oogoog

I think this is a good point. However, its not clear to me that this would have deterred anyone. Consider Darfur.

I'm not sure how that solves the op's problem. The point is democracies and crowds often make bad decisions based on popularity, status, pride, anger, ignorance, whats good for the majority (at the expense of a minority), etc.

Heh, not that I have a solution. I'm just saying the OP has a valid point and crowd rule isn't necessarily going to lead to the best solution.

http://iijo.org

Chinese flashcards

I agree. But practically, a government must have a way to mollify powerful interest groups or you end up with revolution and chaos. I think American democracy does a fantastic job of producing a stable and fair environment. But I'm not convinced it does the best possible job. As you say, it leads to complex system of laws that are not fair.

As a westerner newly living in Asia, I can see Singapore delivers good, efficient government and they respond to citizens complaints like a good company responds to its clients. Taxes are low, simple, and are done on a post card. I think thats the advantage of not being a democracy.

However, its not clear to me how they manage their powerful interest groups. I suppose brute force plays a role. But honestly, I doubt there is any more brute force used in Singapore than in the US. And I would trust Singapore to be more fair and even handed.

My guess is that China models itself after Singapore. I think thats where China is trying go. If they can get there -- and its not clear to me that they can -- in my opinion, it will be a more successful form of government than the democracies of the West. But they have a long way to. Singapore is a small island in a unique political and economic situation and I think that makes a huge difference.

Google and others can already target things through private philanthropy and private investment.

Unfortunately mobile phones don't support the rollover event.

I assume this is why Apple went with the toggle UI. The problem with toggles is you need a very short description. (on/off, yes/no, etc)

Worse, for those of us not developing only for the iPhone, there are drawbacks. There are javascript and jQuery solutions for this. But then you need to require javascript and download some images and it adds complexity, makes things more fragile, is harder to maintain, adds concerns over compatibility, and I don't even know if there are performance issues.

So I guess there are some trade offs.

Tenure is weird, but its only a part of the reason university prices are so high.

First, getting a great education in a luxurious environment from world famous researchers is just going to be expensive. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is going to be able to afford that. Most people will have to find another way.

Second, government subsidies and regulation must raise the cost of education for the entire market -- private schools too. Ironically this hurts poor people the most.