January 2012
4 posts
“Even by the standards of politicians, Romney seems unusually prone to...”
– Jonathan Chait
Why Romney's Tax Returns Matter →
Derek Thompson writes in The Atlantic:
It’s not that Romney tax return proves he’s done something wrong. It’s that his tax returns prove that the tax code is wrong. Households worth $200 million earning $20 million in investment income a year shouldn’t be paying a lower tax rate than some middle class families, especially at a time when we’re thinking about...
Republicans have moved far right →
From Ryan Lizza’s excellent piece in The New Yorker this morning:
Polarization also has affected the two parties differently. The Republican Party has drifted much farther to the right than the Democratic Party has drifted to the left. Jacob Hacker, a professor at Yale, whose 2006 book, “Off Center,” documented this trend, told me, citing Poole and Rosenthal’s data on congressional voting...
We Should All Be In This Together →
Matt Yglesias on the current inequality, economic unfairness debate:
There’s a sense that a lot of us have that our public policy ought to be aiming to produce large gains for everyone. You often here that for one reason or another the United States “can’t afford” this or that. We “can’t afford” to pay people Social Security benefits. We “can’t afford” to build high-speed trains. We “can’t...
November 2011
5 posts
1 tag
It's Not the Turkey! →
Myth busted, turkey does not make you sleepy.
The truth is, turkey is not to blame for your sleepiness. Chicken and ground beef contain almost the same amount of tryptophan as turkey — about 350 milligrams per 4 ounce serving. While you might have heard someone claim that turkey made them drowsy, you have probably never heard someone say that chicken, ground beef, or any other meat made them...
1 tag
"There is something about watching Fox News…" →
For some reason, I’m not surprised by this study.
Via Daring Fireball
1 tag
Hobby Politics →
James Shelley:
Perhaps politics is hobby-like because it is has been designed to feel like a club. With it’s color schemes and catchy slogans, partisanship fabricates a fraternity mentality that does more to detract from the essence of democratic participation than facilitate it.
The whole thing is worth a read and something I’ve been thinking about as the 2012 election draws closer.
1 tag
Adobe Kills Mobile Flash Player →
Steve was right.
October 2011
3 posts
1 tag
GOP blocks another popular Obama jobs proposal
Via Greg Sargent
Last night, as expected, Senate Republicans successfully filibustered the $35 billion in state aid for hiring teachers and first responders. Every single Senate Republican — joined by two Dems — voted to block this portion of Obama’s jobs plan, even though it’s supported by large majorities of the American people, including independents, and even though the 0.5 percent...
Decades Old Calvin and Hobbes Strip Succinctly... →
Brilliant.
Via Daring Fireball
1 tag
4 Million Sold →
And some people thought it wasn’t going to be successful.
August 2011
1 post
1 tag
Quote of the Day
Kevin Drum:
Watching the world slide slowly back into recession without a fight, even though we know perfectly well how to prevent it, is just depressing beyond words. Our descendants will view the grasping politicians and cowardly bankers responsible for this about as uncomprehendingly as we now view the world leaders who cavalierly allowed World War I to unfold even though they could have...
July 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Fifth Grade Civics
Politicians are able to fool the public because people don’t take the time to educate themselves on the issues. For example, raising the debt ceiling does not mean Obama is going to suddenly be able to create all this new spending. It only means the US will be able to pay for spending that was already approved by Congress. And let’s not forget basic fifth grade civics, the Congress...
1 tag
The Cause of the Crisis
Even former George W. Bush speechwriter, David Frum, thinks the Republicans are crazy:
But in the argy-bargy, keep this in mind: the debt problem has become a debt crisis for one reason only: because Republicans put the threat of debt default on the table.
That never needed to happen.
House Republicans could have kept the debt ceiling issue wholly separate from the budget cut issue.
(Via...
1 tag
'It is More Important That Innocence Be Protected...
Timely quote from our 2nd President, John Adams:
It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, “whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself...
1 tag
Not a Normal Party
David Brooks sums up my view of today’s Republican Party perfectly:
That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative. The members of this movement do not accept the logic of compromise, no matter how sweet the terms. If you ask them...
June 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Keyboard Maestro
One great tool I’ve recently begun using on my Mac is Keyboard Maestro. Keyboard Maestro is a macro program that allows you to create all sorts of keyboard shortcuts. It has really helped automate a lot of the things that I do everyday on my Mac, such as move files, create new email messages, and open and close programs. It is definitely a “geeks” tool, but well worth it if you find yourself...
1 tag
Do Nothing!
Interesting tidbit from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office – if Congress does nothing and follows the laws currently on the books, meaning Bush tax cuts expire when scheduled and Obamacare is fully implemented, our country’s long-term debt problem stabilizes. If the GOP gets its way and the Bush tax cuts are extended and Obamacare is repealed, the debt explodes.
This was in the CBO’s...
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Current iPhone home screen
April 2011
1 post
1 tag
"Our Fiscal Problems did not Begin in 2010"
Ezra Klein makes a great point about the current debate in Washington on the debt and deficits:
But there’s a game Republicans are playing in which they try to deny any responsibility for the ongoing deficits in order to a) hurt the Democrats politically and b) leverage the debt ceiling vote to gain various policy concessions. The reality, however, is they had a big hand in the drivers of our...
February 2011
9 posts
1 tag
Obama Changing the Bureaucracy
Interesting article in Time on how President Obama is reforming government by “harnessing the power of competition in the spending of taxpayer dollars.” Hopefully all these competition-based grant programs will lead to some real innovation that will benefit us all.
1 tag
Marco Arment on Apple's new Subscription Model
Marco Arment, the developer of my favorite iOS app Instapaper, has posted his thoughts on Apple’s subscriptions policy and the in-app purchase requirement. I agree with pretty much everything Marco states in his post and it is well worth the read. Marco’s conclusion:
The discussion shouldn’t be whether Apple can enforce this policy, but whether they should. And if you look at what this does to...
1 tag
The Day the Movies Died
There is a really good article in GQ on the lack of quality movies coming out of Hollywood. The article goes along nicely with my earlier post on the record number of sequels being released this year. It also supports my belief that there are higher quality programs on TV than most movies released by the movie studios (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and Friday Night Lights, just to name a...
1 tag
The First Victim of Apple's New Policy
So it begins. Readability’s app was rejected by Apple for the iOS App Store. Read the story here. This is exactly what I feared would happen. If Apple does not change its new policy, many great apps will abandon iOS. That will not be good for anyone.
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Palin on Obama's faith and citizenship
Now this is interesting. At a recent interview, Sarah Palin was asked whether she questions President Obama’s faith and citizenship? Her reply:
I don’t, and those are distractions… the faith, the birth certificate, others can engage in that kind of conversation. It’s distracting. It gets annoying and let’s just stick with what really matters.
Finally, something I can agree with Palin on.
1 tag
A Whole Lotta Sequels
Wow, there are 27 movie sequels scheduled to be released in 2011, more than any other year. Here’s the breakdown from /Film:
27 sequels total. Nine second movies (up from eight in 2010), five third movies (down from seven), five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie. 9+5+5+5+2+1=27
The second movies are Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The...
1 tag
Apple's new content purchase model
Jamie Montgomerie has written a well-thought out post on Apple’s new iOS content purchase model, from the viewpoint of a developer (Jamie develops Eucalyptus). Definitely worth the read.
My problem with Apple’s new policy is not that they are taking a 30% cut for content sold through the in-app process, it’s that Apple is forcing developers to sell content through Apple’s process and taking a 30%...
1 tag
Super 8
Out of all the movie trailers that were shown during the Super Bowl last night, Super 8 was my favorite. It was written and directed by JJ Abrams and it looks great. He gave an interview on the film to the LA Times that is worth the read.
As he says:
We have such a challenge on this movie. Yes, we’ve got Steven [Spielberg’s] name on it and my name on it — for what that’s worth — but we’ve got no...
1 tag
Where is the GOP alternative to Obamacare?
Earlier today I tweeted the following:
GOP wants to repeal new health care law, which is fine, but what are they going to replace it with? Still have not heard any GOP plan.
The reason why this is important, is because of people like Hillary St. Pierre:
With a court decision on Monday declaring the health care law unconstitutional and Republicans intent on repealing at least parts of it,...
January 2011
10 posts
1 tag
Share your Preferences
There is a great new website for Mac users called CMDComma.net. The purpose of the site is to share your preference settings for the Mac software that you use. It is a great idea that was suggested by Patrick Rhone of Minimal Mac fame (as well as other websites). I’ve already learned something new.
Something to definitely check out if you’re a Mac user.
1 tag
Definition of bipartisanship?
Mitch McConnell, the Sentate minority leader, defines bipartisanship his way:
“If the President is willing to do what I and my members would do anyway, we’re not going to say no.”
He could have just said “It’s my way or the highway.”
1 tag
Can a president be great?
On this morning of the State of the Union address, I was thinking about whether it is possible for any modern president to be “great”? Barack Obama has been president for two years, and arguably, he has accomplished more than President Bush did in 8 years. Obama has signed into law the recovery act (which prevented a depression), credit card reform, healthcare reform, banking/finance reform,...
1 tag
Why a blog?
I realize I haven’t yet posted why I’ve started this blog. It is something I have thought about doing for a few years now, and even tried to do on more than one occasion. In the past I was unable to stick with it, and I hope things are different now. One of the reasons I think things will be different is I am more active on Twitter than I used to be, and sometimes I have a lot more to...
1 tag
"Idea to Market in 5 Months: Making the Glif"
Really great read on the two guys behind the Glif iPhone tripod/stand.
On July 11th, 2010, Tom Gerhardt and I had an idea for an iPhone accessory: a tripod mount that doubled as a stand. Five months later, customers began to receive our product, the Glif, in the mail. This turnaround, from idea to market in five months by two guys with no retail or manufacturing experience, signifies a shift in...
1 tag
Recap for January 19, 2011
Disappointed there will be no iPad 2 retina display.
Love this by Ezra Klein. Republicans, the kings of the filibuster, are upset that the Dems won’t hold an up-or-down vote on their repeal of health care reform.
Governor Rick Perry for President? I hope not. And that’s coming from a Texan.
Even though they are not touring this year (their 20th year together), DMB is still going to have a few...
1 tag
Essay on the Constitution
There is a really good essay in The New Yorker by Jill Lepore on the Constitution of the United States of America. One of my favorite lines:
What has made the Constitution durable is the same as what makes it demanding: the fact that so much was left out.
Also interesting is the history on how the Constitution made it from Philadelphia to the National Archives:
Meanwhile, the secretary of the...
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iPhone Home Screen
Here is my current iPhone home screen.
My most used apps include Reeder and Instapaper, two great apps that you should be using if you aren’t already. Omnifocus is my lifeblood, especially the iPad version. I use iTeleport to control my Mac Mini at home, which is running Plex.
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Links for 1/12/2011
Here is a list of stuff I was reading about today.
One of the big news stories of the day was the video released by Sarah Palin. Palin really dropped the ball with this one, and Ezra Klein explains her missed opportunity.
Not sure the answer to Saturday’s shooting is to have more people carrying guns, especially Congressmen.
Looks like things may finally be turing around for the US economy. And...
1 tag
First post
Nothing to see here.