http://blog.spathis.com Random musings & skepsis... Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:29:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Having just clinched the DNC nomination one of Obama's first moves: DNC will no longer take lobbyist, PAC money This is going to be one hell of a race. I wonder how and if the Republicans will respond. http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/06/05/obamas-first-move/ Don Boudreaux, Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University, occasionally comes up with some great lines, his latest: "Almost all that any politician says on any topic other than political strategy should be treated with even less respect than would be accorded a professional circus-clown's speculations about string ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/03/28/don-boudreaux/ Insightful assessment of the current situation with the Democrats by Dick Morris in an article at TheHill.com. Morris lays out a unique perspective that I have not heard before. One which is very different than what many of the other pundits are saying. ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/03/09/its-over-dick-morris/ Brian Shul, a former Air Force Pilot, reminisces about flying an SR-71 over Libya over at Maggies Farm. Pretty amazing... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/03/09/sr-71/ NY Times has just published an article that points out an interesting emerging trend in Iraq. Young people have lost their faith in their religious leaders. Wow, unexpected. Personally I think developments like these bode well for a long-term movement away from radicalism. http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/03/04/tectonic-shift-in-iraq/ Marc Andreesen is turning out to be one of my favorite bloggers. He is always publishing witty insights both in and out of the tech & business world. He has a great post today on his meeting with Barack Obama in 2007. If you weren't an Obama supporter beforehand this ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/03/03/barack-obama-marc-andreessen/ UPDATE: Lessig decided not to run.... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/02/17/draft-lessig/ One of the things that make New York city such a magical place to live is that there is constantly stuff like this going on. I wish I had been there to see that, just imagine 207 people completely frozen in Grand Central. Awesome, nice job ImprovEverywhere. http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/02/02/art-in-the-city/ A brilliant win in South Carolina by Barack Obama followed by another brilliant speech. As is readily apparent Obama's oratory gifts are truly impressive. The first time I heard him speak I recall being stunned by Obama's Audacity of Hope speech before the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I knew then ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/01/27/341/ Joel Spolsky has another great piece on Five whys, a highly recommended read for all in technical operations and engineers in general. There is alot to learn from the Toyota example. In the past my preferred model for technical operations has always been NASA mission control, but I will be looking ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2008/01/25/spolsky-on-why-why-why-why-why/ Joe Stiglitz, Noble prize winning economist, savages Bush in a must read article over at Vanity Fair. In the article he predicts a generation long struggle for America to recoup its position in the world, not a pretty picture. Will the doomsayers win this time around? Or will the US pull ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/11/12/stiglitz-savages-bush/ John Stoessel has a brilliant op-ed response to Michael Moore's Sicko in today's Wall Street Journal. Great reading and highly recommended. http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/09/14/counterpoint-to-sicko/ I have always wondered where the dance moves in WoW come from. Wonder no more, this is absolutely awesome! http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/07/29/evolution-of-world-of-warcraft-dancing/ Walter Mondale, former Vice President to ex-President Jimmy Carter, has a must-read editorial in today's Washington Post. Mondale details how he partnered with then President Carter to re-define the role of the Vice-Presidency, from backwater political office to the President's closest and most trusted advisor. Carter & Mondale's re-definition continued through ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/07/29/scathing-indictment/ This is getting ridiculous http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/07/09/even-more-political-bankruptcy/ Political Bankruptcy http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/07/03/ugh/ As expected Tog has come out with a small review of the iPhone user interface. See my earlier post about Tog & the iPhone. http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/07/02/tog-on-iphone-redux/ I love this one: Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari? Enjoy! http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/06/23/awesome/ Lawrence Lessig just lobbed a bombshell on his blog in this entry. To summarize, Dr Lessig has decided to shift his activism and focus from technology, the Internet, & IP to, quite simply, corruption. Dr. Lessig is and has been a towering figure who has contributed an incredible legacy of ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/06/20/lessig-changing-focus/ Recently I had an opportunity to see Michael Moore's latest titled Sicko. Sicko is a devastating indictment of the US healthcare system. In a work that evokes the great muckrakers of the past Moore tackles a deep and complex subject in a coarse, and at times, vulgar way. That shouldn't ... http://blog.spathis.com/archives/2007/06/16/sicko/