DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Opinion | Is the Internet the Enemy of Progress?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

But it’s 29 years old, written when the true internet era was still just a gleam in Al Gore’s eye. You could further argue that the passage predicted the Great Stagnation that Tyler Cowen identified in 2011, the productivity slowdown and disappointing economic growth that followed the initial 1990s-era internet boom. Writing for Quillette, he argues that globalization and homogenization have reduced cultural competition in roughly the way that the “Lost World” passage describes. It’s not just that we’re forgoing opportunities to improve our macro cultures. Shouldn’t we expect that macro cultures, when selection is weak, will drift into dysfunction just as firm cultures do?

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Michael Crichton’s, Crichton’s, Ian Malcolm, ” Malcolm, Al, John, Tyler Cowen, Malcolm, Crichton, Robin Hanson, It’s, Hanson, ” Organizations: Benetton, Western, George Mason University Locations: Bangkok, Tokyo, London, Al Gore’s, John Hammond’s, Davos, South Korea

☆ Revisiting Florida 2000 and the Butterfly Effect
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Joe Lieberman and the butterfly ballotJoe Lieberman, the former Democratic senator, died this week at 82. He was Al Gore’s vice-presidential nominee in 2000, when the Gore-Lieberman ticket came less than 600 Florida votes away from winning the White House. But I don’t think it’s always appreciated that we probably do know that Mr. Gore would have won Florida, and therefore the presidency, if it weren’t for the infamous “butterfly ballot” in Palm Beach County. If you don’t remember — it has been a while — the butterfly ballot was very unusual. Candidates were listed on both sides of the ballot, and voters cast a ballot by punching a corresponding hole in the middle.

Persons: We’re, Donald J, Trump, Joe Lieberman, Al Gore’s, Gore, Lieberman, We’ll, it’s, George W, Bush, Pat Buchanan Organizations: Democratic, White, Reform Party Locations: Florida, Palm Beach County

☆ Friends, Allies and Even Former Rivals Eulogize Joseph Lieberman
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Friends, allies and former rivals of Joseph I. Lieberman, who died on Wednesday, offered condolences and praise for the four-term senator from Connecticut who was once a standard-bearer of the Democratic Party. Mr. Lieberman, who was Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election, had made his presence felt in politics long after his defeat in that race. He was the deciding Senate vote that led to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, allowing him to veto specific provisions like a public health insurance option. He had also more recently aided the centrist organization No Labels in its search for a 2024 presidential candidate. “Senator Lieberman leaves behind a void that cannot be filled,” the group said in a statement.

Persons: Joseph I, Lieberman, Al Gore’s, ” Organizations: Democratic Party, Mr, Affordable Locations: Connecticut

☆ Joseph I. Lieberman, Senator and Vice Presidential Candidate, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | More About Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut’s four-term United States senator and Vice President Al Gore’s Democratic running mate in the 2000 presidential election won by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney when the Supreme Court halted a Florida ballot recount, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. In the ensuing campaign, the Gore-Lieberman team stressed themes of integrity to sidestep Clinton administration scandals. Mr. Lieberman also urged Americans to bring religion and faith more prominently into public life. They won a narrow plurality of the popular votes — a half-million more than the Bush-Cheney Republican ticket. But on the evening of Election Day, no clear winner had emerged in the Electoral College, and an intense legal battle took center stage.

Persons: Joseph I, Lieberman, Connecticut’s, Al Gore’s, George W, Bush, Dick Cheney, Lieberman’s, Lieberman —, Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky —, Gore’s, Gore, Clinton Organizations: United, Al Gore’s Democratic, New York Presbyterian Hospital, White House, Democratic National Convention, Cheney Republican, Electoral College Locations: United States, Florida, Manhattan, Riverdale, Upper Manhattan

The work brought Mann, then at Penn State but now at University of Pennsylvania, wide exposure. Kate Cell, whose work as senior climate campaign manager at The Union of Concerned Scientists includes tracking climate disinformation, said Mann's case is well-known among other climate scientists. A 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 91% of Democrats believe climate change is happening, while only 52% of Republicans do. Many scientists have followed Mann’s case for years as misinformation about climate change has grown and many of them have themselves been subjected to attacks. Lidsky was skeptical that Mann’s case would have any broader significance, particularly on social media.

Persons: — It's, molester, Michael Mann, Mann, Al Gore’s Oscar, Rand Simberg, Penn State University —, —, Jerry Sandusky, “ Mann, ” Simberg, Mark Steyn, ” Mann, Simberg, “, ” Steyn, Kate Cell, Lyrissa, Lidsky, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, Penn State, University of Pennsylvania, United, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Penn State University, The Union of, University of Florida, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research Locations: Northern, United Nations, U.S, United States, AP.org

How 31 Presidential Budgets Compared With RealityYear of budget 1994 Deficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueYou have probably heard of the main reason for this: The president’s budget has no force of law. But the president’s budget is often not predictive for another reason: Unexpected, cataclysmic events end up changing the trajectory of federal spending far more than shifts in any line item in a budget table. Bill ClintonDeficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueMr. Clinton’s budgets matched actual spending and revenue far more than those of the presidents who followed him. Another was the Budget Control Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced federal spending across the government that Mr. Obama had not proposed. And as we’re often reminded during budget season, budgets are also important because they tell you about a president’s goals and values.

☆ Bulb bailout exposes UK’s pseudo power market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Bulb is the biggest of dozens of flaky British power suppliers which opted not to hedge their future costs when energy prices were cheap. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the saga to cost taxpayers 6.5 billion pounds. Octopus itself thinks the loan could be more like 2.4 billion pounds, as wholesale prices have recently fallen. If that’s correct, regular payments by Bulb customers will cover the cost. With retail power prices fixed and the government on the hook for higher wholesale costs, Britain’s privatised power industry is operating in anything but a free market.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema's Democratic defection without a difference
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Specter’s switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party briefly gave Democrats a filibuster-proof majority and allowed them to pass the Affordable Care Act. Joe Lieberman, the moderate Democrat and former longtime senator, lost a Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006, largely over his support for the Iraq war. A defection without a differenceArizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appears to be different as she becomes the 22nd senator to change party affiliation while in office. A Senate independence trioSinema will be the first independent senator who isn’t from New England in more than a generation. The most complete political evolution may be that of Lincoln Chafee, the Rhode Island politician who was a Republican senator, independent governor and failed Democratic and Libertarian presidential candidate.

Search resuls for: "Al Gore’s"

8 mentions found