On April 18, the vote for H.R. 624 — CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) — was taken in the U.S. House of Representatives. This privacy-eroding bill passed easily. Sadly, all three NM congresspeople chose to vote in the ‘yea’ column: Michelle Lujan Grisham (D, NM 1st), Steve Pearce (R, NM 2nd), and Ben Luján (D, NM 3rd). I expect this sort of idiocy from Pearce but had higher hopes for the other two. Guess not. Let’s hope the Senate gets this one right.
Category Archives: Gripes
Things that get my goat
Is Lew’s Signature Fit For U.S. Money?
President Obama’s second-term nominee for Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, has a famously loopy signature. The question is: is it too illegible for the signature printed on U.S. paper currency? Continue reading
At a Loss
I’ve been somewhat at a loss for topics to write about. We are currently in the middle of general election season — with all the silliness that goes along with that. As a result, it’s not like I’m lacking for fodder in that area from which to base blog posts. And yet I feel like I’m in the middle of the desert. Continue reading
Logitech Webcam Forced Me Back to Windows
I run Linux (specifically, the Ubuntu distribution) on my laptop. For pretty much everything I want to do on my laptop it’s fantastic. Sadly, it comes up short when I want to use my USB webcam. Continue reading
The Healthcare Thing
Now that the Supreme Court has declared that it’s constitutional for Congress to have passed a law requiring people to purchase health insurance or otherwise pay a fine (tax), I figured I might as well share a few thoughts on it. Continue reading
Protect Our Helium
We are running out of helium. That light gas that floats kids balloons and raises the pitch of voices to heights of great hilarity is a limited natural resource on Earth. While it’s difficult to be certain, estimates has the US running out of helium by as soon as 2025 … just thirteen years from now, the worldwide supply a couple decades after that. We need to do something, quickly. Continue reading
Anti-sciencers Should Stop Stealing Science
One of the things that really irks me is unabashed hypocrisy. Take, for example, the recent report that a growing number of conservatives are increasingly distrustful of science. Fine. Distrust science; you can believe what you will. All I ask is that you stand by your convictions and stop using this science that you find so onerous. Continue reading
Congressman Tells NASA Rocket Science Is Simple
Some people in congress don’t seem to understand that rocket science is…well…rocket science. It’s not easy. It can be made to look that way, but it really, really isn’t. Continue reading
Grasping For Sanity in a Nation Gone Mad
I’ve written a number of articles that haven’t been put out for public consumption. You see, when the world goes mad, it can be like a minefield when you try to shine a light on it. You are never completely sure when you might take a wrong step and have everything blow up in your face. And yet, silence isn’t a viable option. Continue reading
Government, Spaceflight, Spinoffs, and People
To the outside observer, it seems like the U.S. Government treats the funding of NASA with the same care and understanding as they do the United States Postal Service. The outside observer would be wrong; it’s not handled nearly as well. And the USPS is going bankrupt…so that sort of gives you an idea of how bad the problem is. Continue reading
It’s Been an Interesting Day For Freedom of Speech
The United States government has a long history of considering, if not passing and creatively interpreting, some really poopy-headed laws. From the Alien and Sedition Acts, to the Dred Scott Decision, to SOPA and PIPA; the Congress and Supreme Court of the United States are sometimes the most dangerous groups of people in the country when it comes to how we communicate ideas. Continue reading
A Few “Occupy” Thoughts
A few people have asked why I haven’t been posting a lot about the Occupy movement. After all, I have a blog and I don’t seem to be afraid to use it. It’s not like I don’t have opinions on the matter. So I figured I’d take a few moments and touch on a few things. Continue reading
Introvert Marketing in an Extrovert Market (WordServe Water Cooler)
Creative types are told that they also have to be able to market. For the 75% (or so) who are extroverts, this is simply an inconvenience. For the rest, who are introverts, perhaps another business model would be better. Continue reading
Why Occupy Wall Street Matters — If It Lasts
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Many questions have been raised concerning the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests and camps that have spread across the country. In a nutshell, these questions seems to boil down to: “So what? A lot of people are camping out and whining…therefore I ask again, so what? Why should I care? Why does the OWS movement matter?” Continue reading
I Now Have a Political Litmus Test
All my adult life, I have avoided applying any political litmus test when choosing candidates for office—especially for Congress or the Presidency. I held that people running in an election should be evaluated by the balance of their stands on issues, not focus in on just one small area. My stance on this has now changed. Continue reading
