Archive for the Politics Category


Illinois to sign augmenters: Stop!

Published May 7th, 2008

The forward-thinking civic officials of Oak Park, Illinois, who gave us the ingenious emotionally intelligent stop signs have been stymied by the jack-booted thugs of the state transportation department. National Public Radio’s Morning Edition has the story.(HT:  Jamie Baker) 

A dramatic leap into the 1980s

Published May 7th, 2008

 A few days ago, Cuba’s reformist (sic) new leader, Raul Castro, announced that the government would let its citizens purchase personal computers.  On the left (no pun intended), Cubans gaze in wonder at the new-fangled technology.

Due(s) Day

Published April 15th, 2008

Like many Americans, I’ve got conflicted feelings about taxes.  On the one hand, I recognize that they are the price we pay for civilized society.    On the other hand, I cringe (or worse) each time I pay them — because I have, er, serious doubts about the efficacy of handing over my hard-earned money to […]

Speech impediments

Published April 11th, 2008

I devoted some of my misspent youth to writing speeches for politicians. Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek fame found that intriguing — so we did an interview on effective speechifying, which is now posted on his incredibly popular and preposterously useful blog.  Added bonus:  You can see Tim breakdance. Â