Tag Archives: Daniel Becker

On this day when we like to review the whacky, crazy crap that has happened, here is something that fits. Though, not from last year. It is easy to see how conspiracy develops when learning of such past. It’s not just the uneducated that create the nuttiness. It is not just the lack of knowledge that will lead oneself down the rabbit hole. We seem to have a knack for creating institutional lunacy from the application of deference. Add some...

I thought this would be interesting to our readers, especially those who are following the development of electric vehicles. Electric has infiltrated heavy equipment. This is Volvo’s latest all electric excavator: EC230. It is a 23 metric tonne (25 ton) machine. Not small. It is just like their diesel version but with batteries and an electric motor. 264KW of battery power. They are in the double digits for sales already. They have it structured...

The recent train derailment in Ohio of a Norfolk Southern train has me thinking. As this accident relates to our social order, there is just so many paths, perspectives and questions one can dive into. I almost could not decide what direction to address it all from. We have the capitalism/free market angle. Is this disaster an example of market failure? Is this government failure? Does this disprove the “too much government” argument? You know,...

Seems that gas, fuel, gasoline is being used as a marker to understand just how horrible we have it as a result of the current inflation. It’s just sooooooooooo terrible. I’ll just say this. As a marker of inflation and our personal economic experience all it shows is how terrible we are at remembering. Unfortunately for us, such a bad memory leads us to terrible voting decisions. Though, it does allow for easy emotional manipulation of the citizenry...

Republican: A synonym for Selfishness and Narcissism and Violence Synonym: a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language; a person or thing so closely associated with a particular quality or idea that the mention of their name calls it to mind. Selfishness: the quality or condition of being selfish. Narcissism: selfishness, involving a sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy, and a need...

Boston Public Radio May 19th episode held a discussion of the consequences for the nation when abortion is outlawed. The guest was Jonathan Gruber, the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT. He was involved with the ACA and the Mass health insurance system. Getting right to it: Based on studies: Women who wanted an abortion but could not get one are more likely to die in child birth, have worse mental health outcomes and a huge increase in...

So, here is the thing about the arguments the Republicans are making regarding mail ballots based on this article at Slate. “the court held that Florida’s recount used procedures that violated “the equal dignity owed to each voter.” Because the standards used to recount ballots varied between counties, the court concluded, the process violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. “ Being that “equal protection” is the issue as to getting a...

(This was first posted February 21, 2008.) Bribes, payola, favor of the physical kind? Forget-about it. Just put the right person in the appropriate agency, preferably a person from the line of business the agency is to regulate. But, for extra insurance over the long haul, with a little luck of timing you get to fix the legal issue almost permanently: supreme court justices. Justices Make it Tougher to Sue Makers of Medical Devices The case has...

This is what I believe Eric Kramer is asking for.  If we are ever going to fix the justice system and ultimately this nation, what Senator Whitehouse presented today needs to be internalized by everyone. Yes, ACA, abortion, gay marriage.  They are major issue, I have a stake in 2 of them.  But – a big ass BUT – the real game is the machine that has been operating for a very long time and honed to a run as smooth as a screaming F1 engine.  And it’s...

I stumbled across this article at Electoral-Vote .com.  They have a chart showing the control of the Secretary of States, Legislatures and Executive offices.   They combine that with the current polling in each state and electoral votes.  Their conclusion, more than hell would have to freeze over for Trump and the Atlantic’s article warning of a post election electoral steal to happen. We have addressed many of the concerns that Davis and Gellman raise,...