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Google’s 20% time for innovation
In this video, Anjali Joshi, Director of Product Management at Google, discusses the Company’s policy of allowing employees to devote 20 percent of their workweek to pursuing innovative ideas. As Joshi mentions, it is not a strict policy of time-keeping, but more of an informal policy that signals to employees that it is ok to […]
Bill Gates and the problem with philanthropy
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an interesting story called “Gates rethinks his war on polio”. It tells how polio has spread across Africa, even after Bill Gates had donated $700 million to try to eradicate it. The Journal said the spread “marks a setback for the Microsoft Corp. co-founder’s new career as a […]
Goldman: brokers and shorts are now the bad guys – how did that happen?
Last Saturday, the Senate Permanent House Committee on Investigations released email messages among Goldman Sachs executives in 2007 saying that they would make “some serious money” by betting against the housing market. According to the New York Times, these messages “appear to contradict statements by Goldman that left the impression the firm lost money on […]
South Park: internalizing the fatwa
Toward the end of last week, the South Park producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone said that Comedy Central had censored its episode that aired last Wednesday, to remove references to the prophet Muhammad. The Viacom-owned network also pulled the episode off its website. In an earlier episode that aired on April 14, the show’s […]
This week’s articles of note
“Renewing U.S. competitiveness and innovation,” Real Clear Markets, by Jim McNerney “When the starved beast bites back,” The New Republic, by Noam Scheiber “Equal Pay Day reality check,” The American, by Christina Hoff Sommers “Nudges gone wrong,” Slate, by Ray Fisman “How immigration crackdowns backfire,” Reason, by Steve Chapman “Play’s the thing,” (Review of The […]
Replace Earth Day with Human Achievement Day
I’m against Earth Day, because it elevates nature over humanity; I think it should be the other way around. Some writers who are skeptical of environmentalism have suggested alternative insights into Earth Day. John Tierney in the New York Times offers seven lessons from the 40 years of experience since the first Earth Day: It’s the climate, […]
Centenary of Mark Twain’s death
Yesterday, April 21st, marked 100 years since the death of Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens. “I am not an American,” Twain once said. “I am the American.” Few would disagree. Faulkner called him “the father of American literature”. The photo above shows Twain working in his outdoor octagonal study in Elmira in upstate New […]
SEC-Goldman: enough with the conspiracy talk
The SEC’s filing of a civil lawsuit against Goldman Sachs is clearly convenient for the Obama administration and the Democrats, considering that this is a critical period for financial reform legislation. But some critics have gone further and suggested that the timing indicates a conspiracy between the SEC and the administration. The SEC is an independent agency, and therefore […]
Victory for free speech and human (not animal) rights
In a defense of the First Amendment free-speech rights, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that banned videos and other depictions of cruel acts against animals. There are a few areas, such as child pornography, where speech is considered to fall outside of the First Amendment. The law effectively sought to have animal […]
Anti-modernists want volcano air delays to continue
It was bad enough that an Icelandic volcano eruption sent ash into the sky to interrupt European flight travel. The situation was made worse by the risk-averse European aviation authorities who were reluctant to lift the ban, on the basis of “precautionary” or worst-case thinking, as Frank Furedi noted. And now, to add insult to injury, […]
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