There is a fairly substantial body of work that looks at the difference between hierarchical organized groups and network organized groups. The relative merits of each argument fall into a few camps. The hierarchical organization allows for direction of action…
Category: Politics
Vote: The definition of American
I wake up, get up, shower and shave, walk the kids to school, then walk to the polling location. Yes I said walk. In my small town with the leaves turning from spring green to fall gold democracy in action…
A plan: Refutation of mavericks and hopes of change
The 2008 Presidential election is guaranteed to be historic simply based on the candidates. We will either have our first black president or first woman vice president. Not unlike previous election cycles as recently as Herbert Walker Bush the economy…
VP Debate 2008: Wordle to the wise
Sometimes you just want to look at the various tools of the Internet and find out interesting things regarding the politicians you are watching run for office. A tool called Wordle takes strings of text and then creates a cloud…
Will you be helped by the Wall Street bail out? Likely not.
The events of the past few days has my mind spinning. We are actually looking at the breaking point for the economy. Again. Wall Street is in trouble. Again. I have a few thoughts about this.
To whom or what is your primary loyalty?
Earlier today John Robb posted an article on the hollow state. Michael Tanji at HOTS rejoinders with to whom or what is your primary loyalty? Further he asked where would you get your intelligence (as in information)? That is a worthy question…
Financial meltdown: Well what did you expect?
Sometimes a simple thinking exercise will allow an individual to consider the relative merits of an argument without having to toss together a hypothesis and test it empirically. For example, the paragons of the financial world and political adventurers…
Some contrasts and a nagging sense that won’t go away
I have been thinking a lot about the 2 conventions we have witnessed in the past 2 weeks. There are some interesting differences and there are some troubling differences. I noticed that the DNC made a point to honor each…
Our Crumbling Infrastructure: How the Aging of America’s Infrastructure is a Homeland Security Concern
Abstract Americans are an automotive nation. We celebrate our cars and we revel in the freedom of the open road. Much of this car culture is due to our extensive network of interstate highways and bridges that cris-cross the nation…
Asymmetric warfare: A research agenda looking at epistemological based or not
Introduction There is an almost injudicious love of science by the military academic community. Within the deep reaches of the Pentagon and the service schools and academies there is an intellectual reach and lust for the trapping of academia. I…
House committee moves to censor and circumscribe representative to constituent communcation
United States Government House of Representative seeks to close, restrict, and disenfranchise the American public access to their representatives. In a move that blatantly exposes the absolute totalitarian nature that American agencies are willing to use in efforts to shut…
What are the tactical and strategic implications of an economic downturn/recession/depression?
If you were a general sitting in the Pentagon it is doubtful you would be concerned about refugees from the largest economic destabilization in recent history, the substantial number of people who are homeless from a foreclosure “market”, and the…
How I learned to love the bomb: Why bad science fiction informs Department of Homeland Security policy
Watch enough bad science fiction and you can tell that science fiction as a genre has often used specific plot devices to grapple with current fears of the public. Even the Department of Homeland Security realizes the worth of looking…
Higher Education: Recession proof, perhaps, fuel cost sensitive, definitely
There is an old saying, and to be honest I do not know the veracity of it, “Booze, gambling and cigarettes are recession proof. The businesses of sin always make a profit.” I do not have any idea where it…
A study of hydrogen fueled vehicles and Spain
Abstract This paper will discuss the cultural factors of hydrogen fueled vehicles in the Kingdom of Spain. A variety of cultural inventories are used to score and evaluate the ability of Spain to adopt new technologies alongside ethnographic studies of…