Efficiency… At What Cost?
As I noted before, pure capitalism is extremely efficient at producing large amounts of goods and services at low costs. But it’s also efficient in other ways that people, especially its proponents,...
View ArticleLocal or Online?
My wife and I buy a great deal of merchandise online. That’s not by choice, but by semi-necessity. I say semi-necessity because I don’t absolutely need those shelled pistachio nuts, but we did need the...
View ArticleBack to Normal?
Those touting the need for the U.S. to get back to “normal” as soon as possible are essentially relying on the argument that the coronavirus is dangerous just to the elderly and people with certain...
View ArticleViolence Won’t Solve the Problem?
Lots of well-meaning people have said this, or words to that effect over the years, generally after an egregious example of police brutality or a miscarriage of justice against blacks has ignited...
View ArticleWhy Everything Takes Longer
Because we really needed to do some cleaning out – understandably necessary after living in the same house for almost twenty-seven years – about two weeks ago I rented a construction-sized dumpster,...
View ArticleSetting and Enforcing the Rules
Rules are critical in games and government, and there are two aspects to rules: (1) whether they’re fair and (2) whether they’re enforced fairly. In both games and government, it’s sometimes difficult...
View ArticleAutomated Frustration
In this era of automated everything, where businesses large and small are doing their best to reduce costs, one aspect of most businesses has become the automated telephone system. Such systems come in...
View ArticleThe Big Gamble
Donald Trump isn’t wearing a mask. Neither are most of his supporters, from what I’ve been able to ascertain, and certainly most of those supporters who live near me aren’t. The Vice President insists...
View ArticleHidden Costs
Most adults know that basic goods have a cost to produce and a price at which they’re sold, and if the producer doesn’t cover his costs with enough to spare for him to live on… then he’s not going to...
View ArticleThe Just-in-Time Economy
As I write this, the numbers of new coronavirus cases are approaching a new peak in the United States. How exactly did we go from declining numbers to what appears will be new highs in a handful of...
View ArticleBooks Not Written
Every time I finish a book, or get near to doing so, or sometimes even sooner, a question comes to mind. “What are you going to write next?” Sometimes, the answer is obvious. If I’ve just finished the...
View Article“We’re All in This Together”
I’ve seen and heard those words too many times in my life, most recently from a university president explaining why he was choosing to endanger faculty and students by deciding to have an in-person...
View ArticleIf You Don’t See It…
In person and with your own eyes, it doesn’t exist. From where I sit in the semi-rural, very arid, mountain west, that seems to be the prevalent attitude about Covid-19…and more than a few other...
View ArticleWhat Don’t You Get?
A little more than twenty years ago, David Brin wrote a book entitled The Transparent Society, which, interestingly enough, suggested that the best way to fight the misuse of information technology was...
View ArticleThe Danger of Expectations
Strictly in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons why the current coronavirus epidemic has resulted in so many unnecessary deaths is that this particular virus goes against medical and social...
View ArticleRace or Rage?
When I looked at the cover of the latest edition of the Economist the other day, the illustration held a large single word, in a black and white pattern, which I initially read as “Rage,” along with a...
View ArticleArticle 0
Because of Covid-19 and because I’m not travelling, since I do most of my fiction reading while on the road, I haven’t read as much fiction recently. The most striking book, to me, was Silvia...
View ArticleSelfishness/Stupidity and Covid-19
Here in Utah, the majority of people are effectively refusing to social distance and to wear masks. National Parks are heavily visited, if not with the huge crowds of last year, and people visiting...
View ArticleQuantum Shadows is Out
My latest book — Quantum Shadows — is out and is available in ebook, hardcover, and audiobook formats. Follow Corvyn, the Shadow of the Raven (and perhaps a bit more) as he tries to save humanity from...
View ArticleDoing the Right Thing
“Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing — having first exhausted all other possible alternatives.” This quote has often been attributed to Winston Churchill, but there’s no evidence...
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