A few years ago I found myself in the position of taking a pre-employment polygraph examination. I wrote most of this at the time and then sat on it for a few years due to the intensely private nature of the experience. It’s interesting to me to see how it’s aged. — In a slightly…
Nixon Impeachment Timeline
The Watergate Hotel burglary occurred in June 1972. From 1972 to October 1973 there were four unsuccessful resolutions to impeach Nixon (two were pre-Watergate). No traction could be found on the Nixon inquiry until the House Judiciary Committee took interest in late October 1973, after the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” in which Nixon’s order to…
Current Podcast List
I’m a bit of a podcast addict. As a rule of thumb I don’t listen to every episode of each podcast, I just focus on what interests me at the time that I go to download new episodes. Description by the podcast in quotes, any commentary by me in italics. A few current listens have…
Lessig, Ito, and Pure Absolute Fury
In the 2000’s I had a short-lived legal enthusiast blog inspired in part by law professor and legal reform activist Larry Lessig. I moved on from it after a few months but Lessig continued to be of interest to me. While I didn’t agree with everything he put forward he remained a guidepost of someone…
Quick Hit: The Wrongness of 1984 Comparisons
In the midst of Trump not only lying to try to conceal a mistaken tweet about the hurricane forecast but NOAA issuing directives against weather scientists talking about the actual, for-real forecast and contradicting him the comparisons have intensified to George Orwell’s novel 1984 and in particular the hold that The Party insisted upon about…
Fighting Back: Depression Ain’t Invincible
Consider this the second part to my last blogpost; in that one I talked about my experience of depression, especially as a depressive episode approaches and unloads. In this post I’ll be detailing some of the tactics and strategies I’ve used over the past three decades. Some are old hat, some are newer. Some are…
An Anecdote: What It Feels Like When A Depressive Episode Rolls In
Foreword: I wrote this for myself, a bit, but in the writing of it decided it may be useful to others, whether they’re seeking to understand or just want to know someone has felt similar. If you’re part of the latter, please seek professional help: things can get better, and while everything won’t be magically…
The Danger of Artificial Intelligence is Still Us
Earlier this year I had the privilege of being included on a discussion panel about the dangers of artificial intelligence. This is an area I’ve long watched and the panel went off well; I’ve been meaning, since then, to piece together my notes into a coherent blogpost. Nearly six months after the fact oughta be…
Quick Hit: Voice Assistant Moral Panic
It’s an incredibly weird day when I find myself defending Google, or voice assistants, but here we are. I’ve seen it mentioned in several places that a Google Voice Assistant contractor is “blowing the whistle” on inadvertent recordings made by google devices. I want to note first that I have a very good friend, whom…
Quick Hit: Flight Hour Cost
A reminder: Trump misappropriated military funds meant to more safely house our troops to spend on his border wall instead. Meanwhile Trump’s July 4 parade for himself featured 2 Abrams battle tanks, a B-2 stealth bomber, 2 F-35Cs, 2 Super Hornet F-18s, 4 Apache helicopters, 2 F-22 Raptors, H-60 and H-65 helos, the BlueAngels &…