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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 ( 1308 )
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How to Pick up Girls in Ancient Rome
“The past is a different country; they do things differently there.” We often romanticize “the good old days” because we’ve forgotten what they were really like... Read more
Posted on 27 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Golden Door Slammed Shut
A traveler was robbed and beaten, left half-dead beside the road. Two passers-by ignored him. Finally another stopped to help, treated his wounds, took him to a... Read more
Posted on 24 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Now It’s Official: Republicans Don’t Know Right from Wrong
Michael Gerson is a Republican, former G.W. Bush speech writer, and columnist. Please read his latest column below. (I have condensed it considerably.)* Susan... Read more
Posted on 22 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Go Back to the Sewer You Came From, Trump
America was built by people coming here from all over, to take part in our great enterprise. That’s central to what America means.But some Americans... Read more
Posted on 20 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Who’s Really a Citizen?
Trick question: what’s the world’s second biggest Muslim country?If you said America, shame on you. Everyone (who’s reasonably informed) knows Indonesia has... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Another Day, Another Protest
I attended Friday’s Albany protest against Trump’s inhuman cruelty to migrant people. Some things one has to do.Quite a few asked to take pictures of my sign.... Read more
Posted on 14 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Social Disconnection and Trumpism
“Grab them by the pussy.” I’ve striven to understand how any Americans could vote to put such a reptile in the White House.Columnist David Brooks keeps saying... Read more
Posted on 11 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
William Kennedy and Magical Realism
William Kennedy (now 91) is the great Albany author. Others (like Melville) have had Albany connections, but in Kennedy’s oeuvre, Albany itself holds center... Read more
Posted on 09 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump at the Rubicon
Julius Caesar’s army in Gaul was not authorized to enter Italy. Crossing the Rubicon River made him an outlaw. But he then proceeded to Rome to make himself... Read more
Posted on 06 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire
(A condensed version of my June 18 book review talk)In this 2017 book Kurt Andersen is very retro; believes in truth, reason, science, and facts. But he sees... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Making Burundi Great Again
Burundi is a very fortunate country. True, they had a 12-year tribal civil war killing 300,000, but that ended in 2005. Fewer die these days. Read more
Posted on 01 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Crimes That Shock the Conscience of Civilized Men” (and Women)
That’s a phrase I remember from my legal education.Over a year ago we learned of Trump’s cruel policy of separating migrant children from parents. Read more
Posted on 28 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Why Does Evolution Produce Such Diversity?
A science writer friend pointed me to a recent “Edge” essay by Freeman Dyson (https://www.edge.org/conversation/freeman_dyson-biological-and-cultural-evolution)... Read more
Posted on 26 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Holier-than-thou Syndrome and Biden’s Latest “controversy”
Joe Biden said that as a senator he’d been able to work with colleagues he’d disagreed with, even segregationists like Mississippi’s James Eastland. Read more
Posted on 24 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
ALARM! Russia Attacking America
On 9/11 we were attacked. America united fiercely, in outrage and resolve, to confront the enemy and prevent a repeat.In 2016, a different enemy attacked us,... Read more
Posted on 21 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fat Girls and Sex
NPR’s “This American Life” had a fascinating story featuring Elna Baker, a young fat gal (she used the F word). She tried to convince herself it wouldn’t truly... Read more
Posted on 18 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Is China Our Enemy?
In 1989, China’s regime followed Mao’s dictum, “power comes from the barrel of a gun,” shooting many hundreds of democracy proponents in Tiananmen Square. Read more
Posted on 15 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Somaliland — “The Country That Was Left for Dead” — “A Country Doing Everything...
Those are quotes (From Edna Adan and Michael Rubin) from a June 8 conference we attended, at Marist College, on Somaliland development. Read more
Posted on 11 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fantasyland — My Talk Tuesday, June 18
Next Tuesday, June 18, at noon, I will give a talk at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, focused on Kurt Andersen’s book Fantasyland: How... Read more
Posted on 11 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Automating Inequality” — Using Technology to Screw the Poor
Automating Inequality is a book by local researcher Virginia Eubanks; I attended a talk she gave. The focus was upon three initiatives ostensibly aimed at... Read more
Posted on 07 June 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY