Promises not to kill or torture

Anyone else think there's something wrong when US government has to promise not to kill or torture people?  Via the NY Times:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a letter sent to the Russian minister of justice this week that the United States would not seek the death penalty against Edward J. Snowden, and would issue him a passport immediately so he could travel back to the United States.

The letter also offered reassurances that the United States would not torture Mr. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who faces criminal charges of disclosing classified information and has been hiding in an airport in Moscow in order to evade the American authorities.

If there's one thing we've learned from the Obama administration, it's that there's a massive delta between what they say and what they do. Why anyone would believe anything these war criminals say is beyond me.

Team Retreat

We had our first team retreat at this great house in Two Rivers, WI

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, we've spent the past few days in this great home, hanging out, talking about our business, and getting to know each other.

Capital market climate change

The only surefire antidote to capital market climate change is positive cash flow. If you generate cash, investors mean nothing. If you do not, then your success will depend upon the kindness of strangers.

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

The cost of complexity

Excellent article by the VP of Engineering for Yammer. 

Among the most dangerously unconsidered costs is what I've been calling complexity cost. Complexity cost is the debt you accrue by complicating features or technology in order to solve problems. An application that does twenty things is more difficult to refactor than an application that does one thing, so changes to its code will take longer. Sometimes complexity is a necessary cost, but only organizations that fully internalize the concept can hope to prevent runaway spending in this area.