February 2012
“When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither...”
– Thomas Paine
U.S. drones targeting rescuers and mourners →
The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed.
The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a “targeted, focused effort” that “has not caused a huge number of civilian...
“Dear @GoDaddy: Your objectification and exploitation of women disgust me....”
– Eugene Cho
Soaking the Poor, State by State →
Still and all, it’s true that the federal income tax is indeed progressive. Conservatives are right about that—though it’s not as progressive as it used to be, back before top marginal rates were lowered and capital gains taxes were slashed in half. But conservatives are a little less excited to talk about other kinds of taxes. Payroll taxes aren’t progressive, for example. In...
“Christianity has not, and does not profess to have a detailed political program....”
– C.S. Lewis
Facebook – The Second Birth of a Mighty Titan or... →
Simply put, with its frontiers all but expanded to their limits, if Facebook wants to keep going it must try to dig deeper into its existing user base in search of profit. To do this it will have to become ever more intrusive in its advertising and marketing methods. Yet this will turn people off the platform and diminish its popularity. So, Facebook finds itself caught between a rock and a...
“This is a struggle to win the hearts and minds of the wider public and those...”
– Chris Hedges
Superbowl XLVI Ads: A Biopsy of the American Mind →
This year’s ads were quite varied thematically, but two themes stood out to me: nostalgia and destruction/redemption. It’s not too hard to explain the source of these themes — our recent economic collapse and very slow recovery, a long and difficult war, widespread confusion about who we are and what our future is, make these particular themes good bets for advertisers trying...
“In many scientists, delight is matched by wonder — a sense of astonishment at...”
– What I Wish My Pastor Knew About… The Life of a Scientist
11 Brilliant Writing Commandments From Henry... →
Work on one thing at a time until finished.
Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”
Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
When you can’t create you can work.
Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.
Keep human! See...
“Our goal should not be to declare our policies as biblical. It is God who is...”
– President Obama
“Rand’s trinity is “I me mine.” Christianity’s is the...”
– You can’t reconcile Ayn Rand and Jesus
Universal health care, pro and con →
My basic argument is that, all other things being equal, it is better to have a society in which everyone has access to medical care than a society in which tens of millions of people can’t afford the medical care they need. I have cancer. Because I have Medicare and supplemental insurance, I can afford the hormone injections that keep it at bay. If I was one of the millions of Americans...
“There is no single text or set of texts that has been more influential in...”
– The Good Book
No Israeli Citizenship for Palestinian Spouses →
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“Last year I was rehabbing my foot in Costa Rica, watching the game on an illegal...”
– Tom Brady
The end of lone-wolf capitalism →
There is a name for the theory behind the wolf-pack approach. It’s called “Reed’s Law,” postulated early in the new millennium by computer scientist David Reed, and it states that the utility of networks increases exponentially with the number of participants (specifically, 2 to the nth power), because any single participant can engage with any number of other participants. Not incidentally,...
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“All for ourselves and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the...”
– Adam Smith
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Must the Rich be Lured into Investing? Who are the... →
1) Supply Side assumes that the rich have a zillion other uses for their cash and thus have to be lured into investing it! Now ponder that nonsense statement. Roll it around and try to imagine it making a scintilla of sense! Try actually asking a very rich person. Once you have a few mansions and their contents and cars and boats and such, actually spending it all holds little attraction. ...
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How the GOP Is Resegregating the South →
And it’s not just happening in North Carolina. In virtually every state in the South, at the Congressional and state level, Republicans—to protect and expand their gains in 2010—have increased the number of minority voters in majority-minority districts represented overwhelmingly by black Democrats while diluting the minority vote in swing or crossover districts held by white Democrats. “What’s...
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“So this is where we end up. Mitt Romney pays low tax rates on his capital gains...”
– Why Mitt Romney Should Pay Higher Taxes
List of sexually active popes →
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“Anyone who thinks welfare recipients do nothing but sit around and cash their...”
– Marian Wright Edelman
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11 New Uses for Old Churches →
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15 Must-Have Gadgets for Super Bowl Sunday →
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“President Obama is the most moderate Democratic president since the end of World...”
– How Liberal Is Barack Obama?
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FAA Bill Speeds Path for More U.S. Drone Flights →
Unmanned planes could soon become a more common presence in U.S. skies.
A broad funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration, which was released this week and is expected to win final approval before the middle of February, for the first time establishes specific deadlines designed to speed up the widespread use of unmanned planes, or drones, across the U.S.
On Friday, the...
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“If the Republicans win the presidency, it will be largely with votes from the...”
– We’re More Unequal Than You Think
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“US multinational corporations cut domestic employment by 2.9 million during the...”
– Thomas Edsall
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Hi-Tech US Corporations Deny Skilled American... →
Of course, the high-tech companies are telling the White House and Congress that they can’t find US citizens for the H-1B jobs, but many critics argue that many high-tech companies hire H-1B workers without even offering the positions to Americans. On top of that, after the H-1B workers are sent back to their native nations, there are reports that they are rehired by US companies abroad...
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“I think if you had told anyone of either party during the winter of 2008-09...”
– Jesse Curtis
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So What’s A Teacher to Do? →
Imagine you’re a middle-school science teacher, and you get to the section of the course where you’re to talk about climate change. You mention the “C” words, and two students walk out of the class.
Or you mention global warming and a hand shoots up.
“Mrs. Brown! My dad says global warming is a hoax!”
Or you come to school one morning and the principal wants to see you because a...
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Welcome to Cancerland →
To the extent that current methods of detection and treatment fail or fall short, America’s breast-cancer cult can be judged as an outbreak of mass delusion, celebrating survivorhood by downplaying mortality and promoting obedience to medical protocols known to have limited efficacy. And although we may imagine ourselves to be well past the era of patriarchal medicine, obedience is the...
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“Still, I believe Mr. Romney when he says he isn’t concerned about the poor. What...”
– Paul Krugman
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Why is Mitt Romney Playing the Rags to Riches... →
See here’s the problem with Romney’s “I didn’t inherit” comments, they simply don’t ring true. There’s not a single person on this planet that looks at Mitt Romney and believes he “didn’t inherit.” The first time I heard him say it I actually laughed. (Actually I laughed and tweeted simultaneously if I remember correctly.) Let me be clear before anyone starts typing up an angry email. I believe...
“Market advocates correctly note that markets have a wonderful ability to...”
– David Korten
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Atomic Bread Baking at Home →
How white bread took root in the land of the corn tortilla is a long story, but, like the story of USDA White Pan Loaf No. 1, it is a story of the early Cold War. After World War II, U.S. officials, Rockefeller Foundation scientists, and the Mexican government collaborated to undermine the allure of communism with cheap, plentiful, industrially produced wheat. Infusions of high-tech U.S. baking...
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“Only rarely in U.S. history do writers transform us to become a more caring or...”
– How Ayn Rand Seduced Young Men and Helped Make the U.S. into an Uncaring Nation
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Romney's plan would shred safety net for poor →
In short, Romney’s plan would incinerate the very safety net that he claims to be his excuse for expressing no interest in addressing the needs of the “very poor.” Oh, and how poor are the poorest 5% or 10% of Americans he seemed to be referring to, exactly? Even the census, which tracks household income for all Americans, doesn’t say with precision, although it does...
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“But I don’t stop there. I’d be remiss if I stopped there; if my values were...”
– President Obama