StickWithANose

Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, the two dominant fields in the social sciences [Political Science and Economics] cling to a foundational theory that renders much of the research conducted in those fields down to academic navel gazing that does precious little to illuminate the functioning of actually existing human societies. In political science, [...]

Despite my propensity for publishing posts that take, let us say, a bleak view of education policy, economic issues, and politics, I really don’t consider myself to be all that cynical. [Although my friends might beg to differ...] I find joy in the small stuff like enjoying the roar of cicadas in the early evening [...]

I’m off to the country to celebrate the 4th of July holiday! Here’s some really cool stuff to check out while I’m gone…
Entry Number One:
In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. [...]

Like financial innovation the idea of ISP innovation is ultimately destructive. Wired
There’s a complicated fight in D.C. right now over how the FCC classifies broadband services, so it can regain the power to impose some basic rules on the industry.
Free-market groups and the industry are banging the table, arguing against the consequences — saying that [...]

As with all new media that preceded it, there is a new wave of dire warnings that computer and internet technology is turning us all into shallow thinkers with the attention span of a shitzu puppy on speed. Cherry-picking psychological studies that, in their haste to be “scientific”, create an abstract context in which the [...]

If both parties pursue the same goals then what is the point of having two parties?
74 Democrats signed a joint letter to the FCC supporting internet throttling by Verizon, ATT and Comcast. Throttling lets carriers slow or block internet traffic. This is a clear attack on net neutrality.
Here is where you can do something about [...]

Last week, I pointed readers toward this tragic story of Chinese laborers committing suicide en masse in which I attempted to link those suicides with the concept of Alienation. This week, Bloomberg has published an article that does a far better job at making that connection… albeit unwittingly.
Ah Wei has an explanation for Foxconn Technology [...]

One of the tragedies of this most current era of globalization is the degree to which exploitation remains hidden from those who benefit from it. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exploited workers often lived in close proximity to the middle and upper classes who accumulated wealth from their labor. The exploitation of [...]

“Being willing to sit in a boring classroom for 12 years, and then sign up for four more years and then sign up for three or more years after that—well, that’s a pretty good measure of your willingness to essentially do what you’re told,” Samuel Bowles