One of National Public Radio’s news features this morning was a “well-balanced” report on the frequent attacks on government support of scientific research that takes the form of a denunciation of what on the surface appears to be a stupid or meaningless study. The NPR reporter, Nell Greenfieldboyce, presented several examples of right-wing politicians or […]
Texas Governor Rick Perry didn’t take long to establish himself as the leading presidential candidate of the know-nothings. Maybe he decided to hit the ground running with misinformed opinions to make up for the fact that his ignorance does not really clear new ground, but rather follows in the footsteps of the Rick Santorum, Michele […]
I recently stumbled across a new book by Boston-area university professors Cynthia Enloe and Joni Seager that I highly recommend to everyone: The Real State of America Atlas is a series of charts, graphs, surveys, facts and snippets of text that attempt to give a picture of present-day America. Enloe and Seager use a series […]
Read More… from New progressive atlas maps myths and truths about the United States
In what must be one of the most absurdly reasoned analysis articles in years, The Wall Street Journal argues that appraisers are to blame for the continuing housing bust that has now lasted more than four years. Let’s be clear: the author, S. Mitra Kalita, doesn’t blame appraisers for creating the bust, only for extending […]
The first vote of the presidential election cycle took place this past weekend, and Michele Bachmann squeaked out a 400-vote (one percentage point) victory over the septuagenarian libertarian Ron Paul. The question on everyone’s tongue is if the straw vote of just under 17,000 Republican regulars and enthusiasts in Ames, Iowa will change the complexion […]
If he were still alive, I would want to ask Karl Marx a question about his clever, but enigmatic old saw that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” Dr. Marx’s phrase comes to mind as I read the reaction of the news media to the naming of the members of the Congressional […]
Depending on if you like him or hate him, Texas Governor Rick Perry became either a cause célèbre or a bête noire this past weekend. His brave and/or ignoble act was to give the keynote speech before an estimated 8,000 people at Response, a Christian prayer rally that took place in Houston. The event, which […]
Read More… from It’s Rick Perry’s politics and not his religion that should worry us
On the surface, three stories in today’s New York Times seem completely unrelated, but all reflect the underlying theme of our epoch: the politics of selfishness. In each story, someone or some group acts in its own selfish best interests, disregarding the interests of the nation. Let’s start with the simplest example of selfishly acting […]
Read More… from The politics of selfishness defines our age and imbues most political actions.
Congress has now passed and the President signed the anti-growth, anti-jobs program that resulted from Republicans blackmailing the country about raising the debt ceiling. And lo and behold!—the stock market tumbles and the rumblings about losing our Triple A credit rating increase. Do you think maybe large institutional investors know a little something about the […]
Consider these numbers: Approximately 2,225 people killed a day on average: That’s the number Stalin killed if we accept Robert Conquest’s high estimate of 20 million total Stalin victims over his rule of approximately 25 years. Approximately 6,000 people killed per day on average: That’s the number we get if we accept Timothy Snyder’s estimate […]