government

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?

John Adams Would Not Like the Current Congress

Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a …

James Madison on Wealth in Government

James Madison was perhaps the most influential figure when it came to the writing of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When he states his view/warning on the wealthy’s influence on the government he’s designing, we should probably take heed.

Tennessee legislature boldly sets the science clocks back 150 years | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

I also wonder how the Tennessee lawmakers would feel if, say, teachers used this potential law to teach about Islam, or astrology, …

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.

Women as chattel – (Nobody Knows Anything)

My friend Diane nutshelled the insidious religi-political attack on women by a bunch of misogynistic poopy-heads. I’m frankly ashamed that so many …

Why don’t Americans elect scientists to office? – io9

You know…just about anything other than lawyers, fer cryin’ out loud. Since 1981, lawyers have accounted for 46-to-48 percent of the members …

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.

The Shadow of Jury Duty

This week starts another chunk of my life that must be tithed to jury duty. Ugh. I loathe serving jury duty. Having served on juries in the past, this isn’t just theoretical for me. I know I loathe serving jury duty.

What Is Space Exploration Worth? (The Planetary Society Blog)

“Our space program is one of the things that makes us great, that sets us far apart from other productive countries, that …

The nightmarish SOPA hearings (The Washington Post)

“There ought to be a law, I think, that in order to regulate something you have to have some understanding of it.” …

Let’s Speed-up Spacecraft Development Without Rushing

Following the failure and crash of a Russian Progress M-12M cargo vehicle, there has been a lot of alarmist rhetoric about the future of the ISS as well as American spaceflight capability. Let’s take a step back to look at the situation without a “sky is falling” mentality.

Personal Financing the Federal Budget

With trillions of dollars of spending, revenue, and debt, it can be tough to have more than a theoretical handle on what all this Federal Budget nonsense is all about. Why don’t we scale it down a bit so we can get a better grasp on what the “fine folk” in Washington are doing.

What The Founding Fathers Thought About Corporations

The founders understood the lessons of history, and were keen observers of human nature. As a group, we here in the now …

Paulina Porizkova: On Politics

I get more and more impressed with Paulina’s levelheadedness–and not just on politics. Given a choice between another politician “representing” me in …

The Voting Conundrum

Being that I’m a “does it have to be a box” sort of thinker, I’ve long struggled with how important voting is. Is majority rule actually the best way to do things?

When Life Gives You Lemons, Monetize the Lemonade

In “There is no ‘free’ lemonade: In giving drink away, girls ignore rules of economics — and sum up what’s wrong with U.S.”, writer Terry Savage takes to task three young girls (plus nanny) for setting up a lemonade stand and then giving away–not selling–their wares. I must admit, I’m torn by the two views of the world, the two mindsets, this conflict represents.

Are Cameras the New Guns?

Governments and police need to embrace the public-generated media scrutiny, not persecute and prosecute it. To do otherwise suggests systemic malfeasance. Are Cameras …

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