do they have to make it so easy/hard?

The Debt Crisis: How It Arose & How to Fix It

Great interview here of Michael Hudson, a former Wall Street economist specializing in the balance of payments and real estate at Chase Manhattan Bank, Arthur Anderson, and later at the Hudson Institute (no relation), Dennis Kucinich’s Chief Economic Advisor in the recent Democratic primary presidential campaign, and currently a prof at University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Nano-Artwork Making Nano-Circuits

In 2000, I wrote (here), "[w]e've already begun incorporating computers into ourselves, and it’s hard not to believe that one day, computers themselves will qualify as a life-form. We may already have commenced our greatest creation, the species that will succeed us and carry on."

. . . . and (here), "[p]erhaps the key characteristics of a living system can be summed up as having to do with the regulation and processing of material passing in and out of the system so as to maintain itself as a recognizable identity or form. The article my friend gave me on general systems theory pointed out that boundary and identity maintenance are key functions of any living system. The boundaries or skin of any living system should be neither too yielding or permeable, on the one hand, nor too rigid or impenetrable, on the other hand. If the boundaries are too rigid or impenetrable, interaction between the entity and its environment will be overly restricted and the entity will likely starve, explode, stagnate, or be unable to respond or adapt as necessary to changing external conditions or events. An individual or group can be destroyed through failing to take in resources or new information quickly enough. On the other hand, if the boundaries are too soft or permeable, the entity may be too vulnerable to deformation or invasion by outside pressures or attack, or to being depleted, or otherwise destabilized or overwhelmed to the point that it either disintegrates or is changed beyond recognition.

* * * * *

"My theory also suggests there may be optimal velocities or rates at which various functions might be performed, i.e., rates of change that balance the need for growth and the need for stability, given the exigencies of the environment in which the system exists. For a system to be healthy in the sense of surviving in identifiable form, it seems a balance is needed between softness and hardness, openness and closedness, and between rapid and slow rates of change."

As Paul Rothemund says, "To create complex forms, life performs computations."

I Need More McLuhan

Oh, THAT Palin!

(Thanks, Lofqui!)

By Popular Demand . . .

I wasn't going to post this, but.

If you haven't already heard what Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy said of the pick when they thought the microphones were off, check out HuffPo.

There are some interesting theories out there about why Palin was picked . . . 'cause it doesn't make much sense on the face of it.

Naomi Klein Responds to Attacks on her "Shock Doctrine"

Hm, this link disappeared; but I encourage you to search Naomi Klein and read it all. Here's something to get you going.

Never Forget:

(Thanks, garybeck!) For info on how to register to vote in Texas or confirm your registration is still good, click here. For other states, try your Secretary of State's website.