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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1455 )

• World Leaders Admirable and Loathesome

  

  Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson was embarrassed the other day being unable to name a foreign leader he admired. At first I winced – it seemed... Read more

  Posted on 30 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Debate

  

  I sat down with a sense of dread; and a bowl of popcorn to medicate the pain. Conventional wisdom said Clinton had to tread a lot of fine lines, some mutually... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Tattoo Nation

  

  Going to the beach nowadays is to visit a tattoo exhibition.Tattooing used to be tantamount to sticking a label on yourself saying “low class” or “no class.”... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Syria

  

  So by mistake a U.S. airstrike killed sixty-odd soldiers of Bashar Assad’s Syrian army.Boo hoo.We abase ourselves with apologies, while the Russians (who bomb... Read more

  Posted on 22 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Ban the Box?

  

  Since 2007, eleven states have enacted bans on checking a job applicant’s credit score. The aim is equality and fair hiring – since someone with low credit woul... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Bible Babble

  

  The Massachusetts Bible Society is conducting “The Great Bible Experiment” – discussion forums in “America’s least Bible-minded cities.” Strangely, Albany tops... Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Dear Trump Voters

  

  You’re making a big mistake. A whopper. Believe me; OK?What a big con you’re falling for. Make America great again? Trump has no clue what made it great. It... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Donald Ainslie Henderson: Hero

  

  One who saves another’s life is reckoned a hero. Donald Ainslie Henderson is a hero you never heard of, but he saved around 100 million (so far, and counting).... Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Colombia’s Peace Deal: How to End Wars

  

  There are important lessons to be learned from Colombia’s recent peace deal with its FARC insurgency, ending a 52-year civil war. Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Banning the Burkini

  

  Banned in FranceThe “burkini” is Muslim swimwear; more burqa than bikini, it enables gals to get wet while still covered. Some French jurisdictions have banned... Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2016 SOCIETY

• The Animal That Came in from the Cold (My Labor Day Tribute to Work)

  

  There’s a cynical misanthropic mentality seeing humanity as a curse upon the planet, and modern life as a snakepit of psychic malaise. I don’t buy it. Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Gertrude Stein and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

  

  Therese performing poetryMy poet wife Therese Broderick started a Meetup group to discuss poets and poetry. Every month she’d sally forth to the appointed venue... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Two Airplane Photos

  

  On our recent Alaska trip, I took these two airplane pictures of my wife, Therese. The second one was on our float plane ride, in Ketchikan. Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Observing an Alaskan Feeding Frenzy

  

  We did an Alaska cruise. Not our first, but it’s a way for my 95-year-old Californian mother to get the whole family together.She enjoys the shipboard slot... Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Faster: the Pace of Modern Life

  

  I picked up James Gleick’s book Faster and read it slowly – something it says people rarely do anymore.The subtitle is The Acceleration of Just About Everything. Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Mind and – Or Versus – Brain – and “neuropsychoanalysis”

  

  This book was a gift from my wife: In the Mind Fields by Casey Schwartz. I’ve written before how the concept of the self bugs me. I keep pondering: what, really... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• My Most Popular Blog Post Ever

  

  I’ve been blogging since 2008, on WordPress, which provides a lot of interesting data. WordPress says I’ve done 645 posts and have had 224,000 visits, last... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• This is My America

  

  Ilhan Omar spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya, fleeing from the turmoil in her native Somalia.On Tuesday, now 33, she won a Democratic primary for... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Our HUUUGE New Recycling Bin

  

  Who needs a hot tub?The City of Albany dropped off our new recycling bin. To quote a well-known local advertiser, it’s HUUUGE. I remarked that I could fit insid... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Payday Lending and Lawyer Extortionists

  

  Payday lending has been in the news again, with do-gooders seeking a crack-down. These are businesses making small short-term loans, to mostly poorer people in ... Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2016 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY