Bush Swells The State

Based on this, I predict that in five years we’re going to have a recession/economic panic the likes of which we haven’t seen since 1929.

Taking a broader look, spending on government programs from 1999 to 2003 will have increased 22 percent (in inflation adjusted dollars), according to a new analysis by the Washington Post. Measured against the GDP, total federal spending will soar to 18.5 percent in these three years. Spending rose 9 percent in the last two years of the�Clinton�presidency but will rise 15 percent in the first two years of the Bush administration. If�Clinton�was a social democrat in love with big government, what does that make Bush?

[via RRE]

Arcata Eye’s police-blotter poet is surprised by his fame

It was only a matter of time before folks glommed onto the Arcata Eye police log, which is a wonderfully dry and funny compilation of the the illegal activities of the citizens of Arcata (“everyone in this town is stoned”), California. The surest sign of success is that you have a web site that is against you.

Alice and Bob’s secret life

Much like Dick and Jane were to 50’s era readers, Alice and Bob are the two hypothetical people that crypto folks and coders use to illustrate security problems and solutions. e.g. “Alice wants to send a secret message to Bob…” and so forth. Hundreds of papers have been written using Alice and Bob – they’ve tried to defraud insurance companies, played poker for high stakes by mail, and have exchanged secret messages over tapped telephones. A biography was inevitable

[via bOing bOing]