Tag: United States

Posted on
by
Statue, Water, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, New Jersey
What the Declaration of Independence Said and Meant by Randy Barnett (Reason.com)

First come rights, and then comes government.

I admit that I have no read the Constitution of the United States of America. It’s something I wish to correct.

I am not a natural born US citizen. Decades ago, right around the time, I was college age, my grand-father obtained resident alien status for his children and his grandchildren.

I was able to immigrate to the USA for college to study physics and electrical engineering. Upon graduation, and before I went off to graduate school, I applied for US citizenship. I became a naturalised US citizen in 1993. I was so happy and so excited to proudly and loudly say, “I am an American!”.

When I sing or hear the US national anthem or recite the pledge of allegiance, I can’t help but be moved by promise embedded in the words.

I had looked upon the United States of American as the land where I could be free; an inviting place, where anyone could work hard and achieve their dreams. I hope it still is.

More about this image at the link.

Posted on
by
The Divide Between Silicon Valley and Washington Is a National-Security Threat by an author (The Atlantic)

In the past year, Google executives, citing ethical concerns, have canceled an artificial-intelligence project with the Pentagon and refused to even bid on the Defense Department’s Project JEDI, a desperately needed $10 billion IT-improvement program. While stiff-arming Washington, Google has been embracing Beijing, helping the Chinese government develop a more effective censored search engine despite outcries from human-rights groups, American politicians, and, more recently, its own employees.

Via Ben Brooks