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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 ( 1305 )
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How We Can Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise
Each month’s employment report tells us which economic sectors show job growth. And usually leading the pack is healthcare.What’s wrong with this picture? Read more
Posted on 26 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Subluxation Poetry
I am pleased to report that my beloved wife, Therese L. Broderick, is the author of Dislodged: Poems for My Mother’s Weeks of Subluxation.* It is a lovely... Read more
Posted on 24 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Citizen Windsor
We heartily extend congratulations and good wishes to William and Kate on the birth of their son, heir to a throne on which we pray he’ll never sit. Read more
Posted on 22 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Giddy Up
That’s the name of a new local bus company, profiled in our paper’s business section. Not the kind of story I’d normally read, but it was a lazy day. And this... Read more
Posted on 20 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Charles Murray, “Real Education,” and Inequality
Charles Murray co-authored the controversial book, The Bell Curve. In Real Education, he criticizes the whole “no child left behind” idea as harmful romanticism... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Our Depraved Sick Society, and the George Zimmerman Verdict
Following is a complete verbatim AP story from our 7/12 local paper:POLICE: MAN CRASHED KID’S PIZZA PARTYSEATTLE – Seattle Police say they arrested a man who... Read more
Posted on 16 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Christopher Hitchens: The Man Who Left the Left
“Left-wing,” “socialist,” “Marxist,” and “Trotskyite” are not words that ordinarily endear a memoirist to me, and Christopher Hitchens so described himself in... Read more
Posted on 12 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Human Future: Upgrade Or Replacement?
I recently had a featured article in The Humanist magazine. Here’s a link; and a condensed summary:A computer can be upgraded by adding memory, or a whizzier... Read more
Posted on 07 July 2013 POLITICS, SCIENCE, SOCIETY, TECH -
Egypt: A Very Democratic Coup
Nobody is more pro-democracy than me. But I must confess a grudging soft spot for a force that can tell a president, “You’ve been a total dick-head and screw-up... Read more
Posted on 05 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Democracy in Albany
The other night I attended a “meet-the-candidate” at a private home, for Albany mayoral hopeful Kathy Sheehan. (I’d already been to one, but this second... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
White House Down: Movie Review
Posted on 30 June 2013 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES -
Round Lake Library Storm: There is Some Justice
As this blog’s title proclaims, I’m an optimist; while being rational requires recognizing how dumb even smart people sometimes can act. Read more
Posted on 30 June 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Great 2013 Death Ray Plot
FBI: DEATH RAY PLOT FOILED. This was the supersized headline screaming atop the Albany Times-Union’s front page Thursday, followed by further breathless lead... Read more
Posted on 23 June 2013 CULTURE, DEBATE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Unreasonable Searches and Seizures” and DNA Privacy
Concerns about privacy are growing in our high-tech age, when governments and businesses are able to know ever more about you. Read more
Posted on 20 June 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Infinite Jest—All Too Finite
Readers may recall my recent post about hunting for David Foster Wallace’s 1996 novel, Infinite Jest, finally snagged at a used book sale. I have now attempted... Read more
Posted on 15 June 2013 BOOKS -
The Feckless Poor Versus the Selfish Hogs
A 2012 worldwide Pew survey asked whether success is due to hard work or forces beyond one’s control. Most Brits, Germans, and Czechs agreed that success can... Read more
Posted on 11 June 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Proof That Heaven IS Real!
I’ve written – quite critically – about people who claim to have seen Heaven. Well, lo, now I’ve had my own visit. And it IS real!I won’t bore you with medical... Read more
Posted on 05 June 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Bill McKibben, Climate Change, and Who’s the Real Enemy?
Bill McKibben (leading climate change activist) now decrees that a cause needs an enemy to mobilize against. Apparently climate change deniers are not a big... Read more
Posted on 01 June 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Social Animal
Many is the novel that seeks not so much to tell a story as to make a point (Atlas Shrugged for instance). David Brooks’s 2011 book, The Social Animal, tells th... Read more
Posted on 27 May 2013 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Benghazi – “What Difference Does It Make?”
My most vivid impression, from the days after 9/11/12, was the State Department official testifying to Congress, blandly mouthing the repeated mantra that... Read more
Posted on 24 May 2013 CULTURE, DEBATE, POLITICS, SOCIETY