“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.
Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt
Trevor Timm: The US’s insistence on weaker encryption puts citizens in harm’s way
We usually think of tech companies as invading our privacy – and with good reason v] – but in the current political climate where the FBI is [aiming to vilify the encryption that is increasingly used to protect everyone’s private information, those same tech giants may be our best ally in protecting our privacy against the US government.
A frontpage New York Times story on Monday details the escalating legal and political fight between tech companies like Apple to protect user data from spying governments and criminals versus the FBI’s insatiable appetite to make sure there aren’t any communications beyond its reach. [..]
For those who care about privacy, this continued fight is really disturbing for a variety of reasons. But here’s the thing: the government is fighting a losing battle. They can continue their push, which can still hurt Americans’ cybersecurity, our privacy and even the US economy. But either way, encryption is here to stay, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: War Should Be the Last Option: Why I Support the Iran Nuclear Deal
I support the agreement that the United States negotiated with China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom and Iran. I believe this approach is the best way forward if we are to accomplish what we all want to accomplish — that is making certain that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon — an occurrence which would destabilize the region, lead to a nuclear arms race in the area and would endanger the existence of Israel.
It is my firm belief that the test of a great nation, with the most powerful military on earth, is not how many wars we can engage in, but how we can use our strength and our capabilities to resolve international conflicts in a peaceful way.
Those who have spoken out against this agreement, including many in this chamber, and those who have made every effort to thwart the diplomatic process, are many of the same people who spoke out forcefully and irresponsibly about the need to go to war with Iraq — one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the modern history of our country.
At a time many Republican presidential candidates and state legislators are furiously focusing on private morality — what people do in their bedrooms, contraception, abortion, gay marriage — America is experiencing a far more significant crisis in public morality.
CEOs of large corporations now earn 300 times the wages of average workers. Insider trading is endemic on Wall Street, where hedge-fund and private-equity moguls are taking home hundreds of millions.
A handful of extraordinarily wealthy people are investing unprecedented sums in the upcoming election, seeking to rig the economy for their benefit even more than it’s already rigged.
Yet the wages of average working people continue to languish as jobs are off-shored or off-loaded onto “independent contractors.”
All this is in sharp contrast to the first three decades after World War II.
Gary Younge: State-sanctioned killings without trial: are these Cameron’s British values?
Three months ago David Cameron celebrated the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. Flanked by the Queen and the archbishop of Canterbury he genuflected before the pillars of Britain’s legal system.
“Magna Carta is something every person in Britain should be proud of,” he said. “Its remaining copies may be faded, but its principles shine as brightly as ever, in every courtroom and every classroom, from palace to parliament to parish church.
“Liberty, justice, democracy, the rule of law – we hold these things dear, and we should hold them even dearer for the fact that they took shape right here, on the banks of the Thames.”
On Monday he confirmed that he had executed two British citizens without trial. Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin were jihadis, from Cardiff and Aberdeen respectively, fighting for Isis in Syria. They were not killed in the heat of battle but with cold calculation. Their assassination was the result of “meticulous planning”, claims Cameron.
Sean McElwee: The education myth
The elite consensus on education hurts college students and recent graduates
Almost everyone agrees that education, innovation and human capital are critical to economic growth and security. And anyone who can’t find a job or is stuck with a low-paying job is told to acquire the skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy.
Unfortunately, the results of believing in that myth have been catastrophic. Earnings have stagnated or declined for everyone except the very top earners, even for those who have educational qualifications, and jobs that didn’t previously require credentials now do. College-educated workers are increasingly forced to take jobs in low-paying industries.
The skills gap is not why workers aren’t prospering. If it were, those with higher skills should be doing better, not worse. Instead, employees are victimized first by policy failure – since the economy is not operating at full employment, those who depend on their labor for living may not find work – and second by the deluded guidance of experts who point to education as a panacea for all their problems.
Recent Comments