Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

< 6:51:04 PM        >

Kerry would govern from the middle. He'd have no alternative, given congressional Republicans' strong rightward tilt and congressional Democrats' basic lack of conviction on the serious issues of the day.

In domestic policy, a Kerry presidency would probably resemble the Clinton years, partly because the Republicans would thwart any serious new spending programs. They'd also prevent Kerry from putting on the bench federal judges who were far to the left; his Supreme Court nominees would be moderates.

Contrary to the Bush-Cheney scare tactics, Kerry would probably be better for national security than the current crowd. Unlike the current crowd, however, he'd focus on the real threats instead of launching wars that divert our resources. But he'd have no choice but to stay the course in Iraq; Bush has left little choice on that.

Bush has already shown that he governs from the far right. And if he's reelected with a Republican Congress, there will be nothing standing in the way of his extreme agenda.

We already know what that means: an interventionalist foreign policy that angers the entire world; right-wing Supreme Court justices (goodbye abortion rights, among other results); more tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of everyone else, along with a deepening debt that our children will have to repay; a degraded environment; an undermined Social Security system; etc.

There's a huge group of voters in what some call the "radical middle" -- people who are sick of name-calling and who want a government that doesn't move radically in one direction or the other. Bush has a radical agenda, and he's made no secret of it. Kerry does not, and he couldn't enact a far-left agenda even if he had one.

If Bush gets the White House for another term, and has a Republican Congress backing up his intentions, we will not recognize America when he's done. That's what his more fervent supporters want. I do not believe it's what the majority of Americans want. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]
comments < 6:50:39 PM        >

Offshoring impacts. Yesterday, we did pre-registration for enrollment in our computer and information systems programs. The number of students has declined 43% from the same pre-registration event 12 months ago. That is a  single year drop!  For the fall quarter, our end of second week actual enrollment was down 39% from the preceding 12 months. And those drops come after losing about 35% of the students during the 2001 to 2003 period. Students have abandoned the information technology fields.

Some offshoring opponents expressed hope that Mr. Kerry would stem the exodus. However, as this L.A.Times article notes, his proposals would have little if any impact (which Mr. Kerry has since admitted).

We know that offshoring is resulting in the lack of new job creation, especially in U.S. based software development. (In a slow growth industry, thousands of new jobs announcements are made every week in India, while few new jobs are created in the U.S.). For software developers, the situation in the U.S. is bleak.

Other IT headcount have been reduced due to productivity improvements. Today's predominant hardware and software platforms are vastly more reliable than 4 or 5 years ago. New automated management tools enable IT staff to install operating systems, upgrade software, and perform diagnoses and repair functions automatically and remotely. In the new IT world, a handful of staff can now do what used to take dozens of workers - and may be able to do that management from Bangalore.

The lack of meaningful and clear policy statements from any politician, anywhere is both sad and shocking. The U.S. is poised to lose the industry that was creating a majority of new jobs in the U.S. (if the industry's own statistics are to be believed). Laid off workers are retraining and moving into lower paying jobs.

Proponents argue that the money saved will be used to create new jobs - except that the money saved is more likely going to be used to create new jobs overseas. And those new jobs in the U.S. are likely to be filled by temporary imported tech workers who typically earn up to 30% less for similar skillsets. As far back as the year 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce estimated that 28% of all IT jobs requiring a 4 year degree wered filled by temporary imported workers. There is some evidence that the ratio today is much higher (we've imported almost two hundred thousand new workers while only creating perhaps 40,000 new jobs - which means we actually did replace U.S. workers.)

Does the U.S. wish to retain domestic information technology skillsets and the benefits to the U.S. economy? The answer appears to be a firm no.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
comments < 4:09:22 PM        >

The ARRL has a new report with a quick overview of the FCC's Report and Order concerning Broadband over powerline. I am not a lawyer but it seems a bit unusual to treat Part 15 communications interference differently depending on the service that receives the interference. If you are using aeronautical communications, you'll receive the benefit of BPL prohibitions around you, but if you are Red Cross disaster communications, you will not receive similar protections. This seems to establish a precedent that "All Part 15 devices are equal except that some are more equal than others" (to paraphrase "Animal Farm"). Presumably, under this new thinking, it will be okay for Part 15 devices to interference with radio and television broadcasting since this is just "hobby and entertainment" applications of the spectrum. I wonder what broadcasters will think of this new interpretation?

There seems to be a belief that all interference will be resolved by "notching" (which has not yet proven all that effective), movement of BPL devices (which insert signals onto the power lines), or that Amateur radio operators should move their antennas. The latter may not be all that easy - for example, my own HF dipole antenna is strung between the only two trees where it will fit, which puts the antenna about 60 feet away from and at the same height as the powerline that runs parallel to the antenna. I suspect most Amateur radio operators will find that moving trees and towers is not an easy to implement solution.

Geez, I just had an autodialer with an automated message - no human operator - start blabbing on about why I should vote for a certain congressional candidate. I hung up. And I think I'll vote for this person's opponent.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
comments < 4:08:37 PM        >

Commonsense Junk Science Alert! "100,000 Excess Civilian Deaths After Iraq Invasion". Apparently, plus or minus a 100,000 or so (I am exaggerating but the point is, read the fine print): "The number of population clusters chosen for sampling is small; the confidence intervals around the point estimates of mortality are wide; the Falluja cluster has an especially high mortality and so is atypical of the rest of the sample; and there is clearly the potential for recall bias among those interviewed."

Meanwhile, how the news media's attempt to "balance" all news coverage enables the scientific fringe to have a disproportionate sense of importance.

That and pajama wearing Internet bloggers.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
comments < 4:07:40 PM        >

Experiences w/ Software RAID 5 Under Linux? [Slashdot:]
comments < 4:02:16 PM        >

India-based software companies using Canada as a "backdoor" entry into U.S. work.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
comments < 8:35:22 AM        >

Titan Photos Pose New Questions. Lakes full of ethane? Disappearing nitrogen? Hidden craters? Scientists face these questions and more as they try to unlock the secrets of Saturn's mysterious moon. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News]
comments < 8:33:52 AM        >