Tag: Politics
Good Governance
Sorry. This is a long meandering post. It’s not about UX, so I hope it’s not too annoying. It’s just been on my mind lately. It’s easy to say government is inefficient or wasteful, even if it’s not true. We hear it repeated over and over. All well-crafted propaganda is designed to sound accurate/truthful and…
Where to live?
I recently talked about the time zone troubles in California. This TikTok guy is saying the same thing about the macro-economic situation. I think the brain drain from California (and the US) will continue in the coming decade. Knowledge workers will move to cheaper locations and companies will continue to globalize. It leaves me with…
US Constitution: Article II, Clause 2
“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress… US Constitution: Article II, Clause 2 Why does this matter? There is no such thing as a “right to…
Election Day 2020
I have a serious feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. In 2016, I felt confident in the morning and sadness and despair slowly built up during the day. Today, I am exhausted with all of the 2020 nonsense. I am sick and tired of there being news every single day. I can’t…
“All Lives Matter” is a Mean Thing to Say
I know when some white people hear Black Lives Matter they automatically hear “Only Black Lives Matter”. This is human psychology at work right there. Unfortunately, that is not what activists are saying. What they are saying is that the laws, police, institutions, financial systems, education systems, and fabric of our society is set up…
We are all of us
It’s so easy to say, “I didn’t break the law, he did!” or “I am not racist, those guys are!” or “I wasn’t unkind, they were!” It’s finger pointing at its finest. It’s easy to avoid responsibility for things we didn’t explicitly do ourselves. However, we didn’t do anything to stop them either. We didn’t…
June Democratic Debates Night 2
Woof! That was a different night indeed. The first night was pretty boring by comparison. The big moments belonged to Kamala Harris (“That little girl was me.” and “People don’t want a food fight, they want food on the table.”) and Mayor Pete (“I couldn’t get it done.”) Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind supporting a Pete-Kamala…
June Democratic Debates Night 1
This is just a stream of thoughts and ideas from the debate. For the women candidates There was a moment when Tulsi Gabbard corrected Tim Ryan about 9/11. He looked like an asshole during the exchange, but I would have loved to have seen Tulsi say the following. A quick message to the men on…
Presidential Campaign Website UX Reviews
Let’s do a quick lightning round and some observations at the end. Joe Biden Big picture of Joe and Give me money! Hmm, interesting. Scroll UP from the home page. It’s a bug. A BUG! Come on Joe! How can we trust you with the nation’s highest office if you can’t even get your website…
Video: You Go High, We Go Low
Poorly drawn and animated, but great narration and storytelling. I enjoyed it and learned a little something about group psychology. Also, Im testing out my new WordPress theme to see how embedded videos work.
Cognitive Dissonance 2018
Yesterday, congress passed a bill with bipartisan support to reform the justice system to make it more just. Specifically, it changed sentencing guidelines that have led to an 800% increase in prison inmates since 1980. It retroactively fixed the fact that there was a 100:1 ratio between sentences for crack cocaine vs. powdered cocaine. The…
Rank Choice Voting
Sometimes I imagine the whole world is a simulation and you could change one single variable to see what happens. What would life be like without John Wilkes Booth? What if Franz Ferdinand didn’t get lost that summer day in Sarajevo? What if Alexander the Great had died in his first battle? (He almost did)…
Laws for Presidents
I’d love to see laws passed by congress that would apply to ALL presidents, on both sides of the aisle. The executive branch has grown in power for the last 50 years and needs some hedge trimming. Here is a list: Candidates for President must release their tax records to avoid hidden conflict of interest…
Home Ownership is still the American Dream
This chart is pretty chilling. It basically shows that middle class income has remained stagnant while housing prices have gone way up. Except for the housing crisis 10 years ago, the trend is clear. If you bought a house 50 years ago, it cost you a little more than 2X your annual income. Today, it’s…