Brian Gongol
"The mystery of stable prices"
Inflation, unemployment, and the money supply aren't coordinating quite like the old models used to predict
Do voters get the lawmakers we pay for?
The Minnesota Senate is looking at raising pay for state lawmakers from $31,000 a year to $42,000 a year. The pay rate hasn't risen since 1999. Some people might argue that anyone in public service should be willing to sacrifice (financially) for the privilege. But it's also worth noting that if you want your laws to be made by an assembly of people who reflect the interests of the mainstream voter, then if the job comes with the duties of a full-time occupation, it's probably necessary to pay enough for someone to live a reasonably comfortable existence. If legislators are required to perform full-time duties but aren't paid the equivalent of a professional salary, then nobody should be surprised if the resulting legislator is filled with people who answer to special interests, working things like no-show jobs at large companies and union halls.
Where the Obama campaign team is working now
Some are turning electoral success into big business in the consulting and lobbying sphere
Google and Silicon Valley startup-backers fund a project to make Google Glass viable
They want application developers to take the tool under their wing. But it's still going to require a lot of social adjustment to imagine people comfortably wearing Google Glasses out in public -- it's going to be a clear mark of tech/geek status for some, but it's probably too obtrusive to gain mainstream interest, at least for quite a while. Wearable computing certainly has a future, but some things are hard to imagine crossing the gap from "geek chic" to widespread acceptance. Perhaps when they become little more subtle, we'll see them adopted widely.
Iowa State Patrol plans to trap car thieves
They're putting out "bait cars" equipped with tracking equipment to see if they can put some car thieves in jail.
