Here’s a quick reminder for all you voting types out there – vote for Myers 2016, “I suck less than the other guy”.
Category:politics
primary elections should happen at the same time across the country
In Kentucky, this past Tuesday was Primary Day. The day every registered voter, in the appropriate party, could go to the polls and say who we want to run to represent our party in the General Election. While political parties, as such, need to be abolished, and voting is borked, that every state holds its …
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a simple restructuring of elections
In close follow-up with my desire to see political parties abolished, we also need to rethink how voting is done. In the United States, you can only vote for a single candidate for most positions (town councils are an exception). You do not have the opportunity to say anything more than a binary yes|no to a …
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political parties should be abolished
John Adams and George Washington, among many others, both warned of the dangers of political parties. There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be …
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vision for lexington
Over the past 5 years, I have witnessed some of the growth Lexington KY has started to undergo. From a population in the city proper of about 260,000 in 2000 to 295,000 in 2010 to an estimated 315,000 in 2015, While there seems to be something of a plan/vision for the downtown area, the majority of …
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more coolidge
More choice excerpts from {{Coolidge}} by {{Amity Shlaes}} (review): The constant apprehension was, so long as then-existing legislation remained in force, that the unit of existing monetary relations would be changed. Such an apprehension is the surest ground for panic which can be offered. The panic which resulted when this fear became more specific was …
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coolidge by amity shlaes
{{Calvin Coolidge}} is my favorite president. Has been for a long time. So when I saw {{Coolidge}} at my local bookstore recently, I was very excited to grab a copy and read {{Amity Shlaes}} rendition of his life. In just the first 18 pages is enough to inspire anyone to love the man we call …
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kingmakers by karl ernest meyer and shareen blair brysac
{{Karl Ernest Meyer}} and {{Shareen Blair Brysac}} present what should be a fascinating history of the modern Middle East in their recent book {{Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East}}. I have been interested in Middle Eastern history (ancient and modern) for many years, and so was excited to see this book as I …
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why nations fail by daron acemoglu and james a robinson
I first came across {{Why Nations Fail}} at my local Half Price Books. After seeing it on the shelves a couple times, but still being unsure about whether I really wanted to read it or not, I reserved it at my local library. Now I wish I had bought it (and likely will) – {{Daron …
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redecentralizing school
I have a very long–term interest in education. As I look at the current public education “system” in the US, I can see a variety of major problems. The biggest problem, endemic of any system built around the premise that the only people who should be together all day long should all be “similar”. Somewhere …
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more irrational gun maneuvering – president obama living up to [my] expectations
I was harshly criticized a few years ago when I pointed-out Mr Obama’s anti-gun stances. While several good things for gun owners did happen in his first term, irrational exuberance over the recent shooting in Connecticut has led Vice President Biden to say the following: “The president is going go act,” said Biden, who is …
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why the electoral college matters
This year’s election results seem to – again – be confusing a LOT of people. The incumbent presidential candidate, Mr {{Obama}}, won ~51% of the popular vote. His main opponent, Mr {{Romney}}, won ~48% of the popular vote. However, when you look at the electoral votes (the only ones that really matter), you see a different picture: …
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taxation as a solution to the “gay marriage” issue
While I have some pretty strong personal views on the issue of “gay marriage”, I have a possible solution that not only gets it away from being a societal problem, but also gets the government out of being involved in our personal lives a little more. There is a side benefit of being able to …
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on twitter and the police
Dave Winer had an interesting take on the recent Twitter-NYPD flare-up. Personally, the thought of any government organization demanding records without a warrant is abhorrent. However, since the entire point of Twitter is to make your tweets public … then what is there to subpoena? They’re all out there – visible to the world… Unless the user …
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tax day
Tax Day in the US is “late” this year because the 15th of April was a Sunday. I was able to prepare and file my taxes early-ish (January) thanks to a proactive employer who got our W2s out quickly. Every month I look at my pay stub, and am appalled at how much the various …
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fixing copyrights and patents
Following-up a recent post on copyrights, I want to share some further thoughts I have on the topic, and about patents, too. First of all, the concept of a copyright is meant to protect the author from others unduly benefiting from their work. One obvious conclusion to make from that statement is that after the …
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the gold standard
This is going to ramble a bit, and I’m not 100% sure my opinions are even remotely reasonable, but I had a great conversation on the Gold Standard recently, and thought sharing that would be fun. The quoted sections are relevant parts of the conversation from my friend*, and the unquoted segments are my responses. …
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fixing copyrights
ars technica has a great article on some short-term, easy-to-implement fixes to the current copyright fiasco in the United States. I have a bevy of thoughts on this myself, but not quite enough time today to write them down.
nclb – you know, unless you’re in one of these 10 states…
Pick your slant report – Huffington Post or Fox News: it has been reported that President Obama’s administration will be issuing waivers to 10 states with regard to compliancy with No Child Left Behind (which, in my opinion, is one of the biggest debacles in public education ever). If the point is to “leave no child behind”, why …
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nj man suing the port authority
From NBC New York, “NJ Man Sues Over Toll Hikes, Claims Bias“. A New Jersey man has filed a federal lawsuit in New York over the Port Authority’s toll increase. Yoel Weisshaus of New Milford claims the increase is an abuse of power and discriminates against him because he is poor. Cash tolls on the …
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world war z by max brooks
{{Max Brooks}} is likely the world’s foremost authority on zombies – how to survive them, what to do if there is an uprising, etc. In “{{World War Z}} – An Oral History of the Zombie War”, he tackles the issue of reporting on what happened by interviews with those who survived. From first-hand accounts from a …
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gideon’s spies by gordon thomas
{{Gideon’s Spies}} by {{Gordon Thomas}} claims to be “the secret history of the Mossad”. From the myriad reviews on Amazon, I didn’t know whether to be expecting a massive work of historical fiction, or a insightful tour de force. After having nearly finished it, I don’t know if I have an opinion of whether it’s …
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health care “reform”?
The problem with health care in America is NOT that too many people don’t have it. And it’s NOT that it’s too expensive (though it is expensive). The problem with health care in America is that there is no reason for people to pay for what they can get for “free”. And if something goes …
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from `fortune`
The five rules of Socialism: (1) Don’t think. (2) If you do think, don’t speak. (3) If you think and speak, don’t write. (4) If you think, speak and write, don’t sign. (5) If you think, speak, write and sign, don’t be surprised. — being told in Poland, 1987
anniversaries – or conspiracy?
20 years ago the Berlin Wall fell, signaling the demise of the Soviet Union, and the Cold War. 40 years ago Sesame Street premied on PBS, signaling the use of television as an aide to education and learning. I think the Berlin Wall fell because Sesame Street turned twenty.