Reblogged from Ryan Broderick's Cool Time Fun Blog
Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress - to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.
President Obama on Reddit answering the question “What are you going to do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics during your second term?” from Redditor suzmerk.
The Mars Curiosity Team Lives on Martian Time During Their Mission
| Indeed: | Since the Martian Day is 24 hours, 40 minutes, 40 [seconds] longer than an Earth day, do the JPL scientists and engineers live their lives on Martian days to stay in sync? |
|---|---|
| CuriosityMarsRover: | Yes. All of the operators (engineers, scientists, drivers, planners) live on Mars time, by shifting the schedule +40 minutes each day. This is order to maximize the efficiency of each sol. MB |
| biznatch11: | Is that difficult to get accustomed to? Do you have to reprogram your alarm clock every day or do you have a special alarm clock that runs on Mars time? |
| CuriosityMarsRover: | It is a bit painful....we re-program our alarm clocks every day. |
Whoa!
(Source: ifuckinglovespace)
Reblogged from CWL
The writer of our cover story about the Internet making us all crazy, depressed, and lonely will be hosting a Reddit AMA (where you can ask him anything) at 1pm ET. Here’s his user account. Refresh around 1 for the link. We’ll also update this post once it’s live.
Reblogged from Newsweek
Guess who’s doing a Reddit AmA right now?
Reblogged from The Same Picture of Dave Coulier Every Day
It was strange. I kept looking at all the different zeros hoping one of them would explain what was going on. It was fun. It was… dirty.
OMG, Louis CK is doing a Reddit AmA right now! (Above is his answer to: “Can you describe the moment when you checked your Paypal and saw that Live at the Beacon Theater had made a million dollars.”)
Two common misconceptions about GW Bush: one that he was stupid; the other that he was a “nice guy.” He was shrewd, sharp, skeptical. He could be very hard on people: remember, he was the man his father used to fire John Sununu as White House chief of staff.
Our columnist David Frum is hosting AmA on Reddit right now. The above is his answer to, “What was Bush like behind the scenes?” Go ask your own!
I’ve reported on Kony for a few years now, and what always disturbs me is speaking to the victims. It’s incredibly sad and most of them are very traumatized. Some of them, it should be said, have been brutalized not just by the LRA but by the armies of DRC, Sudan, and Uganda as well, so they’ve been doubly or triply victimized. They have awful stories of having to kill people by force, or be killed, of witnessing rapes, mutilations, beatings, torture. etc. And hearing small children say these things is always very disturbing.
Scott Johnson, a reporter who followed the Ugandan Army’s hunt for Joseph Kony, is hosting an AMA. The above is his answer to the question “Was there anything that really made you upset or distressed which you saw when you got over there?” asked by redditor Wolfhunters. He wrote a piece for this week’s Newsweek.
An excerpt, in which Issa praises January 18th’s Stop SOPA day of protest:
Redditor trotsky1947:
…[I]n your mind, what keeps your peers in Congress so ignorant about the internet/technology? Shouldn’t they have to keep up if they are going to pass laws regarding tech? What do you think is the best way to educate them?
Issa:
Why are many of my colleagues tech illiterate? First, they don’t do I Am A’s. But seriously, few people in Congress have private-sector tech experience like my friends Blake Farenthold & Jared Polis. They never got their hands dirty innovating and even really personally using technology. But there are, in fact, members who didn’t work in tech pre-Congress (Jason Chaffetz and Zoe Lofgren come to mind) who do get it, championing policies that support tech/innovation…particularly protecting the Internet.
As far as educating Congress, what you all dropped on Congress on January 18 was incredibly edifying for them, forcing them to take a hard look at what they know, think they know and don’t know about tech. Keeping up the heat, and getting involved in open government projects like we’re doing crowdsourcing legislation at KeepTheWebOPEN.com, is your best bet.
Read the whole interview. (h/t Slate)
Reblogged from UPROXX on Tumblr
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