The chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder plans to raise $9 million to create an endowed chair for a professor of conservative thought. But some on the liberal campus say his quest for intellectual diversity is too radical.
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Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you’re thinking: “Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!” But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.
Don’t moan. I’m not going to “pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next.” I’m a member of the 1960s generation. We didn’t have any wisdom.
From The Guardian online:
Jonathan Zittrain, the amiable but intimidatingly brainy 38-year-old professor of “cyberlaw” at both Oxford and Harvard universities, thinks we shouldn’t forget the Hush-A-Phone story: it shows that unimaginable future innovations depend on our present-day technologies being “generative”, or open to being fiddled with. (A personal computer is generative: it can be programmed to do things the manufacturer could never have predicted. A coffee-maker is not.)
Sphere: Related ContentBut things are looking grim, Zittrain argues in his new book, The Future Of The internet And How To Stop It. While we rightly fret about censorship of the web, a cause with which Zittrain has been closely involved, we’re missing another serious problem, beneath our noses. To put it briefly: those gadgets you love so much — your iPod, your iPhone, your BlackBerry, your PlayStation, your Sky+ box — may be killing the internet.
California Republican John Campbell yesterday introduced in the House his “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Act,” which would amend the tax code to allow individuals to make voluntary donations to the federal government above their normal tax liability. The bill would place a new line on IRS tax forms to make this easy.
Mr. Campbell says he has heard the “cries” of those wealthy Americans – Mrs. Clinton, Warren Buffett, Barbra Streisand – who reject the lower tax rates passed in 2001 and 2003 and complain that they and their fellow rich don’t pay enough. “It’s a great injustice that citizens wishing to fulfill their dream of paying more taxes cannot simply check a box on their 1040 form to make a donation,” he says. His bill would give liberals a chance to salve their consciences without having to raise taxes on millions of Americans who already feel overtaxed as it is.
Still, don’t expect many to take Mr. Campbell up on his offer. The Treasury already accepts voluntary donations to decrease the nation’s debt; last year it received all of $2.6 million. Apparently even most liberals would rather keep their money, or bequeath their estates to charity rather than to the IRS.
Sphere: Related ContentThere are more than 40 theories as to what deja vu is and what causes it, and they range from reincarnation to memory glitches. In this article, we’ll explore a few of those theories to shed some light on this perplexing — and scientific — phenomenon.
Sphere: Related ContentInternet TV startup Joost, backed by CBS, was supposed to be as big as YouTube. Instead, it’s in danger of being squeezed out as the networks scramble for a billion-dollar payday.
Sphere: Related ContentA new study suggests that Americans today are no happier than earlier generations despite an increased standard of living due to a poor use of leisure time.
Sphere: Related ContentLet’s say a giant asteroid was headed toward Earth right now and experts say it has a good chance of ending civilization as we know it. Let’s also say that we’ve known about this asteroid for years but even as it gets closer and closer our leaders do nothing.
Sphere: Related ContentGoogle sent a letter to the FCC continuing to press its case to allow technology companies to develop unused TV airwaves to provide wireless Internet access.
Sphere: Related ContentA prominent Stanford law professor on Thursday launched an ambitious project that aims to use collaborative software to harness the extraordinary levels of pent-up political energy and dissatisfaction that voters have shown over the past two years with their members of congress.
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