STEM Fields All Mapped Out!

2008 Called. It Wants to Know What Happened to Barack Obama.

One of the many little thrills of being a part of the Obama campaign four years ago was a deep and abiding sense that, finally, a political leader had come along who could live up to our highest aspirations. Yes, Obama was cool and played basketball and was conversant in ironical youth culture, but when it came down to it, he was overwhelmingly serious. The other guys were hauling unlicensed plumbers onstage and suspending their campaign at the drop of a hat, but Obama kept his eyes on the prize and played the grown-up. Now he's talking about "Romnesia."

Democracy

Trump’s Seven Techniques to Control the Media

The 15 Warning Signs of Impending Tyranny

via Robert Reich

5 Principles of True Patriotism:

Monkey’s selfie at center of copyright brouhaha

Wikipedia says the public, not the photojournalist, owns the rights to ape's pic.

Copyright Brouhaha!!!  Even when monkeys are involved copyright is a headache!

It’s almost the future...

The Best Ways To Celebrate Marty McFly's Arrival Next Month

It’s pretty crazy next month will be OCT 21 20 15 04, it always seemed like that date was so far in the future....

Arthur C. Clarke accurately describes the 21st century...in 1976 - CNET

While other futurists predicted flying cars and robots everywhere, Clarke was more interested in where communication was headed, and his predictions are remarkably accurate decades later.

Lessig, Teachout, Bharara

We the People, and the Republic We Must Reclaim Lawrence Lessig TED talk

The Bare Knuckle Fight Against Money in Politics  Zepher Teachout & Lawrence Lessig on Bill Moyers

Cuomo vs. Bharara: Battle of the Heavyweights

Cuomo's Office Hobbled Ethics Inquiries by Moreland Commission

RELATED:  Check out my flipboard on:  Wealth and Inequality 

I'm also a LL fan not only because of #creativecommons but

Lawrence Lessig on the Free Access Movement

"Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig is easily the most important voice in intellectual property today, whose work — including founding Creative Commons"

Newest YouTube user to fight a takedown is copyright guru Lawrence Lessig

"Lessig's lawsuit runs through the checklist of fair use, making a case for why his lecture falls under that distinction: he used a small proportion of the song, his lecture doesn't compete with the market for the song in any way, and the lecture is an entirely new creation. Phoenix wanted its song to entertain and make money; Lessig's lecture was educational, and neither he nor Creative Commons, the sponsor, made any profit."

10 Years of Creative Commons: An Interview with Co-Founder Lawrence Lessig

Also see

Prosecutor as Bully 

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (video, 1:44:59, CC available)

The Internet’s Own Boy review: Remembering—and honoring—Aaron Swartz

Booking Video: Aaron Swartz Jokes, Jousts With Cops After MIT Bust

Former Reddit co-owner arrested for excessive JSTOR downloads

MIT not to blame for Aaron Swartz prosecution, MIT report says

Aaron Swartz

Higher Ed is the Province of the High Achieving and the Wealthy

I don’t want a society that massively excludes so many students, nor one where you have to be better than perfect to gain admission to your state university. For 20 years now, anyone with access to the internet has been able to publish ideas to anyone else in the world with an internet connection. That’s an amazing opportunity and a formidable responsibility. Yet our antiquated educational system rewards a hierarchical form of silo’d, standardized teaching and learning that was designed for the Taylorized Industrial Age. Our over-emphasis on standardized testing undermines the intellectual skills of critical thinking and productive contribution needed to thrive in our interactive Do-It-Yourself era.

Have Humans Already Conquered The Threat Of Extinction?

The Great Filter theory suggests that all advanced civilizations eventually destroy themselves before acquiring the capacity to colonize space — a notion that could explain why we've never been visited by aliens. But there may be another reason for the celestial silence. Yes, the Great Filter exists, but we've already passed it. Here's what this would mean.

Announcing the Web We Want

"Millions of people together have made the Web great. So, during the Web’s 25th birthday year in 2014, millions of people can secure the Web’s future. We mu