As a student of Economics (programmer by trade though!), I am interested in wage differences on a macro level. Today, I saw two news stories that are somewhat disturbing - increasing CEO pay, and a substantial increase in poverty.
On a micro level, wage differences and poverty are more easily explained. If I am poor, chances […]

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News.Com posted a story today about the growing popularity of the LAMP Platform. As someone who has been involved in LAMP development for the last 5 or 6 years, I have a few observations:
- Yes! More money & recognition for PHP Programmers
It isn’t uncommon to see J2EE developers with only 2 - 4 years of […]

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In a recent Standard Examiner Letter To the Editor advocating the building of a commuter rail system, Richard Gallison claims that:
“Long ago there was a news item published in this paper that stated that cities with a good commuter transportation had 32 percent less traffic on their highways.”
Umm.. Yeah. Long ago in a Galaxy Far, […]

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Orrin Hatch thinks Americans ought to be more “trustworthy and decent.” Apparently, we should be following the example set by our leaders. Apparently, lying to start a war that kills thousands of people and costs billions of dollars is ‘trustworthy and decent’ behavior.
I digress. Orrin wants to make us better people by making it harder […]

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I just got done reading the CBO report about our fiscal policy and our future financial position. I know you are busy, so let me give you the short, two-word summary first:
Oh shit.
Going into more detail.. We owe a ton of money, and will owe a ton more in the future. Plus, there’s a chance […]

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If you are reading this and have over a billion dollars, give yourself a pat on the back - you are one of *only* 313 billionaires in the United States. If you find yourself in the ‘not a billionaire category’, however, just work a little harder - several million times harder.
I’m all for rewarding those […]

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Finally! It looks like it might be getting harder to be a corporate crook and hide behind your corporate charter. For the longest time, execs have been able to get away with quite a bit of fraud by hiding behind the company.
It looks like in the CA case, the ex-CEO is going to be tried, […]

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No, I’m not envisioning (or advocating) an armed revolution, or anything of that nature. However, one has to wonder, with the economic and political conditions that exist in the United States today, are we in for some big changes?
Let’s look at some sample conditions for a revolution:
- Perception of Authority Declining
- Financial Problems
- Loss of […]

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