tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148362024-03-12T22:40:09.665-04:00DavidUsherMusings about technology, telecommunications, public policy, regulation, society, media, war, culture, politics, travel and the nature of things...
"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children"
...Dietrich BonhoefferDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.comBlogger4003125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-86886770593178147042016-01-16T15:11:00.001-05:002016-01-16T15:17:03.426-05:002016-01-11 Letter to Colchester Legislators 2016-01-11 Letter to Colchester Legislators - Google Docs:
January 2016
Senator DIck Mazza, Representative Jim Condon, Representative Joey Purvis, Representative Pat Brennan, Representative Maureen Dakin
Thank you for your service to Colchester and Vermont! Another tough legislative session looms and your task will be no easier this year.
Below are my views/priorities on the issues David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-91938881875877396602015-01-12T22:14:00.001-05:002015-01-12T22:14:33.009-05:00Media Cowers in the Face of Radical Islam
We are both enthralled and dismayed with the radical Islamist terrorist attacks in France. The TV talking heads do their best to help us understand today’s reality but meander in it. Will they promote the anti-Islamist meme or be cowed by fear of retaliation?
Good effort initially by most, but missing the long view. Radical Islam, perhaps co-opting the 1.6 billion mainstream adherents of David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-12142520167085354292014-08-31T15:56:00.001-04:002016-01-16T15:20:19.691-05:00The Mental Virtues
The Mental Virtues (David Brooks 08/29/14 NYT) Character and Thinking, the important elements; Is it possible to display and cultivate character if you are just an information age office jockey, alone with a memo or your computer?
Love of learning. Some people are just more ardently curious than others, either by cultivation or by nature.
Second, there is courage. The obvious form of David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-10077142505035527382014-03-22T21:02:00.000-04:002014-03-22T21:02:06.642-04:00Our Comrade the Electronhttps://static.pinboard.in/webstock_2014.htm
Our Comrade the Electron by MACIEJ CEGLOWSKI
"We put so much care into making the Internet resilient from technical failures, but make no effort to make it resilient to political failure. We treat freedom and the rule of law like inexhaustible natural resources, rather than the fragile and precious treasures that they are.
And now, of David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-59851616303113084702014-03-18T10:00:00.001-04:002014-03-18T10:01:48.556-04:00Study Questions Fat and Heart Disease Link - NYTimes.com
Study Questions Fat and Heart Disease Link - NYTimes.com: "Many of us have long been told that saturated fat, the type found in meat, butter and cheese, causes heart disease. But a large and exhaustive new analysis by a team of international scientists found no evidence that eating saturated fat increased heart attacks and other cardiac events."
So, another long-standing medical axiom seems toDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-7699502692364206682014-03-12T12:46:00.000-04:002014-03-21T09:18:56.622-04:00Interview with Founder of 23andMe Genetics Testing Company
This interview with Anne Wojicicki, the founder of the direct-to-consumer genetics testing company 23andMe provides her view of the potential of genetic testing for citizens.
My genetic information is in their database and I have been fascinated with the outputs provided.
I hope the FDA soon approves what they are doing as it relates to medical information so that the updates David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-30848126895833244472014-01-18T13:54:00.001-05:002014-01-18T14:03:03.109-05:00The future of jobs: The onrushing wave | The EconomistThe future of jobs: The onrushing wave | The Economist:
We are in for a long , difficult economic and societal dilemma as spelled out in this piece. The political expression of it is the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the hollowing out of the middle class that politicians bloviate about without offering any real solutions. Perhaps they fail to understand or believe the underlyingDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-60498124415235545382014-01-06T19:12:00.000-05:002014-01-06T19:12:45.241-05:00Reality and Politics ClashGovernment dependency is a corrosive force that undermines democracy. TeamObama's thrust to transform America creates a collision course toward the destruction of democracy. How is it that so many people fail to see this?
When people accept the government as their source of basic sustenance, the spark of personal responsibility is slowly extinguished. Following that is a loss of a person's David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-91503398638727774112014-01-06T17:39:00.001-05:002014-01-06T17:39:33.316-05:00Radical Islam vs the WestI have concluded that the West has lost control of the Middle East and those parts of the world, North Africa and other places, that are beset with Radical Islam played out in the Sunni-Shia-anti-Infidel conflict. The West is both unable and unwilling to confront this menace and it will only end with a MAJOR conflict.
Israel will act on any real threat to its existence and no amount of KerryDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-14409143462870436352013-12-31T10:44:00.001-05:002013-12-31T10:44:26.997-05:00TeamObama's Big QuestionPresident Obama's big question:
Does he recover by trying to work with Republicans in Congress or by confronting them heading into next year's midterm elections?"
Credit WSJ 12/31/13
I'm guessing he will confront and aggressively enter campaign mode.
David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-47842499655342345852013-12-21T09:17:00.001-05:002013-12-21T09:19:09.130-05:00New Health Law Frustrates Many in Middle Class - NYTimes.comNew Health Law Frustrates Many in Middle Class - NYTimes.com:
The more I read about the failings of ObamaCare, not the website mess which can be fixed, but the underlying framework, the more I'm convinced it will fail. It is enormously complex with the net effect being higher costs for too many middle class people.
Perhaps it was constructed as an interim step destined to fail so that David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-52387120428810554172013-12-07T15:34:00.001-05:002013-12-21T09:21:24.651-05:002013 Atlantic hurricane season wrap-up: least active in 30 years2013 Atlantic hurricane season wrap-up: least active in 30 years:
Oops, the experts really missed this forecast. Most likely they are wrong about global warming, too. This failure reveals the inherent weakness of climate and weather modeling.
'via Blog this'David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-78241675060786924832013-11-14T11:06:00.001-05:002013-11-14T11:39:09.062-05:00Review & Outlook: Escape From ObamaCare - WSJ.comReview & Outlook: Escape From ObamaCare - WSJ.com
"The Affordable Care Act appears to be misfiring in every imaginable way, and Democrats are having second thoughts about serving as human shields for White House ineptitude. If they really want to make amends, they'll join Republicans in trying to repair some of the damage they caused."
The chaos that is ObamaCare is the direct David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-67255422128804290292013-11-12T17:12:00.001-05:002013-11-12T17:13:30.505-05:00Himmelstein Shumlin and Vermont Single Payer | Single Payer ActionIn case you missed it...
Himmelstein Shumlin and Vermont Single Payer | Single Payer Action: "“No, no,” Himmelstein said. “I’m actually just saying what’s true. And that is, you can have a publicly financed program, and as Deb [Richter] said, it won’t be single payer. It will be enormous progress. But let’s not confuse it with single payer because you will give up much of the advantage of the David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-84450134787740907382013-10-21T07:49:00.001-04:002013-10-21T07:51:29.004-04:00How Healthcare.gov Doomed Itself By Screwing Startups | TechCrunchThe severity of the problems with the ACA Exchanges puts big government inefficiency on display. This piece argues that the nimble startup private sector may well have been in a better position to build and operate these exchanges.
Nevertheless, I suspect the most severe problems are to be found in the backend, connecting the various government legacy systems. Perhaps the exchanges are fatally David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-14080644753463702652013-10-15T09:16:00.001-04:002013-10-15T09:35:34.503-04:00On a New Jersey Islet, Twilight of the Landline - NYTimes.comThe inevitable is upon us. POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) is nearly dead
As George Gilder predicted in 1995 in his book Telecosm, the copper telephone network must/will die because of the dual drivers of rapid technological advances and the 'socialist' morass of subsidies and regulatory overburden that ruled the copper network fostering Universal Service in the U.S during the last David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-54476055295503354222013-10-14T14:27:00.001-04:002013-10-15T09:20:49.594-04:00From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal - NYTimes.comThis story in the NY Times, normally a strong supporter of this Administration, reveals that the the health portal rollout was and is a colossal failure. Meanwhile, TeamObama has obviously been lying to the American people about it, if we are to believe this story.
Having been associated with complex information technology systems over the years, I am not surprised. This one is even more David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-25196226257962933132013-10-14T05:27:00.001-04:002013-10-14T05:28:44.340-04:00European utilities: How to lose half a trillion euros | The EconomistA fascinating story about the combined effects of government policy and renewable electricity technology in Europe. Good intentions and massive subsidies have produced very high electricity consumer prices and decimated the finances of the electric utilities. The future seems even more uncertain as the consequences of these policies are destroying wealth with no demonstrable environmental benefitDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-51257629925038707882013-10-10T10:57:00.001-04:002013-10-10T10:57:47.082-04:00Breaking News: House Republicans Discuss Plan for Short-Term Increase in Debt Ceiling - dusher@gmail.com - GmailSeems the logjam will break. I suspected Congressman Ryan was up to something because he had been so quiet in this recent wrangling. Also, no mention of the ACA in this.
Breaking News: House Republicans Discuss Plan for Short-Term Increase in Debt Ceiling - dusher@gmail.com - Gmail:
"House Republicans gathered Thursday morning to discuss a plan to lift the government’s statutory David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-36450639676759960282013-10-09T08:30:00.001-04:002013-10-09T08:31:38.300-04:00Paul Ryan: Here's How We Can End This Stalemate - WSJ.comCongressman Ryan's opinion piece suggests that budget negotiations are essential and some common ground may exist among Republicans and Democrats. And he makes no mention of the Affordable Care Act.
Paul Ryan: Here's How We Can End This Stalemate - WSJ.com:
"Over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office predicts discretionary spending—that is, everything except entitlement programs David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-26431064444355021322013-09-20T08:09:00.001-04:002013-09-20T08:10:54.528-04:00Global Warming Without Fear by Bjørn Lomborg - Project SyndicateLomborg makes more sense about climate change than most commentators
Global Warming Without Fear by Bjørn Lomborg - Project Syndicate:
"As a result, the likely outcome of the report’s (IPCC report due 9/26/13) release will be more of the same: a welter of scary scenarios, followed by politicians promising huge carbon cuts and expensive policies that have virtually no impact on climate change.&David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-8013059276113075222013-09-14T08:45:00.000-04:002013-09-14T08:45:18.524-04:00Jesse is Gone
We had to put Jesse, our 12 1/2 year old female Airedale Terrier, down yesterday. She refused to eat last Saturday and after several meds and trips to the vet this week, with no improvement or even a diagnosis, we decided with great difficulty to put her down.
She had a very high white blood cell count which indicated a serious infection, but after many tests and xrays, they could not David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-48144830191291370532013-09-11T10:33:00.002-04:002013-10-09T08:33:07.684-04:00http://mag.uchicago.edu/arts-humanities/right-cue
Estlin, my grandson, featured in a University of Chicago publication. He's a talented, hard-working dude!
David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-44652695293045291672013-09-03T08:58:00.001-04:002013-09-03T08:59:54.906-04:00Not Really Labor's Day - NYTimes.comNot Really Labor's Day - NYTimes.com: "The lack of any fiscal stimulus aimed at lowering unemployment has contributed to this trend. Ironically, the Federal Reserve’s policy of quantitative easing to stimulate the economy and lower unemployment – which some Republicans tried unsuccessfully to outlaw — has probably also benefited those at the top more than those at the bottom. Lower interest ratesDavid Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3714836.post-34645763915020109282013-09-01T08:29:00.001-04:002013-09-01T08:34:38.576-04:00President Pulls Lawmakers Into Box He Made - NYTimes.comPresident Pulls Lawmakers Into Box He Made - NYTimes.com:
The President has no good options. The trick will be to muster enough votes in the House and Senate to approve what he intends to do. The risk of unintended consequences must be addressed in detail.
With all the talk of moral outrage, I think this Syria incursion, should we undertake it, is more about Iran.
What's missing in this David Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01313712054848035163noreply@blogger.com0