It's not Capitalism, it's EXTREME Capitalism

Paul B. Farrell at MarketWatch decries capitalism for killing our morals and our future. Of course what he is referring to as capitalism is just one version of it. Unfortunately it's the version we currently practice. If you read the comments on this article you'll notice that as is normal there are those who take any critique of our current economic religion as indicating a belief in Marxism or Socialism. Do you think any of those making these types of claims understand that even Adam Smith expressed distrust of unfettered profit seeking? I tend to think not.

People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty or justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary.

Adam Smith

GOP Embraces “The Crazy” | John Avlon via The Moderate Voice

Joe Gandelman's Quote of the Day over at The Moderate Voice is from John Avlon at The Daily Beast and addresses how insanity has worked its way throughout so much of the GOP. It's not just their media outlets like WorldNetDaily, Breitbart, Glenn Beck and Alex Jones any more. You hear the most outrageous conspiracy theories and claims about their opposition's motives and policies from state legislators, members of the House of Representatives and high ranking officials in state governments now.

Avlon's article even addresses the Missouri example of GOP crazy where scanning documents (A standard procedure in modern business and government.) became part of a grand conspiracy theory. There was even a tidal wave of ads on television warning viewers in a sinister tone that the Nixon (Jay) administration might be sharing your information with the Obama administration.

Somehow this isn't too surprising when the governing of the nation is only a priority after those of winning the election "game", demonizing your opposition and reassuring yourself of your moral superiority.

Issues and Priorities in Congress

Ezra Klein asks a very important question via Twitter.

Why does Washington worry more about air delays than the 12 million unemployed? wapo.st/10hvw95

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) April 26, 2013

Cosmological Speculation on Things We Might Never Know

What is outside our Universe? We have no idea. But that's never stopped active human minds before and it still doesn't. Speculations are varied and the ones in this article aren't the only ones out there. I love reading about cosmology and theoretical physics including books like The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory and The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene. If you haven't seen the PBS shows based on these books do yourself a favor and look them up.

Honesty about a complex subject

I'm sharing this New York Times essay mostly because I think it's just such a refreshingly straightforward article by someone who is comfortable in her own skin. It also shows, IMO, just how complex a subject sexuality and sexual identity can really be.

Though her relationships with men far outnumber her relationships with women and she is happily married to a man she recognizes that her emotions and sexual attraction for those women she'd been involved with were just as meaningful and just as deep as those she'd felt for men. There are people who just refuse to recognize that this woman's sexuality and that of others like her is just as valid as theirs and unfortunately I think there will be people like that for a very long time to come.

Joe Gandelman's Quote of the Day

Joe Gandelman points out that Larry Sabato tries to bring media critics down to earth by correcting the myth that we ever had a "Golden Age" of disaster coverage where reporting on major events wesn't full of early misinformation. Sabato's prime example is one of the best known post-WWII shocks to the United States in the 20th century.

Facebook Has Big but Understated Plans for a New HQ

Facebook has commissioned Frank Gehry to design its new headquarters and it's not what you would consider typical for a Gehry design but I think it has a lot of great ideas and Gehry just might have liked the idea of a big departure from his previous work and the challenges Facebook's requirements would have posed for him. I would love to see the real thing after it's finished.

Did NRA Supported Policies Impede the Boston Bomber Investigation?

David Cay Johnston at The National Memo thinks so. Given their paranoia about anything that involves tracking anything that has to do with guns and explosives the NRA doesn't have much of a defense against his arguments.

15 facts about our planet from Bad Astronomy

I've always liked Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy and here's a post for Earth day from him. Earth Day: 15 facts about our planet.

All jobs are not equal

Especially if they're only part time. One of the responses I've seen to news like this from the reality challenged is to point out those who want to work part time as though their existence somehow mitigates the fact that many of those working part time in today's economy don't want to be doing so and are in desperate need of full time work. They need the money. They need the benefits. Businesses don't want to spend the money, though. This is a problem. It's a glitch in the American version of capitalism in the 21st century. Shouldn't we admit it and search for a solution?

Hubble has given us so many beautiful images

In its 23rd year it gives us a new and amazing look at the Horsehead Nebula, which has been an iconic astronomical image for many years. Gorgeous. Simply breathtaking.

There's a place where an 'anti-incest' app is a good idea

It's really hard to know what to say about this app created in Iceland to avoid awkward social situations other than I suppose it's understandable in a country with a population only two-thirds the size of Kansas City. Just the city, no suburbs or ex-urbs counted.

Deja Vu in Asia all over again

This sounds eerily familiar. What would be wrong with just ignoring the lunatic ravings of North Korea? Seriously. Negotiations will never go anywhere for the foreseeable future since China has far too much patience with the regime. Just don't bother responding and continue with appropriate reactions when they actually do something.