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MY BLOGS
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The Rational Optimist
http://www.rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/
Commentary of Life, Society, Politics, and Philosophy
LATEST ARTICLES ( 1301 )
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Republicans on Abortion: “Full of Shit”
That’s a quote from The Daily Show. Actually applies to today’s Republican party in toto.Daily said it following a clip of Arizona senate candidate (and electio... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The American Dream: A Fairy Tale?
The New York State Writers Institute’s annual Film Festival is always a great event. It’s free, and this year’s included nice breakfast and dinner buffets!... Read more
Posted on 19 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What the Hell is Happening to America?
The American character has ever been one of positive spirit, optimism, self-confidence. Thus conventional wisdom in politics was that positivity always beats... Read more
Posted on 14 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Eclipse Apocalypse: Or, A Day at the Beach
You watch, for over an hour, through your protective glasses, as the Moon’s dark disc progressively occludes the Sun. Darkness descends; the temperature drops.... Read more
Posted on 10 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Was Saving the Union Lincoln’s Big Mistake?
America has been blessed with some leaders of great nobility and vision. Washington and Lincoln stand out. Lincoln almost godlike in his depth of character and... Read more
Posted on 07 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
A Byzantine Coin Lover’s Frabjous Day
In my coin dealing business, customers like to sell me stuff. Couple years ago a guy drove up with a rented U-Haul fully packed with coins he said he’d been... Read more
Posted on 03 April 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
America’s Tiktokification
Nowadays people get their news not from Cronkhite-like broadcasts or newspapers but more commonly from the internet, mainly social media, like Facebook. Read more
Posted on 30 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump Documents Trial: J’RECUSE!
Trump operatives aggressively screamed conflict-of-interest because Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, on his 2020 election crimes case, had an affair with a... Read more
Posted on 26 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fun With Artificial Intelligence
The core shtick of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is writing, and it’s widely taking that over from humans. This was part of the story with the recent Hollywood... Read more
Posted on 22 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Christian/Conservative Nationalist Populism
It’s not just in America, but burgeoning all over Europe. And it’s not your father’s “conservatism,” but transmogrified into something unrecognizably... Read more
Posted on 17 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What is Intelligence Good For?
I was gifted with a 2022 book, Talent, by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross. Cowen is known as a Big Thinker. I hoped it might be a Malcolm Gladwell type book (in... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Zero-Sum Us-Against-Them Populism
In the “good old days” (they weren’t) economic progress was nonexistent. Most people lived in extreme poverty, generation after generation. You could only get... Read more
Posted on 11 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Catskill High School and the Great American Insanity Machine
During rehearsals for a school performance, Catskill High schoolers were talking. Stop it or I’ll tape your mouths, Choral Director Michelle Storrs-Ryan said,... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump and The End of the World
“Well, he was president before and it wasn’t the end of the world.” Thus do many Americans complacently shrug at the prospect of Trump’s election.Huge... Read more
Posted on 05 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Roots: Israelis and Palestinians Together
I attended a 2+ hour presentation by an Israeli and Palestinian, discussing their peoples’ situation. The words “Hamas,” “October 7,” and “Gaza” never came up. Read more
Posted on 01 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Voting and Demographics: What Really Drives Today’s Politics?
On Election Night 2008, when Obama was declared the winner, TV showed a middle-aged Chicago Black woman jumping up and down, shouting “God bless America! God... Read more
Posted on 26 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Humanism, Meaning, Values, and What Really Matters
“Humanity is at a painful point in history. We’re between paradigms, between stories. In the Western world, the old story is largely played out — the tale of th... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
God Save Democracy . . . From Voters
My championing democracy isn’t just sappy sentimentality. Nor merely the principle of government accountable to citizens. Democracy makes for a better society... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Alexei Navalny’s Murder
Alexei Navalny, Putin’s top critic, was imprisoned under bogus charges and harsh arctic conditions cruelly calculated to destroy his health. Yet Navalny, 47,... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Number Go Up” — The Cryptocurrency Phantasmagoria
Number Go Up — Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall — is a 2023 book by the aptly named Zeke Faux, an investigative journalist. Read more
Posted on 15 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY