Fsrcoin
MY BLOGS
-
The Rational Optimist
http://www.rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/
Commentary of Life, Society, Politics, and Philosophy
LATEST ARTICLES ( 1483 )
-
John McCain
The two presidential candidates I was most proud to support were both Arizonans. I believe that had John McCain won in 2008, America today would be in far bette... Read more
Posted on 26 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Manafort, Cohen, and the Prevaricator of the United States
ManafortPaul Manafort was Trump’s campaign chief. Bad enough that he worked for foreign villains like Yanukovych, whom even Ukraine couldn’t stomach (which is... Read more
Posted on 24 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
America’s Eviction Problem
A trivial incident — kids throwing snowballs at a car. Next thing you know, Arleen, a single Milwaukee mother, is evicted. Sheriff guys give her a choice: all... Read more
Posted on 21 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Polygamy Problem
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Or several, in many places in the world. Read more
Posted on 17 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Was America Founded as a “Christian Nation?”
We’re often told that it was. The aim is to cast secularism as somehow un-American, and override the Constitution’s separation of church and state. But it’s... Read more
Posted on 14 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Bye Bye Britain
A parent’s decline and demise is a sad thing. Britain was our mother country.The Brits turned a bad corner in voting for Brexit — that is, to leave the... Read more
Posted on 11 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fact of the Day
According to a June 28 article in The Economist, the number of people employed in China censoring internet content is estimated to exceed two million. Read more
Posted on 11 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Reveal” International Contemporary Art Fair in Saratoga Springs
We had lucked out during vacation trips to Dubai and San Francisco, happening upon unanticipated international art shows in both places. So when I saw there’d b... Read more
Posted on 08 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
QAnon and the Republican War on Reality
“QAnon” is the handle of an online person or group claiming access to all kinds of secret information (“Q” refers to a high security clearance) about “deep... Read more
Posted on 05 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Mitch Landrieu and Confederate Monuments
Mitch Landrieu was mayor of New Orleans, 2010-18. In 2015 he started the process of removing Confederate monuments. Landrieu expected opposition, but its... Read more
Posted on 02 August 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Pascal’s Wager
Assume 50-50 odds of God existing or not. Which way should you bet? With your afterlife, that is. This is “Pascal’s wager.”Blaise Pascal was a 17th century... Read more
Posted on 30 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Democrats’ Divide
Many Democrats insist they mustn’t be namby-pamby, but instead run as full-throated unapologetic “progressives” — as tax-the-rich class and social justice... Read more
Posted on 27 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What is Happiness?
There is no bigger question. After all, what is the point of life? I’ve authored a book titled Life, Liberty, and Happiness, arguing that ultimately the only... Read more
Posted on 24 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Joint Statement by ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and CNN
For Release July 21, 2018We have always taken with utmost seriousness our responsibility to the American people to inform them truthfully, accurately, and... Read more
Posted on 21 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Would and Wouldn’t
Back in my PSC days, a telephone company witness filed prepared testimony containing a huge blunder. On the stand, he said to delete the entire paragraph.... Read more
Posted on 19 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump’s Treason
Recently at the G7 meeting in Canada, Trump played skunk at the picnic, refused to sign the agreed communique, and called Canada’s prime minister a... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
King Zog
Knowing nothing about the story, except vaguely its strangeness, out of simple curiosity I picked up this biography, King Zog, by Jason Tomes.Albania was an... Read more
Posted on 15 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
China’s Xinjiang: “1984” Meets the Gulag
Xinjiang is China’s northwest province, home of the Muslim ethnic Uighurs (“wee-gurs”). Also home to a vast gulag of “re-education” camps — hundreds or... Read more
Posted on 12 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
How to Become a Nazi
You’re a nurse, and a doctor instructs you, by phone, to give his patient 20 Mg of a certain drug. The bottle clearly says 10 Mg is the maximum allowable daily... Read more
Posted on 10 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Civility Issue
Actor Robert DeNiro shouts “Fuck Trump!” Comedians Samantha Bee and Kathy Griffin, respectively, call Ivanka a “cunt” and pose with a (fake) severed Trump head. Read more
Posted on 07 July 2018 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY
