Cell phone addiction

It is a stereotype of the current college generation that they are addicted to their cell phones. A couple of professors at Baylor University decided to ask students enrolled in their class to fill out an online survey about the amount of their cell-phone use in 24 different categories to see the degree of cell phone addiction and any gender differences, where an addiction was defined as “the repeated use of a substance despite the negative consequences suffered by the addicted individual”.
[Read more…]

Zephyr Teachout

I did not follow the race for the New York Democratic primary because the odious current governor Andrew Cuomo seemed assured of an easy win. But although he did win as expected, his opponent with the unlikely name of Zephyr Teachout made a very good showing, getting 34% of the vote, despite the fact that she had very little money and Cuomo completely ignored her and refused to even debate her.
[Read more…]

Rejecting political pandering

It is very hard for local governments to resist religious pandering, especially when it is combined with patriotic pandering. All it takes is for one elected official to propose something like putting up the Ten Commandments or starting meetings with a prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance (with the words ‘under god’ added of course) and this puts other members in a bind. Even if they think the idea is stupid, offensive, or even unconstitutional, few want to speak out against it for fear of being labeled anti-religious or unpatriotic. This is why most such practices end up having to be litigated, wasting everyone’s time and money.
[Read more…]

Liars lying about their lying

The brazenness of some very senior Obama administration officials is astounding. First they lie, even while under oath. When confronted with the lies, they first try to avoid admitting it, then when the evidence is overwhelming, they admit it but plead that were taken out of context or ‘misspoke’, then when even that fails to hold up, they admit they lied and apologize.
[Read more…]

Interesting developments in thwarting government spying

According to recent reports, Apple’s new operating system iOS8 makes it impossible for it to comply with NSA requests to hand over people’s data.

Apple said Wednesday night that it is making it impossible for the company to turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police — even when they have a search warrant — taking a hard new line as tech companies attempt to blunt allegations that they have too readily participated in government efforts to collect user information.
[Read more…]