The Obama at the WHCD

In case you missed the White House Correspondence Dinner or you want to see it again here is a link to the WHCD page at CSPAN. Jimmy Kimmel was the featured speaker but Obama stole the show.

Here are direct links to Obama's performance for his first term: 2012  2011 2010 2009a 2009b

What Happened to Global Warming?

Arctic ice continues to shrink; 2011 had the second lowest ice extent. But we seem more concern about the oil resources that it will uncover. Yesterday was Earth Day, a day to remind us that the new oil riches will be meaningless without a habitable planet.

Here is a TED video about a swimmer who tried to bring world attention to the melting arctic by swimming the North Pole. His talk was in 2009; what happen in the last three years?

The Steve JOBS Act

Did you notice that Obama signed the JOBS Act into law last week? No, this was not the American Jobs Act which the Republicans stonewalled; it is the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act which originated with the Republicans in the House. But it had the support of Obama, half of the Democrat Senators and 70% of the Democrats in the House. Matt Taibbi (famous for calling Goldman Sachs a vampire squid) has been extremely harsh on Obama, HERE and HERE.

Because it touted the success of the Silicon Valley startups, the bill was sometimes called the Steve JOBS Act, even though his company, Apple, was incorporated back in 1977 and is hardly a startup anymore. The law was supposed to free startups from regulation to make it easier to raise capital, but critics say that it was unnecessary to remove many rules which protected investors.

Both Maryland Senators, Cardin and Milkulski, and both Howard County members of the House, Cummings and Sarbanes, voted against the bill. Here is the Senate roll-call and here is the House roll-call.

The Internet, DARPA and Al Gore

Did you know that the Internet was invented by the Department of Defense (DoD)? It was meant to be a highly reliable communication network that would work even after a nuclear attack by dynamically rerouting messages around damaged areas of the country. It was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the DoD. DARPA continues to do amazing research, which is the topic of this TED talk.

But wait, didn't Al Gore invent the Internet, you say with a wicked grin. As it turns out Al Gore never said he invented the Internet. His actual words were, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." The word "creating" was used in a legislative context. Al Gore did take the initiative to fund improvements in the Internet and provide more public access, as explained HERE.

Without someone like Al Gore, the Internet would have remained in the confines of the military. So even though DARPA invented the Internet, Al Gore's legislative initiatives created the Internet as we know it today.

April Fools Asteroid

There actually was an asteroid that passed between the earth and the moon yesterday. The earth was not in danger but this may not aways be the case. Here is a TED talk on asteroid collisions.

The Supreme Court Live

You didn't get tickets to last week's big event at the Supreme Court? Don't fret. The Supreme Court has posted live recordings the health care mandate oral arguments here.

The press has been incredibly harsh on Solicitor General Verrilli, and it seems that he is being setup as the fall guy. I have listened to his Tuesday argument and I don't think he was that bad. Here is a direct link. He does clear his throat as he begins but that does not mean that he choked.