Worrisome. The War on Cameras in Reason details police threats, phone confiscations, detentions, felony charges and convictions of citizens for the 'crime' of recording officers on duty. Yet, laws are vague and vary greatly from state to state. The central issue revolves around whether taping pol… Read full post »

Okay, so it's 2012 and you can expect a regular rhythm of postings that are... well... political.

== THE GREAT FURY OVER TAXES ==

To listen to Republicans, you would think we have the most oppressive tax rates ever, with the federal government hogging ever larger portions of… Read full post »

First and foremost.  The biggest news in online art and visual media is the resurrection of Patrick Farley's Electric Sheep Comix site.  This brilliant... and cosmically under-rated ... visual artist and innovative storyteller is back!  You can view the dramatic and politically coge… Read full post »

Why should Mitt Romney and the fabled "one-percent"  pay only a 15% marginal tax on investment income ... half the rate charged to a dentist or auto mechanic on wages earned from work?  This was not the case until recent Republican Congresses slashed taxes on passive, unearned dividends… Read full post »

Many folks have created tallies of favorite Science Fiction novels.  I've already weighed in with my Top SF for Young Adults and my Top Ten list. See also these essays: A Comparison of Science Fiction vs. Fantasy and How to Define Science Fiction.

But now let's try something much more… Read full post »

Some folks have heard me beat this drum. But it’s a fresh-enough thought - going to fundamentals that run deep beneath normal politics - so that I am moved to raise it yet again. In part because someone recently asked me, as author of The Transparent Society: “Can… Read full post »

Do you despise Congress? You’re not alone.  The current Congress’s 11% approval rating is the lowest since polling began. Yet, because of gerrymandering and the resulting hyper-partisanship, people tend to support their own particular Representative, and to heap the blame on the ot… Read full post »

First a note to Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry.  There's a point that your surrogates ought to be making - (with SuperPac deniability for you, of course!) Remind folks that New Hampshire is a Blue State. About as blue as they come. And hence, if… Read full post »

Re-lighting the political lamp, let’s commence with a crucial year in U.S. political history... by linking to a video that’s gone viral nationwide, “Capitalism Hits the Fan” by Professor Richard Wolff.

Now, from the title I expected something tinged a little pink. What I fo… Read full post »

First (and least) let's talk briefly about "immortality." I have found myself forced, pretty often, to weigh in on the topic of lifespan extension.

Now, in Scientific American online, David Stipp  speaks up for anti-aging research, proclaiming that the time is right to put serious gove… Read full post »

As we look back upon 2011, let's take a bigger perspective by peering a century further in time. The year 1911 was amazing in many ways. Amundsen and Scott were racing for the South Pole's “last place on Earth” - illustrating how new technology can amplify both competence… Read full post »

  * All right, it’s a simple though not-so-cheery meme. But it mixes warm and fuzzy mythology with deep-important truth. Poor Santa Claus is in trouble!  Tell every child you know that the U.S. Navy is in full tilt preparation for an “ice-free arctic.” Our admirals don&rsq… Read full post »

Before diving into media and strange science, here’s a tentative announcement.

I’m thinking about a contest to create a mini-trailer  for my new novel (coming in June) - a great big near-future science fiction saga called EXISTENCE.

I've already sent feelers to the Computer Gr… Read full post »

Continuing in a political vein... I'll hand over the floor to a few Large Minds - some of them pals - offering them a chance to lay some politically redolent thoughts on you.

== Two Successful Capitalists Decry The Hijacking of Capitalism ==

Let’s hear from two fellows… Read full post »

Both Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Nobel prize winning Keynsian economist Paul Krugman have a trait in common.  They grew up fervent science fiction fans, especially transfixed by the future-historical speculations of Isaac Asimov.  Gingrich wrote about this influence… Read full post »

I’ve been content to leave up-top my big, controversial posting about Ayn Rand and her novel/film Atlas Shrugged,   in part because the ferment was cool and fun.  And also because I am neck-deep in copy-editiong my big new novel EXISTENCE. (Appearing in June!)

But I owe you al… Read full post »

There was nothing else even remotely interesting at Blockbuster -- so we rented ATLAS SHRUGGED.

Well, after all,  I often talk about Ayn Rand and her/… Read full post »

I promised a cogent and careful review of Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED: The Motion Picture. And I'll get to it soon.  But first, may I unleash an informal screed? One scribbled in rapid response to a manifesto that was posted online a few days ago - one… Read full post »

Two fantastic women departed from our sight on Earth last week, leaving it more barren than before.

Anne McCaffrey was my friend and colleague -- a wonderful writer, deeply devoted to her craft, her fans, her civilization, and delivering wonder to millions.

I barely knew Lynn Margulis, who… Read full post »

Think I'm kidding about "sousveillance" and people-power vision? Now citizen protesters have drones! This video shows the view from a Polish RoboKopter with video camera. Getting an aerial view is the next step in compelling DIY citizen video.

== Antimatter and FTL Neutrinos? ==

The world's largest… Read full post »

A few days ago, the famous comic book writer and illustrator Frank Miller issued a howl of hatred toward the young people in the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Well, all right, that's a bowdlerization. After reading even one randomly-chosen paragraph, I'm sure you'll agree that  "howl" un… Read full post »

What books can we give our teens that don't mire them in a swamp of  vampires, domineering wizards or nostalgia for feudalism? These are a few of my personal science fiction favorites for young adults, weighted more toward SF and a little common sense mixed with lots of… Read full post »

From the vitally important... See the most significant article of 2011: The Capitalist Network that Rules the World.  Consider how Adam Smith himself would have disapproved of the consolidation of total economic power into the grip of just a few hundred people... and Karl Marx would be rubbin…

Read full post »