We don’t believe folks like Steve Jobs who claim “Open systems don’t always win.” We don’t believe that it’s ethical for body measuring companies to block users access to their information.  We don’t believe that Zeo shouldn’t be ripped open and hacked-hell, do that and we may just give you a job.

We do believe that you own your data, can take ( Read more... )

In Michigan as well as elsewhere, I've heard the attempted anti-union argument that "teachers make too much money anyway".  Now, I know a few teachers (experienced, in difficult subjects like science) and they do pretty well, so it's easy to see how some people might find that argument (i.e. "teachers make too much money, so there's something wrong ( Read more... )

As someone who has been involved in the protests in Madison for the past six days, I find the news media coverage of the momentous events in this town to in no way portray the reality of what is going on here. In their attempts to constantly be balanced, the news media seem to have lost all ability to be accurate.

via From the Front Lines in ( Read more... )

Information is power.

"Wow, really?" a family member said recently, in response to the news that Afghanistan was now the longest-running war in American history.  "That's funny…you just don't hear that much about Afghanistan."

No.  No, you don't - and furthermore, it was "hearing about" Vietnam that directly contributed to ending that war.  ( Read more... )

I know it's Donald Rumsfeld and yes, I would slap him if I ever met him…but he actually didn't do a bad job stating the epistemological truth, there.  There are knowns; known unknowns; and importantly, unknown unknowns.  Socrates (or his fans) would have said that the more you're aware of the probable existence of unknown unknowns, the more clearly ( Read more... )

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Health insurance mandate upheld : SCOTUSblog.

A federal judge in Detroit, in a broad ruling upholding Congress’s power to require all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, decided Thursday that the mandate is necessary to prevent the “extinction” of the nation’s entire health care insurance market. U.S. District Judge George Caram ( Read more... )

Maybe Homeowners Wouldn't Strategically Default If Lenders Cooperated

Will a Human at B of A Please Modify My $160,000-Underwater Mortgage


Blatantly Racist Subprime Loans


Slothful Loan Modifiers Earn More Money When You're Delinquent


Bank Told Homeowner to Skip Payments, Then Foreclosed


Asymmetrical Norms: Why Homeowners Aren't Walking Away
( Read more... )

America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.  To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, "It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be."

It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor.  Every other nation has ( Read more... )

7 lies we tell ourselves about money | I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

I like the "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" blog, for several reasons:

• It defines "rich" as the balance between financial independence and lifestyle freedom that works for you
• It's competently and clearly written, and well-organized
• It focuses on non-sensationalist tips that really work ( Read more... )