7 Articles

Monday, May 4, 2009
The Need for People-Friendly Research & Development
We live in an age of rapid progress in science and technology, with new applications announced at an amazing rate, as well as detrimental side effects. Scientific and engineering resources are largely controlled by private corporations, deployed mainly to maximize profits rather than serve the general public. We should to expand both in-house government R&D facilities and public funding of university research.

Sunday, March 22, 2009
The War On Terror: An Exercise in Hypocrisy
(19 comments) We are, supposedly, engaged in a "War on Terror," even tho the average number of Americans killed annually by terrorists since 9/11 is less than 3, all outside our borders. Defining terror leads us to look at our own history. What would really secure us is to recognize the danger posed by nuclear stockpiles.

Friday, December 5, 2008
Escalation in Afghanistan: A Really Bad Idea
(1 comments) While most Americans are, understandably, focusing their attention on our economic crisis, both the outgoing and incoming administrations have agreed to plunge our country deeper into yet another military quagmire--the Afghan civil war. This can only cost more American and Afghan lives, and add to our financial woes, with little chance of any real benefits. The flow of American troops should be out of, not into Afghanistan.

Friday, November 14, 2008
Why Abortion is NOT Murder
(19 comments) Many abortion rights opponents sincerely believe that abortion constitutes the murder of innocent human beings. Defenders of abortion rights seldom dispute this claim directly, preferring to raise other points that they consider strong enough to outweigh it. This is a big mistake; there is no valid basis for the contention that abortion is murder. My justification for this position does not involve any biological arguments.

Saturday, November 1, 2008
Voting Early: Sounds Good, But Its Not the Answer
Many people, concerned (properly) about the integrity of e-voting systems are voting early or casting absentee ballots. Unfortunately, these are both highly vulnerable to being manipulated by either insiders (those running the election systems) or outsiders (intruders breaking into the systems). The problem is lack of proper monitoring of the processes by monitors from competing campaign organizations.

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Forward to the Past: Junk the Machines, Count Votes Manually
(2 comments) It does not seem possible currently to enact even minimal reform legislation, leave alone bills that get at the fundamental problems. Perhaps the best that concerned people can do is to educate as many others as possible, and to encourage the adoption of HCPB systems by local jurisdictions.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
We Can Do Better than Instant Runoff Voting
(11 comments) Instant Runoff Voting looks good on the surface, but has serious faults. Approval Voting is a better solution to the "spoiler" problem. It is free of quirks and much simpler.