In the early 1980s, I was teaching at Stockton State College. At one point, I said something like, "OK, guys, let's get started -- and I mean 'guys' in the generic sense." Afterwards, a couple of the young women in the class came up to me and said, "You can't...

If you're like most of the rest of us, the speed at which you upload is way slower than the speed at which you download. That makes sense if you think of the Internet as a publishing medium, with most of its participants as recipients. It makes much less sense...

Here's what I'd ask the Republican senators who are questioning Sotomayor about that line in her speech:

Senator, would you be ok with an all white, all male Court?

That is, if all else were equal, Senator, would you prefer to have a Supreme Court made up of nine white...

10. Put on red campaign suit, had an unstoppable urge to call a press conference, and, well, had to announce something.

9. Part of careful plan to capture the White House by convincing Americans she's the leading incoherent, out-of-control Republican.

8. She can see crazy from her backyard.

7. That'll...

I believe that to save our planet, there's no need to make big changes in our lifestyles. For example, I happen to be able to fall asleep only in the passenger seat of an idling Hummer. So shoot me. I like to think I more than make up for it...

After reading Chuck Norris' two columns against hate crimes legislation (1 2) -- the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act... could not only criminalize opinions (an unconstitutional act) but also provide elevated protection to pedophiles" -- and Media Matters' response, I think it's time for a...

From the AP:

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.

Steele said that was just an example of...

The Whitehouse.gov blog continues to improve, by which I mean it continues to move away from being a glass-topped version of White House press releases. But it's missing a big opportunity by keeping its blog posts anonymous.

The White House bloggers seem quite aware that a press release isn't...

You can tell that Twitter has added something important to the ecosystem by the volume of the snickering. If you dismiss it by asking "Why do I care what you had for breakfast?", there are only two choices. First, you're saying everyone on Twitter is an idiot. Second, you...

Yesterday I had to explain to my startled children why their dad just about jumped out of his seat when Pete Seeger showed up on stage at the inaugural concert. To those not of a particular generation and of a particular swipe through that generation, it is indeed a...

I hope someday an historian writes a book called The Interregnum that looks at the period between the election and inauguration of Barack Obama. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis had us huddled waiting for events to resolve have I had such a palpable sense of history. But now, instead...

Yesterday, President-Elect Barack Obama received his first deep intelligence briefing, also known as The Bad News. Here is what he learned:

1. Chief source of carbon emission: Printing money for the bail-out.

2. The jobless rate counts looking for work as a full-time job.

3. Loose nukes now available only...

If John Kerry had won in 2004, I would have woken up the next day smiling because we had wiped the smirk off America's face. The long snarl of the Bush administration would have been over.

But this morning I woke up weeping with joy. As I had gone to...

From Martin Varsavsky:

On November 5th Americans will discover that the world did not hate them. That they just hated Bush.

(Knocking wood.) And (knocking entire old-growth forests) maybe we'll discover that we don't have to hate ourselves. May the war between the Red and the Blue begin to...

10. Suspicious Russian tourists spotted across the Bering strait in Dezhnevo

9. Wrasslin' a bear

8. Learns Tina Fey will be watching

7. When taken on tour of White House by McCain handlers, is "inadvertently" locked in Cheney's man-sized safe

6. Schedule for memorizing state capitals thrown off by need...

I hope every independent voter watches the ad that the McCain campaign released even before the last radio waves of the debate escaped earth orbit:

So, McCain believes in crossing partisan lines, but when his opponent agrees with...

I want to propose a hypothesis.

Suppose our new president -- let's just call him "Obama," for simplicity's sake :) -- gets serious about using the Internet as a tool of governance. So, he takes his email list and uses it to kickstart a new e-gov social network. In fact,...

The tag line at the Canadian Conservative Party's Web Site, attacking Liberal party candidate Stephane Dion seems oddly 19th century:

"Canada cannot afford risky experiments at a time of uncertainty."

It's as if Obama were to say, "My opponent's steadiness of purpose is challenged by recent announcements seemingly...

Care to predict Obama's memes for tonight?

For example:

• John McCain will undoubtedly use images of this very event against us. That's because when he sees tens of thousands of Americans eager to participate, eager to pick up the tools to build a better America for themselves and for...

If McCain hadn't become Karl Rove's sockpuppet, this is what he might have said in response to the selection of Joe Biden as OBama's running mate:

I congratulate my friend and colleague Joe Biden on his being selected as a vice presidential candidate. Joe and I have disagreed frequently over...