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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1484 )

• Trade Wars: Shooting Ourselves in the Foot (and Elsewhere)

  

  Free trade is bad — for some people — but good for most. Protectionism is good for some, bad for most. But those profiting from it know it, and reward... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Anti-semitism and Cancel Culture

  

  Here’s a letter to the editor I sent the local paper yesterday:First, criticizing Israel is not necessarily anti-semitism. I’m of Jewish ancestry, my mother... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• How Do We See Things?

  

  I’m not one to take anything for granted. That includes existence itself.It’s been observed that if some physics parameters, like the precise strength of... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Bar Trump from the 2024 Ballot?

  

  A movement’s afoot to block Trump’s candidacy. Based on a 14th Amendment provision barring from federal office anyone who “engaged in insurrection” against the... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• David Lynch’s Hilarious 1984 “Dune”

  

  Trolling Netflix, my wife and I stumbled upon David Lynch’s 1984 film, “Dune.” I’d read the Frank Herbert sci-fi novel in the ’70s; hadn’t remembered this film... Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• My Marriage

  

  In all my years of blogging, I’ve barely touched upon my life’s central thing: my marriage with Therese Broderick. (I’ve eschewed boastfulness, humility being... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-semitism

  

  Predictably, the Middle East horrors bring out, too widely, not humanistic responses, but their antitheses. Ideological pathologies. Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Democracy and the Press: We’re in Trouble

  

  Our democracy is in deep trouble. A big part of that is people unable to tell truth from lies (indeed, reality versus downright crazy) and which news sources... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Modus Vivendi in a World Going Nuts

  

  A recent major poll showed Trump leading Biden in five of six key swing states. Many people won’t vote for Biden because he’s old. But will vote instead for a... Read more

  Posted on 16 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Sarah Vowell: Historian-Adjacent Narrative Non-fiction Wise Guy

  

  Sarah Vowell is a living contradiction to the notion that history is dull. She writes history books almost as comedy routines. Yet still they’re full of real... Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What Are Humanity’s Top Problems? And Their Solutions?

  

  This is a “philosophy contest” advertised by the “World Roundtable Association of Amateur and Professional Philosophers.”*It solicits a list of humanity’s top 2... Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Hard Problem of AI

  

  What does the Artificial Intelligence (AI) explosion mean for our future? That’s the Great Topic of the day.Back in 2013, my seminal Humanist magazine article,... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Frog and the Scorpion

  

  Gaza is a godforsaken place. (Why do most residents still worship that god?) Two million people crammed into an overcrowded ghetto. A prison camp. Read more

  Posted on 29 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• MAGA Cult Triumphant

  

  The Republican crazies got their way in the end after all.It had seemed the party was completely MAGA-gaga, with little left of its sane wing. Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Don’t Know Much About History

  

  Peter Frankopan’s 2015 book, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World reveals much not known before — by the many who, as the song said (almost proudly) “don’... Read more

  Posted on 23 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The (New) Battle of Saratoga: Horse Hockey

  

  Saratoga Springs is a nearby town originally famed for its waters; then horse racing. Is something now in the water turning town officials into horses’ asses? Read more

  Posted on 20 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Why Believe?

  

  One panel at the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Book Festival pitted an atheist against an Evangelical Christian. There was blood all over the place. Read more

  Posted on 18 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Terrorism in Israel and House of Representatives

  

  In an old Laurel and Hardy film, the pair drive up to a man’s house, and get into an argument with him. Angered, he breaks something on their car. So Hardy... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What’s in a Name? For Sports Teams, Don’t Say Red (or Reddish)

  

  Upstate New York school sports teams have commonly borne names connected with Native Americans (or “Indigenous Peoples,” or “Indians”). Who of course used to... Read more

  Posted on 12 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Why Are Americans So Grumpy?

  

  (This (slightly edited) appeared as a commentary in today’s Albany Times-Union)By most measures, for most Americans, our economy is doing quite nicely —... Read more

  Posted on 09 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY