then used lessons from the past to show how incredibly dangerous that…
R e a d M o r eIs the US an Oligarchy? Not So Fast.
17 Apr, 2014
There’s a new study out which, press outlets are telling me, shows that the United States is now an oligarchy, ruled by the rich and powerful, and perhaps that the US has been sliding in this direction for decades. You can see coverage of it…
R e a d M o r eMy WFS2011 Talk: The Infinite Resource: Growing Prosperity While Reducing Impact on the Earth
9 Jul, 2011
I gave at talk this morning at the World Future Society 2011 Conference in Vancouver. The talk was entitled The Infinite Resource: Growing Prosperity While Reducing Impact on the Earth, and it looks at what the ultimate limits of growth and prosperity on this planet…
R e a d M o r ePersuading Climate Skeptics – Why We Need Republican Experts
18 Mar, 2011
New Scientist has an interesting article on research into what persuades people on scientific issues. The key finding is that there’s a major impact of hearing the evidence from someone who has similar political and social outlooks. Experts who are similar to listeners are inherently…
R e a d M o r eFrom Printing Press to Twitter: What Makes a Technology Pro-Democracy?
7 Feb, 2011
We’ve heard a lot about the role of social media, text messaging, and mobile phones in the uprising in Egypt. A lot has been said to credit them with fueling or at least organizing the protests and with getting word out to the outside…
R e a d M o r eLessons From Egypt : Encouraging Saudi Democracy & Beyond
7 Feb, 2011
I posted recently that the situation in Egypt provides important lessons for US foreign policy. Specifically, the US should have been pressing for democracy in Egypt decades ago, and making US military aid to Egypt contingent on steps towards a free press, free elections, and…
R e a d M o r eEgypt, Twitter, and the Collapse of Top-Heavy Societies
5 Feb, 2011
Watching the news about Egypt and the debate as to whether Twitter, Facebook, etc.. are inherently pro-democracy, I’m struck by a connection to Joseph Tainter’s 1988 classic, The Collapse of Complex Societies. Tainter speculates that societies ultimately face two problems. One, the marginal return on…
R e a d M o r eEgypt: Is Mandatory Conscription Pro-Democracy?
31 Jan, 2011
Watching the situation in Egypt, I’ve been struck repeatedly by how the Army has behaved. Today the Egyptian Army announced that it won’t use force against protesters. Earlier in the protests, we saw reports of Egyptian soldiers shaking hands with protesters and inviting them onto…
R e a d M o r eTurmoil in Egypt Shows Shortsightedness of US Foreign Policy
28 Jan, 2011
Over the last few days, Egyptians have taken to the streets, demanding that Egyptian president and dictator Hosni Mubarak step down. The protests so far haven’t had a religious or anti-American bent. They’re not Islamist. They are a wave of people – mostly young people…
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