Communications is also a big part of it. If the high-level objective is to reduce the energy intensity of the U.S. economy, why don't we run fiber-optic cable to everyone's house? That will support applications to allow people to stop commuting.

No shit.

Economics 101 states that in bad times, investment in basics is what pulls you through. Want to prime yourself for the recovery? A long term energy strategy, communications infrastructure (WHICH INCLUDES POLICY/REGULATION REFORM!), and health are all excellent candidates for attention. All three are at crisis stage, and all three can provide the foundation for tremendous growth and innovation for the next 20+ years. Let's get to it!

Investor Eric Janszen Says Clean Tech Is Only Hope for the Collapsing Economy

U.S. financial institutions reported a sizable increase last year in the number of computer intrusions that led to online bank account takeovers and stolen funds, according to data obtained by Security Fix. The data also suggest such incidents are becoming far more costly for banks, businesses and consumers alike.

I'm telling you (as in whoever will listen to me), this is going to seriously undermine the whole economy . Particularly when these types of breaches affect trading markets, it will create FUD about the validity of the market. This is why the Prez has suddenly taken such a serious interest in creating cyber-defense.

Banks: Losses From Computer Intrusions Up in 2007

Wikileaks.org, as it is known, was cut off from the internet following a California court ruling, the site says.

The case was brought by a Swiss bank after "several hundred" documents were posted about its offshore activities.

Information wants to be free. And we're still in transition from a world where information needs to be hidden.

Whistle-blower site taken offline

Emery, 50, said Monday that U.S. prosecutors made the offer to his lawyer for a 10-year-prison term that would mean he would have to spend at least five years in prison, most of it in Canada.

The heavy hand of the US strikes again.

The Canadian Press: Plea deal for Prince of Pot means jail time for marijuana activist in the U.S.

Yer papers please!

Tighter driver's license rules coming out

Photographic Artist Chris Jordan turns the statistics of consumerism into palpable images in his new photo series.

Please watch this video. From an artistic standpoint, it's irrelevant and the quality of the video belies what the actual work must provoke in person. The statement that it is making, which is what art is really for, is what is important. The last 60 seconds of the video is the most profound, but the whole thing must be watched in order for that last bit to resonate roundly.

Bill Moyers Journal - Chris Jordan

To put this guy in office...

Part 2 is here.

What just might make me register to vote

This film is a documentary about the recent elections and how various tactics and methods were used to skew election results (one way or the other). Ian Inaba, the film's director, is heading up a movement to monitor the midterm elections next week with a cadre of volunteers using video cameras, camera phones, and the Internet - in an effort to not only document voting indescrepencies, but also to prevent them through detente.

American Blackout - Official Site.

John T. Unger, an artist and longtime commenter on Collision Detection, recently announced an intriguing art project called "American Guernica: A Call for Guerilla Public Art". He's calling upon artists nationwide to post replicas of Guernica, Picasso's famous antiwar painting, on billboards and the sides of buildings -- as in the Photoshopped example above.

I think I'm going to have a few dozen stickers of this work printed up.

American Guernica

Just because technology makes it possible for us to work 10 times faster than we used to doesn't mean we should do it. The body may be able to withstand the strain -- for a while -- but the spirit isn't meant to flail away uselessly on the commercial gerbil wheel. The boys in corporate don't want you to hear this because the more they can suck out of you, the lower their costs and the higher their profit margin. And profit is god, after all. (Genuflect here, if you must.)

What's wrong with the world, in two thousand words or less.

Wired News: Eat, Sleep, Work, Consume, Die