Arkady's Thoughts

Everyone wishes to visualize themselves on a political spectrum and many visual representations exist, however most are wrong or miss the point.  You are probably familiar with the square and the four quadrants or the even more disappointing circle that sells the notion that political extremes start on polar sides, but end up in the same point.  Presenting:  Political Spectrum 2.0 No complicated gages, arrows or meters.  Presented are several major political ideologies read from left to right.  As you approach the right government grows and this is all that matters.  Where does one stand in respect to size of government?   Overlaid are examples of policies and prominent leaders/thinkers of the past 100 years, the examples or not refined and are quite subjective in terms of what or who belongs where, but they do serve to nudge the general idea forward (there were also space limitations). Why does bigger government matter?  The bigger the...

Congratulations Mr. Obama apparently the Norwegeians caught the hope and change fever and reduced the Nobel peace prize to a set of promises.  At least Gore (sort of) made a movie (8.0 on IMDB, well done) despite being debunked along with the "experts" at the international climate change counil. At least Arafat once attempted to seek peace even if it was after waging terror on innocent civilians.  Today's winner fittingly shocked observers because while he has not accomplished anything YET , he has fantastic potential.  Why the shock? The Norwegeian commitee consists primarily of politicians representing political leanings of Norway's parliament, a body with strong socialist ties. Still, the peace prize has often landed into the hands of people leaving a mark on histry. Men like Gorbachev deserve all the recognition in the world for dismantling one of the most oppressive regimes the world has seen by simply believing in personal liberties.  Lech Wal...