Interrelativity

Category: Current Affairs

  • A Compelling, Compassionate, Critique of Conservative Extremism by David Frum

    the [Republican] party is getting the big questions disastrously wrong [David Frum on the GOP’s Lost Sense of Reality (New York Magazine, 20 November 2011)] David Frum, former economics speechwriter for former U.S. President George W. Bush, offers a sharp critique of the Republican Party in an interview with NPR's Steve Innskeep yesterday, David Frum…

  • Nothing brings people together like ignoring each other to stare at their phones

    Last night, on the Colbert Report, near the beginning of the segment on Fear for All, Part I, host Stephen Colbert announced the new Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear app for the iPhone (also available in the Android store). The app was developed by MTV Networks for the upcoming combined Rally to Restore Sanity…

  • The facts and opinions surrounding the Proposition 8 ruling

    I was elated by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughan Walker's ruling agaist California's Propostion 8 last week. The 136-page ruling, overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage, renews my hope for full civil rights for all of us's, including lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Over the weekend, I have read some interesting facts…

  • There’s no data like more open data

    When I was working on natural language processing and speech recognition systems in the 90s, one of our mantras was "there's no data like more data", i.e., all things being equal, the accuracy of recognition tends to increase with the addition of more labeled data. The Linguistic Data Consortium at the University of Pennsylvania was…

  • Be Impeccable With Your Word: Confrontation vs. Condescension and Intimidation

    I’ve had a number of opportunities recently to reflect on don Miguel Ruiz‘ first agreement: be impeccable with your word. Amid public conversations at the recent Coffee Party kickoff meeting, private discussions about reviews of academic papers and proposals, and listening to an interview about the science of wisdom, I’ve gained a greater appreciation for…

  • The Coffee Party: Political Conversation vs. Confrontation

    I attended a Coffee Party kickoff meeting at SoulFood Books, Music and Organic Coffee House on Saturday. Approximately 40 people subdivided into smaller groups to discuss their hopes and fears about the state of the union. Amid the largely liberal perspectives voiced by several participants, I was delighted to discover an unanticipated diversity of opinions…

  • Applying the One Percent Doctrine to Climate Change

    I remember hearing an NPR Fresh Air interview with Ron Suskind, author of The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of It's Enemies Since 9/11, shortly after the book came out in 2006, in which he explained that the title came from a statement made by [then] Vice President Dick Cheney about the Bush…

  • At least we have our health … or do we?

    A friend was recently recounting some challenges he's been facing, concluding with the observation that "at least I have my health." His challenges include a recent layoff, and I found myself wondering how secure this consolation would prove to be for him … or for the nearly 50 million other Americans who do not have…

  • The Past, Present and Future of Green

    My wife and I attended the Seattle Green Festival last weekend. Amy spent most of her time in the exhibit area while I spent most of my time in presentation sessions, seeking and finding inspiration from Amy Goodman, Lawrence Lessig, Brett Horvath and Gabriel Scheer. Amy (my wife) spent part of her time helping out…

  • Augurs of hope, past & present: MLK, Milk, Obama & all of us’s

    Last week, on Martin Luther King Day, Amy and I watched the film, Milk, about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California (back in 1978). When we got to the Egyptian Theatre, Amy asked for two tickets to see "M-I-L-K", spelling out Milk's name. We laughed about…