http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0408/27/a09-255537.htm

I spent some more time looking at the CBO data quoted in the article. Its true that the top 20%, 10%, 5%, and 1% got a 3.8%, 3.2%, 2.3%, and 0.7% [sic] increase in federal income tax burden. However, the CBO data also says that those same groups had a decrease of -0.6%, -1.1%, -1.5%, and -1.8% in overall federal tax liabilities. So the impact was actually the opposite of what Luskin reported.
Please see:
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5746&sequence=1#pt4
table 4 year 2004. Luskin used the 'Change in Share of Individual Income Tax Liabilities' sub table and didn't mention the related 'Change in Share of Total Federal Tax Liabilities' sub table.

I always go back to Engelbart's paper to get grounding in what the point of it all is. We create tools that amplify intelligence that allow us to create more tools that will amplify intelligence further. Software was one tool that allowed Google to make the search tool. Now that we have search, what is the next tool that will trigger the next phase of intelligence amplification?

Is recent upsurge in talk about DHTML anything new?

How is this different from Outlook Web Access, Netscape's plug-ins, or Java Web Start? I grok the debate between fat and thin clients, and the question of whether thin is bad because it means the end of windows as we know it or thin is good because it means a subscription revenue model. And postulating how and where the industry will evolve is a worthy exercise. But forgive me for not understanding why Google's and Yahoo's recent efforts along these lines constitute a shift in the technological landscape.

In what direction will information worker application innovate in the future? And will that direction be better served by what Win32 offers or what Google offers? If we are moving towards collaborative spaces that requires software that searches, analyzes, and presents "information universally accessible and useful" [sic], then Google has indeed shifted the landscape on the fat versus thin debate. Their web client for information workers may be better able to address these new types of applications than Win32 currently can.

Google currently offers only a free beta version of their API for personnel use. So they are making no revenue on it. But if their "platform" is where new applications take root, then that is a loss for Win32, no?

Why didn't the government wait until these types commission reports were avilable before rewriting our airline security policy?

Friedman has finally lost my respect. He tries to make the point that Europe has failed the Arab world by not doing enough to improve their well being. Which is a valid position, but its a bit more complicated than his two lines on Europe would imply:

"Europe has done an extremely poor job of integrating and employing its growing Muslim minorities, many of which have a deep feeling of alienation. And Europe has done a very poor job of investing in North Africa and the Middle East — its natural backyard."

Yes integration is a problem in Europe. But its not fully the European's fault. The immigrant Muslim population suffers the same fate as the inner city population in US cities such as Detroit and Phili. But unlike the US, Europe provides strong public education systems that these young immigrants could use to their advantage. Sadly, more often than not, immigrant Muslims are unprepared for integration. There is no work ethic and no interest in education. Youth gangs roam the street of Brussels, harassing women.

And as to the charge of poor investment in its backyard... Western Europe's backyard is actually Eastern Europe. Friedman makes a parallel with Mexico and the US's free trade agreement. Europe is moving towards the equivalant of allowing the Mexican states to join the US, giving Mexicans the right to live and work anywhere in the US.

How would Friedman propose Europe invest in North Africa and the Middle East? By giving money to the governments of Libya, Sudan, Syria, or Iran? By brokering deals with the Saudis whom in turn donate to terrorist organizations?