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Thinking about

Tim Berners-Lee on the future of the web: ‘The system is failing’

November 15, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

From the Guardian – Wednesday 15 November 2017 The inventor of the world wide web remains an optimist but sees a ‘nasty wind’ blowing amid concerns over advertising, net neutrality and fake news Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s optimism about the future of the web is starting to wane in the face of a “nasty storm” of … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: AdSense, Advertising, Ajit Pai, AT&T, Cambridge Analytica, clickbait, Comcast, Facebook, GOOGLE, misinformation, Net Neutrality, Propaganda, social networks, Twitter, Verizon, Vint Cerf

What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings?

November 8, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the NY Times, a review of a study from by Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama, found that the enormous number of guns owned by Americans was the major correlation in mass killings. In rankings, Yemen is second to the US in both mass killings and gun ownership. Why are we … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Racism, Science, Thinking about

Trump’s War on Knowledge

October 13, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In a great article capturing the current efforts to make stupid “right”, Ariel Dorfman pulls together the stings in “Trump’s War on Knowledge.” From the NY Review of Books NYR Daily column, Oct 12, 2017.

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: ¡Abajo la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte!, Chile, Donald Trump, Falangist, Federico García Lorca, General Francisco Franco, General José Millán Astray, Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Salvador Allende, Trump, Viktor Orbán

How big is the federal workforce?

October 4, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

WAPO, Oct 3, 2017 … How big is the federal workforce? Much bigger than you think. A new study on “The True Size of Government,” by Paul C. Light, professor of public service at New York University, says the government’s “blended” workforce is 7 to 9 million strong — including contractors and grantees.

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about Tagged: Congress, Contractors, Government, Grantees, IRS, military personnel, National Treasury Employees Union, personnel, Postal Service, workforce

the Label Ball – Part 2

September 21, 2017 by sergneri 1 Comment

Part one, Creation of the Label Ball, can be read here . I entered the label ball into the Sonoma County Fair’s Amateur – Adult Home Arts – Other Paper Arts – Altered Art (yes, that is the full category) and won a 2nd place ribbon! This also comes with a $4 check, so, after … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Science, Thinking about Tagged: 2017, 2nd Place, Apple, digestion, Fruit, grower, Label Ball, labels, Organic Food, produce, Recycling, Sonoma County Fair, Vegetable

We can’t have both

September 15, 2017 by sergneri 1 Comment

Louis Brandeis once warned the American people, that as a nation, “We must make a choice. We may have a democracy, or have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Democracy In Chains, p 211.

Posted in: Politics, Thinking about Tagged: Brandeis, Koch

The real question about the Equifax hack

September 10, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

It seems to me that this breach as outlined by F. Manjoo in the NYT today is about trust. The crown jewels have been stolen. Because they all use the same dataset and we’ve always considered them interchangeable, there is no difference, TransUnion and Experian are as culpable as Equifax. So, now that the data … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: 2017, Credit Report, EQUIFAX, EXPERIAN, Hacking, Identy Theft, TRANSUNION

MURDERERS EXECUTED.

September 3, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Sonoma Democrat, 17 December 1857 We take the following account of the execution of three murderers at Sonora, Dec. 12th, from the Sonora Correspondent of the Morning Call: “The all-absorbing topic of conversation at this time is the hanging of Lyons, Poer and McAuley, for the murders perpetrated by them some time back. At ten … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers, Racism, Thinking about Tagged: 1857, EXECUTION, GALLOWS, HANGING, MURDER, MURDERERS, Sonora, STRONG LIQUOR

Dicamba in the Field …

August 29, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Monsanto and BASF, what could go wrong? Washington Post, Aug 29, 2017. “This miracle weed killer was supposed to save farms. Instead, it’s devastating them.”

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about Tagged: Arkansas, BASF, cotton, Monsanto, soybean

Misinforming the Majority

August 25, 2017 by sergneri 1 Comment

An interview by Mark Karlin, Truthout magazine, with writer Nancy MacLean, who’s book ‘Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America’ shines a light on the work of economist James McGill Buchanan who’s work inspired the Koch brothers, among others. If you have the nerve after 6+ months of … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Racism, Thinking about Tagged: ALEC, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Brown v. Board of Education, Concerned Veterans of America, decentralization, deregulation, devolution, F.A. Hayek, federalism, Freedom Caucus, Freedom Partners, Generation Opportunity, George Mason University, James McGill Buchanan, Judicial Watch, Koch, libertarian, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, Nancy MacLean, privatization, rightwing, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Cato Institute, the Club for Growth, the Donors Trust, the Heritage Foundation, the Independent Institute, the Institute for Justice, the Leadership Institute, the Mercatus Center, Truthout, Truthout magazine, Tyler Cowen
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