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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 ( 1470 )
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Alex Jones, Trump, and the War on Sanity
Hillary Clinton is a serial killer. Worst ever. Chops up children. Literally. So declared Alex Jones on his “Infowars” show.Cuckooland? Surely. Read more
Posted on 06 August 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
One Child Nation: Chinese Brutalism
Through most of the last century, China was very poor. Exacerbated by conflict and upheaval, and, for the Communist regime’s first three decades, its harebraine... Read more
Posted on 04 August 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Campaign Briefing
Apparently Trump’s campaign has “gone dark” in Michigan (giving up on the state). Recall that unexpectedly eking out Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin gave... Read more
Posted on 01 August 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
News Objectivity in the Time of Trump — Telling It Like It is
The New York Times published an “op-ed” by Republican Senator Tom Cotton advocating a military crackdown on protests.Arguably a vile view. Read more
Posted on 30 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Demise of the Dinosaurs
I heard a talk by Frank Wind (pronounced as in “gust of” rather than “wind up”), a retired geologist, on the dinosaur extinction.Frank started by saying Darwin... Read more
Posted on 29 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Yoho, AOC, Trump, and the Degradation of Civic Culture
“Fucking bitch!” he ended with. Following some other choice bons mots, including “disgusting” and “out of your freaking mind.”That was Congressman Ted Yahoo... Read more
Posted on 27 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Reopening Schools
Trump wants schools reopened. Because he cares about kids’ education? (Note, that was a laugh line.) No, of course he cares only about himself, seeing open... Read more
Posted on 24 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump’s War Against Law and Order
Having earned the loathing of a big majority of voters, Trump’s last ditch hope for re-election is to pose as the defender of law and order, cracking down on... Read more
Posted on 23 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What is the Republican Party?
As unfoxed Americans see Trump is a glob of pus larger than Uranus, and the Republican party careens toward massive defeat, some members now say, “I told you... Read more
Posted on 21 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
John Lewis at the Bridge
The Edmund Pettus Bridge, 1965.John Lewis and his fellow marchers on that bridge knew what was coming. Courage is not lack of fear. Only a fool would have been... Read more
Posted on 19 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Race Issue: Reconstruction and Now
“The past is not dead. It’s not even past.” — William FaulknerEric Foner is a leading American historian, who spoke at the New York State Writers Institute’s... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Why Pro-life Christians Should Dump Trump
To some Christians, abortion is a primal sin blighting America’s soul. It’s a supervening moral issue guiding their politics; they can’t imagine voting for a... Read more
Posted on 13 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
China Crushes Hong Kong
I could not write this blog in China or Hong Kong. It would be erased from the web — and me along with it, thrown in jail.When Britain agreed to hand Hong Kong... Read more
Posted on 11 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Tales of Bermania
Once traveling with my family through Philadelphia Airport, I encountered an acquaintance, and introduced my little daughter to him as the King of Bermania. I... Read more
Posted on 08 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Let’s Talk About Race (again)
My 2009 “Rational Optimism” book addressed race. Rejecting the trope of America as a fundamentally racist society, I saw a nation “that has made titanic... Read more
Posted on 05 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Covid-19: The March of Folly
From the start, Trump repeatedly assured us the virus was under control; no big deal; everyone could get tested; it would go away miraculously; and applauded hi... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ethics of Humanitarian and Development Efforts: Problems Versus Symptoms
My daughter Elizabeth, 27, has worked for five years in the Mid-East for humanitarian organizations, currently for a consultancy much involved in Afghanistan.... Read more
Posted on 01 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
How Trump Sinks U.S. Global Standing
One of Trumpdom’s most ludicrous lies is that’s he’s raising America’s world standing. In the Fox News alternate reality maybe. In the real world it’s the... Read more
Posted on 28 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Confederate Flags and Statues and Racism
They claim the Confederate flag symbolizes Southern cultural heritage, or independence, or states’ rights — or some such baloney. Who do they think they’re... Read more
Posted on 25 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Big Bang, Big Questions
Our Universe began with the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. It started virtually volumeless, virtually infinitely dense and hot, and then expanded. What... Read more
Posted on 22 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY
