borg.org

borg.org, the nobody reads it blog.

  • Bitcoin "Deflationary Spiral": Any worse than Berkshire Hathaway?

    When economists say bitcoin is at risk of a deflationary spiral (people hoarding the limited supply, having little incentive to spend today but always waiting until tomorrow), I wonder whether they are missing two key points? Not a Monopoly Currency When a country has an isolated economy and single official currency, the model is different […]

  • JFK: Conspiracy? Jackie is a Clue

    I don’t know who did it.  But it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald. Previously I was doubtful, based on holes in the “single bullet theory”.  But today I realize it is much simpler. As a kid I paid attention to hearings the US House held on the assassination, but since then haven’t been bothered to look […]

  • Merkel's Telephone: How Secure Does She WANT it to be?

    The news that the NSA has been listening in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone had me wondering, as a techie who has paid some attention to computer security, how would I recommend the Germans secure her phone?  It is an interesting puzzle to think through.  And part of my approach would involve other European […]

  • Syria and Sarin: What are the consequences of saying sarin gas carries no punishment?

    To Congressman Capuano, Senator Warren, and Senator Markey Sirs, Madam: I write this open letter as a constituent and supporter, to encourage you to help President Obama on the matter of Syria. Certainly there are good reasons to not get involved in their civil war, and I share those concerns. I have been sickened to […]

  • Cleveland Dungeon: What Punishment?

    Assuming he proves to be guilty, what should happen to Ariel Castro? There are reports that at one point he considered suicide. Ironic. Maybe he felt trapped by his crime and was looking for a way out. But he didn’t have the guts. He doesn’t deserve the death penalty, it would be doing him the […]

  • Syria and Sarin: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

    I am watching MSNBC, and Chris Hayes suggested that after the break he would tell us what we should do next about Syria.  Okay, that might be interesting, but let me see if I can answer the question first. It seems quite possible–though by no means certain–that Syria’s leader Assad has used Sarin gas. President […]

  • Associated Press and Passwords

    Dear AP, Today you tweeted that there were two explosions in the White House and Obama was injured. It seems you didn’t intend to do so. Someone else broke into your Twitter account. In other words, someone else had your password. Jeeze, it isn’t that complicated: Make up a password, with some random stuff in […]

  • Guns: But WHO Loves Them?

    There is nothing more red-blooded-American than being a gun nut, right?  Patriotic, tyrant opposing, freedom loving, fundamentalist, God fearing, American! That’s the PR. Okay, what if brown-skinned men with heavy beards joined in? Show up at rallies. Testify before lawmakers, with thick accents even. Fundamentalists, Muslims fundamentalists! What would that do to gun PR? Hmmm, […]

  • Race in America 2013

    I am a privileged white man, so I am supposed to tread carefully here, but I am willing to blunder over many topics, so here goes. When I was a kid, during the era of civil rights protests, people were beaten, humiliated, terrorized, tortured, and killed for working for equality for blacks, or just being […]

  • Guns are Like Racism, or Porn

    Outlawing guns is going to be difficult, we are awash with them. And a lot of fellow countrymen are clinging to them and will not be interested in having them taken away. We need to change our attitudes. We haven’t outlawed racism, but we did make it no longer respectable in polite company. It is […]