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An interesting article from Zakaria
It meanders a bit, but Fareed Zakaria makes a good case for optimism in this Newsweek article. One bit that caught my eye was
To recover its place in the world, America first needs to recover its confidence. For those who look at the future and see challenges, competition and threats, keep in mind that this new world has been forming over the last 20 years, and the United States has forged ahead amid all the turmoil. In 1980, the U.S. share of global GDP was 20 percent. Today it is 29 percent.
It’s a staggering thought. 20% is a huge chunk relative to population, and for that to increase is massive. It’s an interesting tidbit.
We should be more confident; America has never been strong because of political leadership, but the average person here has room to excel. 15 million illegal immigrants can’t be wrong!
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The headstone is in
I got back yesterday from the headstone commemoration ceremony. It was good to see everyone, and the headstone is very nice. The stone from the military (featured below) was a pleasant surprise.Sad reminders of things gone.
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Back from the old country
I’m back, photos to come.
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I blog from the old country
I finally make it up to Kentucky, after a detour into the ugly side of Chattanooga. Surprisingly there was very little Bonaroo traffic.
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Stigmergy and signalling
Stigmergy is defined as a method of communication in emergent systems in which the individual parts of the system communicate with one another by modifying their local environment. My Digital Tool Factory project has been evolving in that direction lately and it occurred to me that the internet is evolving that way too.
In the political blogsphere one can draw conclusions about an author from the use of the phrases “The fall of the Soviet Union” vs. “The fall of Communism”. In the corporate realm the use of feathered graphics is a good indicator of the age of the designer and the focus of the company.
Food for thought.
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A new addition to the Blogroll
Everyone welcome Pacific Empire, from way over in New Zealand.
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Wednesday link roundup
- An interesting post on autism and vaccines
- This post from EconLog
Back in 1980, State correctional facilities had 9 violent criminals for every drug offender. By 2003, that ratio was 2.6:1.
- DOD Braces for a fight with Pelosi
Pentagon officials are bracing for a fight with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over her desire to allow lawmakers’ adult children to tag along on taxpayer-funded travel for free.
Pelosi wants them to be able to fill the role of lawmakers’ spouses when the latter are unable to make a trip because of health issues or work commitments.
The shameful part is that they can say all that with a straight face. “Fill the role of Lawmaker’s spouses”, ridiculous.
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Ever more Ron Paul
A good performance by Dr Paul on the Colbert Report – Colbert did raise some of his less popular positions, which Paul endorsed with some gusto. Curiously no one has mentioned that he was the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988.
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Ron Paul on the Colbert Report tonight
It should be an interesting matchup. We’ll see if they touch on any of the unpopular things Paul adamantly believes in like abortion, the Gold Standard and his thoughts on the United Nations.
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Affirmation
Yesterday I went to the lovely and prestigious offices of Green Media Works and got a lovely jolt of purpose and enthusiasm.
Working at home there’s no good way to tell if you’re a heroic entrepreneur writing your name upon history or some loser typing frantically in a messy office. To go out and mingle like minded people in a tremendous psychic push for the former.