A View From Inside the Palace

It's a chaotic fire drill with all sorts of infighting. It's a sad way to run a country. But, hey, he did win an election. The country has it coming.

Why China Can't Lure Tech Talent

A Bloomberg article points out why China finds it difficult to attract tech talent.

The biggest problem is government control of the internet. For a software developer, the inconvenience goes well beyond not being able to access YouTube during coffee breaks. It means that key software libraries and tools are often inaccessible. In 2013, China blocked Github, a globally important open-source depository and collaboration tool, thereby forcing developers to seek workarounds. Using a virtual private network to "tunnel" through the blockades is one popular option. But VPNs slow uploads, downloads and collaboration. That slowness, in turn, can pose security risks: In 2015, hundreds of developers opted to use infected iOS software tools rather than spend days downloading legit versions from Apple Inc. 

And it isn't just developers who suffer. Among the restricted sites in China is Google Scholar, a tool that indexes online peer-reviewed studies, conference proceedings, books and other research material into an easily accessible format. It's become a crucial database for academics around the world, and Chinese researchers -- even those with VPNs -- struggle to use it. The situation grew so dire this summer that several state-run news outlets published complaints from Chinese scientists, with one practically begging the nationalist Global Times newspaper: "We hope the government can relax supervision for academic purposes."

A Possible Tool To Stop The Corruption

It's called the STOCK Act.

A section of that law states that “no executive branch employee may use nonpublic information derived from [or acquired through] their position as an executive branch employee as a means for making a private profit.”

“The STOCK Act bars the President from: using nonpublic information for private profit,” the independent Office of Government Ethics, which handles executive branch ethics issues, wrote in a Monday letter to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).

The measure was originally designed to apply only to members of Congress. But Republicans — annoyed that it covered the GOP-controlled House and Senate but not the Obama administration — made sure to extend it to the executive branch, including the president and vice president.

He wouldn't have immunity from this one and neither could he avoid running afoul of it.

What To Do With An Old Tire

Turn into diesel fuel. This process turns whole tires into saleable diesel, carbon, and steel. It is energy-efficient and emission-free. 

A Road Map from Jesse Jackson

Jamelle Bouie's article in Slate got me to thinking about how we build a stronger Democratic Party at this juncture in history. In recent campaigns, most politicians have built laundry lists of issues where each issue has an appeal to some subgroup of the voting population. But what they haven't done is make it clear how all those issues support one another and how all the subgroups need to support one another to get their particular issues addressed. The successful candidate must take seemingly disparate progressive agendas and knit them into a whole picture that include all of his or her constituents.It's like sewing a quilt in that each scrap of cloth is not really useful in itself. Yet when securely sewn together, all those scraps make up something extremely useful and even beautiful.
Candidates at each jurisdictional level should make a clear-eyed assessment of the needs and interests of their voters. Then they must make the case that in order for that variety of needs to be satisfied, all the various groups have things in common around which they can unite. Business is good when workers have the wages to buy things. Schools are good when the community takes the time and resources to support the children and the system that provides that education. People feel more secure when law enforcement has earned their respect. The institution of democracy is stronger for everyone when a few very wealthy people don't have the power to dominate campaigns and the crafting of legislation.

Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 4

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

This is Pro-Life

I believe that to be part of the battle in favor of life from the moment of conception until a dignified, natural death This includes the care of the mother during pregnancy, the existence of laws protecting the mother postpartum, and the need to ensure that children receive enough food, as well as providing health care throughout the whole length of life, and taking good care of our grandparents, and not resorting to euthanasia. Nor should we perpetrate a kind of killing through insufficient food or a nonexistent or deficient education, which are ways of depriving a person of a full life. If there is a conception for us to respect, there is a life for us to care for. --Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis)

I just want to add that if you are going to be "pro-life", don't just do part of it. Be pro-life all the way and you will have my respect.

Environmental Good News

Amongst all the bad environmental news lately, here's a piece of good news. It seems that declining mercury emissions have resulted in a decline in the mercury concentration in tuna. Contrary to some opinions, it seems that environmental regulations actually work.

Wicked weeds may be agricultural angels

Getting it right in agriculture. This article talks about how having a few weeds mixed in with your otherwise monoculture field can help control pests.

12 Notes From A Political Autopsy

Here are some good notes for measuring our progress forward.
The short version is below. Read the article for a fuller explanation of each point.

1. The people aren’t the problem.
2. Even when you’ve been cheated, there can be room for improvement.
3. Don’t pretend you didn’t lose.
4. Accept responsibility.
5. It’s not about settling scores. It’s about changing the game.
6. Trade was decisive.
7. Some people got it right.
8. Bigotry and economic fear aren’t mutually exclusive.
9. It’s hard to win the votes of people you dislike.
10. The Democratic Party needs a “Democracy Spring.”
11. The left isn’t the enemy. It’s the future.
12. This is the call-up.

Can we meet global energy demands with nuclear power?

An international team of scientists suggests that we must ramp up energy production by nuclear power if we are to succeed in warding off the worst effects of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change. The team suggests that beginning in 2020 we could achieve an annual electricity output of 20 terawatts without needing to develop carbon dioxide trapping and storage technology for the tens of billions of tons of emissions that would otherwise drive global warming to catastrophic levels.

Problems with the Press

The press was played by Donald. The question is, what are they going to do about it? Are they going to continue to normalize him? Or are they going to take the focus off ratings just a bit and point out the unprecedented threat he is to the way our democracy works?

Krugman: The Long Haul

Paul Krugman looks ahead:

The true awfulness of Trump will become apparent over time. Bad things will happen, and he will be clueless about how to respond; if you want a parallel, think about how Katrina revealed the hollowness of the Bush administration, and multiply by a hundred. And his promises to bring back the good old days will eventually be revealed as the lies they are.

But it probably won’t happen in a year. So the effort to reclaim American decency is going to have to have staying power; we need to build the case, organize, create the framework. And, of course, never forget who is right.

It’s going to be a long time in the wilderness, and it’s going to be awful. If I sound calm and philosophical, I’m not — like everyone who cares, I’m frazzled, sleepless, depressed. But we need to be stalwart.

LAPD and Deportation

The LAPD plans to continue its existing policy of not participating with ICE in any immigration enforcement. It isn't a political statement, it's just good policing. You can't fight crime when victims are too afraid to talk to the authorities. Sometimes you have to decide what has the higher priority, protecting a vulnerable population or making them more vulnerable to criminals because they themselves might be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Hypocrisy Lives Here

It's OK to expose the Secretary of States's email but don't don't try to find out how much Pence wasted on a lawsuit that didn't involve Indiana. It's the Pence double standard.

What Democrats should do about the Supreme Court.

Dahlia Lithwick is just pissed.

His 100 Days

For reference, here's a summary of what has been promised for the first 100 days.

1. Term Limits
2. Federal Hiring Freeze
3. Two regulations removed for every regulation added
4. Five-year waiting period for officials becoming lobbyists
5. Lifetime ban for former White House officials lobbying for foreign governments
6. Complete ban for foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections
7. Renegotiate or withdraw from NAFTA
8. Withdraw from TPP
9. Label China as a currency manipulator
10. Identify foreign trading abuses that affect American workers and eliminate them
11. Open production of oil, natural gas, and "clean" coal.
12. Lift roadblocks on pipelines
13. Cancel support of UN climate change projects and us money on American infrastructure
14. Cancel all "unconstitutional" executive actions
15. Replace Scalia
16. Cancel federal funding going to Sanctuary Cities
17. Deport 2 million "criminal" undocumented immigrants
18. Suspend immigration from "terror-prone" areas. Vetting so extreme that no one can pass through it
19. Tax gift to the rich and corporations
20. Magical revenue neutral infrastructure development
21. Redirect public education funding to private schools
22. Repeal ACA and loosen approval requirements for drugs
23. Enact a deduction for child care and elder care
24. Build the wall, put illegal immigrants in prison. Remove foreign workers from the labor force
25. Poor money into law enforcement to stop a non-existent surge in crime
26. Remove requester on defense spending. Magically protect infrastructure from hacking. Only people who like America can immigrate
27. Ethics reform. Magically drain the swamp while leaving the stinkiest  denizen in the White House.

Pick your poison and pick your activism target.

Even Paul Ryan disagrees with the coming administration. Likewise with Kevin McCarthy.

We will see how this goes. 

Pop the Bubble

There are parts of the country that get forgotten. The people who live there 
don't see the country like the rest of us.

When you grow up in rural America, denying rights to people is an abstract concept. Denying marriage rights to gay people isn't that much different that denying boarding rights to Klingons.

We, as a culture, have to stop infantilizing and deifying rural and white working-class Americans. Their experience is not more of a real American experience than anyone else’s, but when we say that it is, we give people a pass from seeing and understanding more of their country. More Americans need to see more of the United States. They need to shake hands with a Muslim, or talk soccer with a middle aged lesbian, or attend a lecture by a female business executive.

We must start asking all Americans to be their better selves. We must all understand that America is a melting pot and that none of us has a more authentic American experience.

Liquid fuel from CO2 in the air

Given how bad our atmosphere is likely to get, there could be a great deal of use for this.

Young Aussie inventor builds a better Band-Aid dispenser

On a lighter note, why didn't anyone do this sooner? A 10-year-old figures out how to dispense Band-Aids with one hand. Hopefully, coming to a drug store and medical facilities near you.