Bill McKibben at Mother Jones dipped his toe in the water yesterday with a piece titled “Will Trump Force America to Break Up?“. It’s pretty good. The closing paragraph does a decent job of summing up the current situation: Maybe…
Oh, Gavin: You Are Really Not Meeting This Moment
Governor Newsom, you need to step up your game here. ‘Cause this is only going to get worse. Let’s set aside the issue of jackbooted federal thugs roaming the streets with masks and assault rifles. Firstly, because the whole country…
A Reminder: Policing Is A Civilian Job
Apparently, a large portion of the United States thinks that it’s OK for police to be military these days. And, as of this weekend, that it’s OK for military to be police. They’re wrong. It’s important to maintain this distinction,…
You Should Read This: Feudalism Is Our Future
The Atlantic has a very good piece by Cullen Murphy up titled “Feudalism Is Our Future” (archive link). The title overstates things a bit. It’s not that they’re saying that the future as described is inevitable. The article is arguing…
Not Illegal Here: On Extradition And Investigative Support
The U.S. has always been kind of a patchwork of legal systems, and of course the countries of the world are an even more diverse collection. And that’s fine; good, even. Since we have a wide variety of people, and…
Algorithmic Taxes: An Automated Tax System
If you’re a flat-tax advocate, then you may want to stop reading this one now; it won’t be good for your blood pressure to continue. ‘Cause progressive-rate systems are fairer. OK, now that they’re gone: progressive-rate income taxes are more…
Fragile Empires: Falling Slowly At First, Then All At Once
Everything happens faster in the modern world than it used to. This is natural. It’s basically a side-effect of more advanced technology. Communications are faster; transport of people and goods is faster. Change, even, in infrastructure and society is faster.…
Attack Of The Drones: This Is Gonna Change A Lot Of Things
Ukraine had already demonstrated that cheap, almost consumer-class, drones can be a major factor in modern warfare. But this weekend, they took it to a whole new level. In case you haven’t seen the news yet, over the weekend Ukraine…
All Mixed Up: U.S. Law Needs A Procedural Re-Think
I don’t want to think about the ongoing coup this morning, so here’s something that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while. We need to change how the U.S. legal process works. Currently, the actual process of making…
Tariff Limits: A Long Time Coming, A Longer Time Going
It took almost 2 months, but a court has finally ruled that Trump’s Libation Day tariffs are illegal and unconstitutional. And now … the inevitable appeals. So, ya know, don’t start celebrating yet. The illegal part is simple: the law…