Today I did something that probably would have disappointed my father if he were still alive: I voted in the Republican primary. My father was a yellow dog Democrat. Oh, there were a few Democrats he wouldn't vote for -- such as Tip O'Neill, whom he considered corrupt -- but he would never have voted for a Republican. In his declining years, he hated George W. Bush most of all. … [Read more...] about I Feel a Bit Funny About This
Statistical Quality Control Meets the NYPD
I once heard a story -- I'm not sure where, but it seemed reputable at the time -- about a Ford automotive plant where one of the assembly line workers realized, after some time assembling cars, that he had been doing it wrong. He told his boss, and Ford had to pull hundreds of cars from the delivery process and re-work them to fix his mistake, at a cost of over a million … [Read more...] about Statistical Quality Control Meets the NYPD
Marc Randazza – First Amendment Badass
I think I first heard of Marc Randazza when one of the other bloggers around here started calling him a "First Amendment Badass," and that's how I always think of him. I didn't really encounter him, however, until Jon Katz posted this bit about Randazza a few years ago. I took the opportunity to poke fun at Marc in the comments about the absurdist severity of his blog's terms … [Read more...] about Marc Randazza – First Amendment Badass
Our Stupid Debate on National Healthcare
I've held off writing anything about the whole contraceptives/Sandra Fluke/Rush Limbaugh mess because it's a classic example of an important political debate turning trivial, stupid, and misogynistic. At the top level, we have the ongoing debate about how to reform the healthcare industry in this country. The current big and controversial plan is the Affordable Care Act, which … [Read more...] about Our Stupid Debate on National Healthcare
God Bless Bobcat Goldthwait’s America
I'm a Bobcat fan from way back, so I'll probably want to go see this movie, which he wrote and directed, if it actually gets released to theaters. After which, there will probably be Congressional hearings. … [Read more...] about God Bless Bobcat Goldthwait’s America