It’s really hard to look at the state of the United States Federal Government and conclude that it’s really working for… well… anyone. The Federalist Papers made the original arguments for the need for a strong federal government. In the wake of the Great Depression and World War II, that…

One of the rather major mysteries when doing comparative national politics is the extraordinarily obvious emergence of similar patterns. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before — the urban areas, representing a more cosmopolitan, vigorous support of the actions of government for social programs and management of powerful interests…

Here’s the thing about a potential war involving some (or all) of the oil countries — aside from the dreadful human cost, it would probably spell the end of Middle East oil as a strategic resource. As of this writing, there is tremendous pressure to reduce oil usage by virtually…

It’s possible that the reason that Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to see his taxes is that it would be instantly clear to any and all analysis that he is effectively bankrupt. Under this theory, he is able to maintain the fiction that he is wealthy only so long as…

CNN is reporting that the Russian military jammed GPS signals during a NATO training exercise. That’s… really weird. The idea that the opposition would take out satellites and other information technologies is pretty much a given in modern warfare. It’s why the Chinese blew up ASAT, generating a ton of…

One trick to understanding modern US politics? Forget everything that happened before, say, Carter took office in 1977. All of the stuff from before then is just weird old stuff. NATO. WTO. Great Depression. Actual fascism. Actual, Soviet Union-style communism. World War II, Korea, Vietnam. JFK. It’s all fallen away…

‘Ware, ‘ware the dangers Watch and be always vigilant Stare and think and avoid surprise The false dichotomy The with us or against us The binary star that tears us apart ‘Ware, ‘ware The lie

The model for understanding today’s events is not an authoritarian with a plan, it’s an increasingly desperate house of cards falling apart. There is no ideology, beyond a casual racism. It’s the Faustian deal with the South made by the Democrats after the civil war, running through LBJ, finally collapsing…

The Internet is in trouble. Big trouble. Some of the problems include… Nation states dealing with foreign agents Personal privacy Balancing the positive aspects of anonymous participation with the potential violence (e.g. swatting, doxing, etc.) This is a cultural problem, a public safety problem, and, frankly, a big problem for…