Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Choosing a major
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Foolish faith in Basel Accords
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Afghanistan
Western soldiers meet with village councils, or shuras, and work to strike deals with local elders; and the methods of counterinsurgency may well give them a greater capacity to do so. But what if the shura is largely ceremonial, with real power exercised behind the scenes? And what if the elders are not all they seem? What if they exaggerate their own authority, or seek to establish that authority through prominent meetings with easily impressed outsiders? What if the elders, like everyone else, are anxiously hoarding their power, refusing to take risks, and preparing for an unpredictable future in which it’s equally plausible that mullahs, militias or Kabul bureaucrats might each gain more power?
Monday, November 21, 2011
Traffic analysis
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Unfortunate economics jargon
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Ferrying past immigration laws?
This is what Blueseed is attempting to do, but instead of gambling, they are taking the issues around not being able to get H1B immigration visas head on:Blueseed aims to provide an alternative solution to the US work visa problem for Silicon Valley and allow professionals lacking a visa to legally work in close proximity to companies and investors from the Valley....I agree with Greg Anderson from ArticStartup, who wrote, "As an American citizen, I don’t know if I should feel really impressed or disappointed about Blueseed’s plans."Blueseed plans to do this by providing living and office accommodations on a vessel anchored 12 nautical miles [or 13.8 miles] offshore from California (half an hour by ferry), in international waters outside the jurisdiction of the United States...
...While [Max Marty, director of Blueseed,] was in college in Florida, he made friends with amazing and talented people from around the world and after they graduated, they found it incredibly difficult to stay in the US. Most returned home where they started their professional careers, even though that wasn’t what they wanted.
See also the comments at Hacker News.
Why not? Here on the border, folks cross over and back between the two Laredos all the time. Folks on this boat wouldn't have permission to be employed in the US, but someone could call himself an "independent contractor" and visit the US five days a week to do frequent "business" with his "client." But what's to stop Congress+President from closing this loophole? On the other hand, if Congress and the President wouldn't mind this stunt, nor mind its subsequent imitation on a larger scale, then why not just fix the H-1B visa shortage?
If the goal is to pressure Congress and the president to fix the H-1B shortag, then it might work. But will Blueseed ever turn a profit? Why would the political equilibrium stabilize at "they can work here and play here, just not sleep here (until they marry US citizens)"? Even if Blueseed succeeded, I think their success would soon attract less scrupulous imitators who would provoke popular demand to expand US jurisdiction beyond 12 nautical miles offshore. Think offshore brothels and ships full of slaves "indentured laborers."