Category Archives: Politics

Ambivalence

I strongly opposed the Iraq war. I was in favor of the US invasion of Afghanistan. I favored intervention in Kosovo and the first gulf war. I opposed the US interventions in Latin America in the 1980s. I held all … Continue reading

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Intelligence failure?

Spencer Ackerman argues that attempted suicide bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day didn’t necessarily represent an intelligence failure. I think the key part of his post is: The intelligence community is drinking from a fire hose of data, a … Continue reading

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“Polled” on Net Neutrality

I just participated in a phone poll from some outfit (Western Wats) calling with caller ID saying 801-823-2023. Occasionally, I’ll do these things out of curiosity about what they’re asking, but this one really offended me by how blatantly the … Continue reading

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The Irrationality of Flexible Spending Accounts

Ezra Klein has a good post up today on the problems of giving employers, but not individuals, a tax exemption on health insurance. This is clearly central to the problems of healthcare financing in the US, but, given how things … Continue reading

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Lawrence Lessig and Why I’m Going on Strike

Lawrence Lessig spoke at Google this week on his and Joe Trippi’s Change Congress organization. In particular, he made a convincing pitch for the Strike 4 Change initiative, which asks people to make a pledge: “I’m pledging not to donate … Continue reading

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Obama, live

We attended a Barack Obama fundraiser in San Francisco this evening. It was my first time at a full-on, campaign-run political fundraiser. I can’t say I like the overall experience; my preference is usually to just give money quietly online. … Continue reading

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Delegateball

There’s been some fascinating coverage of the Obama campaign’s strategy for winning the Democratic nomination, including Justin Sizemore’s accounting of how the race played out in delegates and, earlier, Ben Smith and Avi Zenilman’s profile of Jeffrey Berman, Obama’s delegate … Continue reading

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The Speech

During my commute yesterday, I listened to Barack Obama’s speech in Philadelphia on race and religion. It was amazing and inspiring, but not in the usual way one expects to use the words. The oratory was rarely soaring and it … Continue reading

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How to Deliver Information

“Tell me what you know, then tell me what you don’t know, and only then can you tell me what you think. Always keep those three separated.” – Colin Powell to Mike McConnell, summer 1990, as reported in Lawrence Wright, … Continue reading

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The Folly of Independents

I am an independent and looking for a president with integrity. Should I vote for John McCain or Barack Obama? Didn’t we all swear to stop picking the candidate who would be most fun to go on a picnic with? … Continue reading

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