July 31, 2011
Media Responsibility
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July 31, 2011
You Have A Say In Your Government
One thing that I’ve been continually mystified about is this notion of government is evil and part of the problem. This kind of rhetoric was in overdrive during the healthcare debate in 2009 and 2010. When it comes to government, you have a say! It’s by the people, for the people. Why anyone would choose to privatize (or keep private) a service that is meant to benefit all (like financing of healthcare) is perplexing to me. You, I, and all citizens have a say in our government.
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July 31, 2011
Please Indulge Me
So far my blog has been about writing articles in long form. I was never that concerned about how frequently I wrote an article. Instead I chose to write, when the writing muse struck, about things which interest me. I’m still going to write long form articles for that same reason but I’m now also going to experiment with writing much shorter notes, almost in a fashion similar to the 140 character limit on Twitter. Where it will defer from Twitter is that I’m not going to impose any kind of character limit. The intention of this experiment is to essentially write one or two sentences or a paragraph of a prevailing thought I have at any given moment. This could be after having a conversation with someone at work or while watching a TV show or listening to a song.
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July 26, 2011
VMware vSphere Isn’t Just For Business
I begin this article with an assumption that you already know what server (hardware) virtualization is and know that VM is short for Virtual Machine. I also assume you probably have heard terms like hypervisor and bare metal. You probably have at least a basic understanding that server virtualization solutions from VMware (vSphere), Citrix (XenServer) and Microsoft (Hyper-V) allow you to convert hardware based servers into Virtual Machines all running on one physical server. If my assumption is incorrect the following links can help to get you familiar with the world of server virtualization.
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May 27, 2011
What Does It Mean To Be A Liberal?
We are witnessing a consolidation of the political left (liberal) and political right (conservative) into distinct parties in America, and I believe this has brought about confusion in political self-identity. People tend to stick with the political party of their parents and close relatives. So even people who hold a liberal view on a particular issue, may still vote for a Republican when they step into the voting booth.
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April 1, 2011
Budget Debate Nonsense
The current government budget debate is an argument over pennies instead of an adult conversation over dollars. This highlights a fundamental issue that it’s near impossible for people holding temp jobs (elected officials) to solve the really big, long term problems our country faces. There is no real talk about cuts to the big entitlement programs or tax increases to help solve our budget deficit because to do so is seen as political suicide. So instead politicians go after the low hanging fruit in the hopes that the “dumb” American public will be happy that something was done. Then those politicians can run a campaign in the next election saying they cut spending and didn’t raise your taxes. The budget items being discussed don’t amount to much in the way of savings. Cutting funding to public radio (or other low hanging fruit) equates to a family debating whether they should buy a name brand product over a store brand product when instead they really should be discussing whether they need a fancy car or that expensive tropical vacation. I think the real problem is that nobody is paying attention. The average person in this country doesn’t pay very much attention to government, politicians or much of anything that they don’t perceive to have a direct and immediate impact on their lives. Politicians know this and that’s why they go after the low hanging fruit because they know that most people only hear quick sound bites and then move on. So if they can say they cut spending and didn’t raise taxes, to the average citizen that sounds like a good deal and will then reward that politician with another term. There needs to be an awakening in this country. More people need to start paying closer attention to what is actually going on in this country and in the world.
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March 24, 2011
Cheap Oil Myths
The United States DOES NOT have large untapped reserves of “cheap” crude oil!
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March 21, 2011
Infinite Growth Is Unsustainable
Capitalism, at least as we know it, requires infinite growth. For-profit companies have to continue to grow in size and increase their profits year after year or risk losing investment money. Many people have gotten very wealthy with this economic model and the rest of us, at least in industrialized countries, have benefited greatly as well. We have many modern conveniences and most of us are quite disconnected from the natural world in a way that would have been unimaginable to people only a few centuries ago. This is certainly good from the standpoint of making our lives easier but it’s not good when you look at the long term picture.
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March 11, 2011
Why Are Tax Increases Not An Option?
To hear some people talk it seems like there’s always a good reason why taxes can’t be increased at any given time. Bring up the subject, there is sure to be a rebuttal proclaiming tax increases would harm the economy, etc. It wasn’t always this way. But right now we have a very vocal minority in this country that has been really good at pandering to all of us. Nobody wants their taxes increased so it’s a very easy position to take as a politician. But this position also lacks vision and leadership. It’s utterly arbitrary to say tax increases can never happen or that tax cuts are always a good thing. It requires no proof of the claim because the politician who says such things knows it’s a winning position with the public. I say somebody needs to grow a backbone and show some leadership even if it means potentially jeopardizing re-election. Somebody has to stand up and be the adult in the room.
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February 2, 2011
Two Months With CrashPlan
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