The Lesser of Two Evils Is Still Evil

It is an unwritten American law: in any close election, both the Democratic and Republican candidates will have as their major campaign slogan, "vote for the lesser of two evils." Here's a sterling example from Ronald Reagan:

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.

The lesser of two evils argument is typically invoked immediately before listing a parade of horribles grossly mischaracterizing the effect of voting for the other candidate. (The argument is, of course, subject to the poetic license of apocalyptic hyperbole.)

Alexander Graham Bell v. Samuel F. Morse

I just read again for the umpteenth time that telephony displaced telegraphy. Let's put that myth to rest. It's just the other way around.

Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 patent for the telephone had a flaw that would eventually prove fatal for its technology: its signals were analog, varying electrical voltage and amplitude to convey the variances inherent in human speech.

John Kerry Launches New Career as Stand-up Comedian

"You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text," Kerry told the CBS program "Face the Nation."

Will Dunham, Kerry condemns Russia's 'incredible act of aggression' in Ukraine, Reuters (2 May 2014).

 That is unless, of course, you are the U.S. government. Witness, Uncle Sam's "trumped up pretexts" in the 21st Century for invading Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, not to mention the trumped-up pretexts for unleashing violent Neo-Nazi "protesters" to overthrow the lawfully-elected government of Ukraine, all war crime wars of aggression by any measure.

A Lesson Learned the Hard Way

When you find yourself part of an invading force in a foreign land fighting patriots, it's time for a reality check on your world view.

— Paul Merrell (9 May 2012)

A Plea for Clipboard-Enabled Error Messages

Custom is a powerful force among homo sapiens. We often learn by imitating what others have done. But all too often, custom ignores better solutions that became feasible only after the custom was well entrenched.

In my studied opinion, that is the case with error messages for the user that are generated by nearly(?) all software that employ a graphical user interface ("GUI"). The format of error messages has been obsolete since the advent of the World Wide Web ("the Web").

Were I Emperor of the World … version 1 Million-Plus

When confronted with global politics, I frequently lapse into a daydream about awakening one morning to find myself suddenly Emperor of Earth … with omnipotent powers. My first task, obviously, is to decide, what shall I do next? I've never had the same answer twice (which undoubtedly says something about my ability to reason)

But tonight a a thought worthy of notation bubbled to the surface in response to that question:

About That Bald Spot ...

It's not a bald spot, it's a solar panel for a sex-machine.

 — Cory Doctorow, Metacrap: Putting the Torch to Seven Straw-Men of the Meta-Utopia v. 1.3 (26 August 2001), § 2.7, http://www.well.com/~doctorow/metacrap.htm#2.7 (visited 10 May 2012).

Originally published 10 May 2012; updated to add tag on 25 August 2014.