ihoby wog

Congress.org on Banker Bailouts

June 15th, 2009

The bankers have proven themselves to be.. not just uncaring but entirely incompetent to manage commercial investment. The “system” does not work – it is intrinsically flawed by its current design and needs to be replaced with more granular and socially just structures. It can be done with some careful planning and a few strokes of the pen. Our current failure of economics came into being with the same actions – the difference being what the policy changes do: either make gains in the short term or long term, either benefit the few or the many.

We’re long overdue for our financial policies to make long term gains for many. That can only happen if we replaced these failed, wrong-headed guidelines with better ones – look past the dollars that contribute to the next election, that money is dirty and its source should not be perpetuated.

Posted in economy, to congress | Comments Off on Congress.org on Banker Bailouts

Selfish crowds don’t work

May 8th, 2009

reply to ZDnet post “Using selfishness to put crowds to work for you”

Self interest is only one of many factors one must factor in attaining a goal with other people – a detail which must be balanced along with everything else.

Seeking to promote selfishness as the prime mover is an inherently flawed tactic. Using the stock market as an example – hello Enron anyone? Even with all the criminal prosecutions every year from constant policing of Wall Street, there are still countless acts of swindling and corruption that plague this market and as far as choice of investment goes – we’ve all now seen where the self-interested masses have placed the most “value”: the hollow future payments of predatory loans, price-fixed commodities (diamonds, oil, etc), war profiteering, and book-cooking corporate monopolies. The market turns out to be unfairly anti-competition, completely corrupted, and driving the world economy off a cliff. Great.. good job, capitalism. Unregulated self interest at work.

But back to coding..

The main reason why documentation doesn’t happen is because of a combination of culture clash and isolation.

The personalities of people that like to code are not the same as people who like to document. People who like to document don’t gravitate toward code people, the code itself, or seek to understand code. People who like code gravitate toward function, and any documentation that appears to serve no immediate function is dismissed as superfluous. There are of course, rare individuals that span both sides of the fence.. but they’re not the norm.

Many coders are also traditionally solitary or a small isolated group. Isolation not only discourages empathy but it acts to remove it from a person’s reality – therefor making it an irrelevant factor.

So the proposed suggestion of encouraging the clash and isolation will just lead to further instances of esoterica being driven into the outer reaches of specialization – doomed eventually to be lost in obscurity. No matter how good the code is, if its pushed out of reach for future understanding then it will be forgotten – only to be needlessly re-invented later on.

A better path is to recognize the many factors of human nature and personality culture to build and maintain inclusive community. I say inclusive because community with a purpose must have enough diversity for empathy to stay relevant between all personality types, making a complete project a common goal. That way, self interest, group interest, project interest, and outsider interest are all taken into account and real factors for every member of the project. A balance of self-to-other.

So with an intelligent mix of coding types, documenting types, and the various other types of personalities being intentionally “included” in a project community, there is translation between the specialties and basic knowledge spreads. Personal culture lives inside of project culture.

Altruism is not just sacrifice for strangers, it’s sharing your own interest with the interest of others. It’s tapping into the (usually present) innate human capacity to relate to other people and realize/simulate how you would feel as them.. knowing the joy and pain of others as you do your own.

And besides that, altruism isn’t even necessary for many forms of people doing things for others.. many people either by ideology or by circumstance are just compelled to assist others because it is entertaining to do so. Maybe it’s a talent, a hobby, a way to socialize, a means to another end.. a thousand reasons could be in the mix.

“Hey, you want a beer, too?” – Altruism at work.

Posted in social theory, software, technology | Comments Off on Selfish crowds don’t work

zdnet, the eager harbinger of doom, as usual

April 24th, 2009

What exactly is the source of ZDnet’s obsession with attempting to strike fear into the hearts of everyone who uses digital technology? Why must they constantly push the “you will be attacked” and “there could soon be a virus that does this” angles?

The mundane truth is still that most security breeches are from disgruntled employees (a result of corporate abuses) and most intentional cracks are done solely for the purpose of sending spam (a result of public gullibility).

Real breeches are about the almighty dollar, not destruction.

Posted in hacker myth, internet, software, technology | Comments Off on zdnet, the eager harbinger of doom, as usual

Congress.org Support allowing bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage

March 13th, 2009

I support allowing bankruptcy judges to change the principal owed on mortgages because the banks have not geared loans to facilitate greater home ownership, they’ve geared them to maximize profit. Since regulation has not kept banks in check, the situations are hitting the fan within the courts.. so judges are now on the front line of keeping people in their homes. Allowing judges to make loan payments affordable will keep A LOT of families in the homes they’ve purchased – and it will have that effect immediately.

Posted in economy, to congress | Comments Off on Congress.org Support allowing bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage

Congress.org Deficit Survey

February 24th, 2009

1. Which actions do you support for reducing the budget? Why?

Phasing out the war in Iraq

Ending tax cuts for the wealthy

Because the Iraq War is the biggest money pit in the U.S. budget and tax breaks for the rich are our biggest loss of revenue. Turning around our policy on these two situations could flip the deficit into a surplus as quickly as the changes can be implemented.

2. Should Social Security and Medicare, which comprise as much 33% of the federal budget, be reduced to lower the deficit and the pressure to raise taxes? Why?

Because these programs serve positive functions for our society. They are what government is for in the first place. As even more of our population become seniors, these programs will only gain importance.

3. What do you think needs done to reduce the deficit?

Outlaw off-shore tax shelters for the wealthy, re-regulate foundations to mandate they spend a higher percentage of their holdings on charity, end all our wars, shut down most of our foreign military bases, end all war profiteering contracts, cancel most “defense” contracts, investigate and demand re-payment for breaches of government contract, cut pork earmarks, shut down the health insurance industry, build solar and wind farms to replace coal, imported oil, and nuclear energy sources, end subsidies for crops that we don’t need, return money printing authority to the Congress and liquidate the Federal Reserve.

4. What do you consider your political philosophy to be?

Government should provide basic assistive services for its citizens and regulate “sandboxes” for competitive commerce. It should be as rations are to the military and the NFL is to football. Little more and no less.

Posted in economy, to congress | Comments Off on Congress.org Deficit Survey

Democracy is what is at stake

February 13th, 2009

The Internet is the last bastion of freely diverse communication. Radio and TV have been de-regulated (both officially and through lack of enforcement) to the point where differing viewpoints are squashed under a sea of propaganda. People running for public office are not afforded the air time that by law, the radio and tv stations were supposed to provide for free. The list of negative situations goes on and on.. and now that the Internet is popular, the rich information mongers who seek profit at the expense of Freedom, Democracy, and Public Welfare – have every intention of doing the same thing they’ve done with Radio and TV, to the Internet.. only worse, because of the advanced auditing capabilities of fully digital communications.

Currently on the Internet, news from around the world can be broadcast, seen, shared, commented on, and replied to.. news that DOESN’T appear on TV or Radio. Also on the internet, political candidates can post their speeches, policies and campaign messages in a variety of media, all potentially for free.. anyone wondering about what the various candidates are likely to stand for can view this material just as easily as any other candidate, regardless of how much money those candidates have at their disposal. The same is not true for TV and Radio.. or even often, in-person. Candidates are frequently now, barred from attending debates and rallies if they don’t have x amount of dollars to PAY for a seat in the debate.. which is horribly corrupt.

On the Internet however, all these viewpoints can still be expressed on a much more equal basis. Aside from the basic Internet connectivity (which really by now should be free for all U.S. citizens.. much easier to build than interstate highways) or hosting charges, there are no other mandatory costs associated with making your views available to others via the Internet. If you have connectivity or hosting through a provider that has a certain transfer rate, that rate is the same for all customers, no matter what the subject matter or content of their messages are. Many providers operate through advertising and allow “customers” to post their text, audio, or video for free.. for all to see at full speed, all the time.

So obviously, rich social oppressors who are friends with the rich owners of media and connectivity companies will want to squash this source of diversity, free expression, free reporting, and free democracy (voting can also happen over the internet!). And what better way to squash than through monetary restriction! More profit for their corporate pals and more oppression of opposing viewpoints for them. A win-win solution for them.. a big fat lose-lose for everyone else on the entire planet.

You at the FCC should also realize that your very jobs are tied into this as well. You’re appointed by elected officials. If the officials who appoint you are unable to compete with other candidates who have more money than they do, you’ll be out of a job as soon as a richer candidate comes into office… What’s more, if the political landscape is further made into a dictatorship, the role of the FCC will likely disappear completely.. it will just be the Media Broadcast division of Blackwater Homeland Security and will have no need for regulation of any kind.. merely heavily armed raids inflicted upon any persons who are deemed enemies of Broadcast Corporations.

Wouldn’t you like to keep your jobs and your role as a regulatory commission? Don’t you think that Democracy and Freedom are more than buzz words? Do you CARE about the future of this country? Do you realize that through the Internet is one of the last ways that the defining principles of our Constitution can be practiced?

Well for that to continue, we need some things called equal access, free speech, and what is now being called Net Neutrality. If you allow the telcos and the social oppressors to shut down freedom on the internet.. that’s it, game over. The only way freedom within U.S. borders can continue is through underground, grassroots efforts. The technological equivalent to the pony express. TV, Radio, and Internet will be utterly and completely useless for real communication, real news, and real democracy… because diverse viewpoints and diverse candidates will be shut out by the power of the dollar.

_________________________

Net Neutrality is essential to free speech, equal opportunity and economic innovation in America. Since the FCC removed this basic protection in 2005, the top executives of phone and cable companies have stated their intention to become the Internet’s gatekeepers and to discriminate against Web sites that don’t pay their added tolls.

This fundamental change would end the open Internet as we know it. It would damage my ability to connect with others, share information and participate in our 21st century democracy and economy. The FCC must ensure that broadband providers do not block, interfere with or discriminate against any lawful Internet traffic based on its ownership, source or destination.

Posted in democracy, internet, media consolidation, net neutrality | Comments Off on Democracy is what is at stake

Congress.org – 2009 Priorities

November 24th, 2008

Next year, I want Congress to focus on the following easy to understand, two word issues:

– Green Jobs

– End War

– Health Care

– Net Neutrality

Posted in economy, jobs, net neutrality, to congress, war | Comments Off on Congress.org – 2009 Priorities

A collection of comments and feedback..

November 23rd, 2008

For some reason, right now as an experiment, I want to start a publicly viewable collection of things that I post to web sites I visit. I tend to save posts that I want to reference or keep track of later.. but I keep them on my computer, where no one would see them en masse unless they search and find all the web sites I happen to mouth off at. Also.. sometimes what I keep wouldn’t be read by anyone besides whoever is answering the feedback form of their site. So, I’ll give it a shot.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on A collection of comments and feedback..

to Obama – Jobs and The Economy plan outline

November 22nd, 2008

Greening Jobs
        Federal and State Departments for employing people directly
                For centralized services mainly
                Track everything to measure success
        Loans, Tax Breaks, Grants, and Contracts for companies/people
                For individuals and small regions
                Guard against monopolies
        Job Categories
                Research – reviving old tech and finding new tech
                Design – making what is built the best it can be
                        Non-toxic fabrication methods
                        Recyclable materials
                        Power/battery efficiency
                Construction – manufacturing and building new solutions
                Installation – putting new solutions directly into use
                Retrofitting – replace innards with green tech, melt/recycle old tech
                Maintenance – keeping centralized, business, and home solutions running
                Trade – exporting services, technology, and equipment internationally
        Job Industries
                Power Generation from Wind, Solar, Thermal, and Tidal
                        Dual focus on centralized and home/business generators
                                Decentralization reduces transmission waste
                        Australian Power Tower Design
                        Cut subsidies for toxic dig & burn sources
                                coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear
                        Cut subsidies for ethanol crops
                New Power Storage
                        Hyper-efficient batteries
                        Hydrogen Fuel Cells
                        Flywheels
                        Rain Collection
                Electric Transportation
                        Bikes, Scooters, Cars, Trucks, Busses, Trains
                        Focus on fully Electric Vehicles
                        Power management intelligence
                        Retrofitting used cars with new fuel/engines
                        Cut subsidies for gas, diesel, and ethanol vehicles
                Carbon Neutral Building
                        Green Materials
                        Energy Efficiency
                        Water conservation
                        Green Roofing
                                Grass, Garden, Function (rain to power conv.)
                Water Purification
                        “Amphitheater” and other designs
                        Reduce waterway contamination
                                from farmland, industrial, and residential waste water
                                renegotiate/enforce pollution agreements
                Greener General Consumer Goods
                        electronics, clothing, furniture, etc.
        Organization and Transparency
                Invest in transparency network for governmental funding tracking
                Fund a universal citizen participation network
                        (of my design: swiftmouse.com/icare/ )

Education Jobs
        Grade School
                Federally fund public schools
                        Boost teacher salaries
                        Reduce administrator salaries
                        Reduce class sizes
                                Build more schools
                                        150 students max
                        Replace outdated materials
                        Develop admin software to reduce waste/corruption
                        Broaden subjects taught
                Increase support staff for students
                        Shift style from industrial-lecture to “coaching” model
                        Create more types of counselors
                                for students
                                for teachers
                        Focus on participation instead of assessment
                        Mandate paid leave for parents to participate certain days a week
                Regulate out corporate influence
                Increase food self-sufficiency
                        school gardens, cooking, and nutrition
        College and University
                Increase subsidies
                        Encourage lower tuitions
                        Offset textbook costs
                Increase financial transparency
                Reduce administrator pay
                Increase instructor and assistant pay
                Federal grants for more domestic students
                Reduce interest rates for student loans
                Build additional colleges
                Promote continuing education
        Trade School
                Validate/Accredit certifications
                Build some federal trade schools for industries in this outline
        Adult School
                Fund night-time working family education
                        Community promotions
                        Modernize courses
                        Increase teacher pay
        Free School (“teach-in”)
                Subsidy funding
                Promotion grants
                Certification and accreditation
        Prison and Jail Schools
                Create one or more in every jail and prison
                        both state and privatized
                Fund and manage separately from prison/jail budget
        Textbook publishing
                Research and Develop electronic materials technology
                Encourage younger authors to publish
                Re-assess copyright law to make developing coursework easier/cheaper

Agriculture
        Break up and auction off farming conglomerates
                Fund small farmer buy-back programs
        Subsidize smaller and independent farms
        Encourage more employment and less equipment
        Research and Educate for best practices
                Encourage systems-based “grass farming” approach
                        Organic growing
                        Locally consumed
                        Humane livestock conditions and waste management
                        Increased crop/breed diversity
                Gather and compile local/cultural wisdom
                Employ ex-farmers as educators
                Ban genetically modified food and open-air testing
                Tax sale of nonreproducible hybrid seeds heavily
        Create subsidies/policies for decentralized farming
                Urban gardens
                        Commercial building roof gardens
                        “pea patch” community gardens
                Organize farmers markets
                Organize/assist CSA programs
                Create a federal farmworker job type
                Create federal farming exchange programs
                        land owners open specific acres for outside farmers to grow on
                Expire patents on all “living systems”

Healthcare
        Grow Medicare jobs and eligibility to replace Insurance for all ages
                Treat all citizens automatically for basic care
                        consider most women’s treatments as basic care
                Treat immigrants and foreigners with some conditions and charges
                Normalize practitioner salaries for basic care
                Offset cost of “optional” medical care with federal funding
                        Working class pays moderate amount
                        Rich pay more
        Set up little state run clinics in communities without nearby hospitals
                mobile and in unoccupied buildings
        Develop open source tools for medical information management
        Provide incentives for doctors and nurses to return to general practice
        Ban Insurance companies from healthcare
                Liquidate assets of healthcare portions of insurance companies
                Replace with loans/savings programs for costly optional treatments

Employment Quality
        Streamline federal employment hiring procedures
        Cap executive pay maximums
        Raise minimum wage
        Increase vacation time
        Increase national holidays
        Reduce weekly hour maximums
        Regulate against “crunch times”
        Create incentives for co-op style businesses
                Everyone is paid the same
                Everyone has a vote for important decisions
        Encourage “monkeysphere”-aware organization sizes
        Ensure new programs reach the most marginalized populations
                American indian, african american, latin american, immigrant

Posted in democracy, net neutrality, obama, regulation | Comments Off on to Obama – Jobs and The Economy plan outline