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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 ( 1308 )
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The Nemtsov Case: “Round Up The Usual Suspects”
News flash — two suspects have been apprehended, guys from (surprise) the restive North Caucasus region (which includes Chechnya). Did the Russian authorities... Read more
Posted on 07 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Boris Nemtsov: Yet Another Putin Murder
NemtsovBoris Nemtsov is merely the latest (and biggest) name on a growing list. He was a leading pro-democracy Russian politician for two decades; an outspoken... Read more
Posted on 03 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Far From the Tree” – Parenting Non-normal Children
Sometimes while reading I must stop, and shut my eyes, to absorb, process and recover from some shocker. This happened a lot with Andrew Solomon’s 2012 book, Fa... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Political Corruption: America Versus China
The chief corruption in American politics is the need to raise large sums for campaigns, the money coming heavily from interests wanting something. Read more
Posted on 22 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands
The concept of happiness has eternally bedeviled thinkers. Nothing is more important, but defining and understanding it is a conundrum. Cass Sunstein reviewed... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Putin’s Ukraine Salami Tactics
Another day, another bullshit cease-fire agreement. A pattern emerges: Russia, while lying about it, uses military force (with “separatists” as a front) to... Read more
Posted on 13 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You the Right to Tell...
Was America founded as a Christian nation? Robert Boston* equates that view of history with the creationist view of biology – both being equally uncontaminated... Read more
Posted on 09 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Fear and Loathing at Sears Auto Center
Once, at a fancy New Orleans restaurant, we didn’t get bread like other tables. I told the Maitre D’. He shrugged and said, “Sometimes you get bread and... Read more
Posted on 05 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Pacific Jewel in the Liberty Cap
Question: which state’s flag incorporates the British Union Jack?Answer: Hawaii, which was (consensually) a British protectorate for most of the 19th century,... Read more
Posted on 03 February 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Stop the Hate Speech
American political discourse “is ugly, as civility has been replaced by bitter reactive battles,” laments Michael Werner in a recent issue of The Humanist... Read more
Posted on 29 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Kids First: Pre-K, Pre-pre-K, Marshmallows, and Fish
Our kids come first – how often is this heard? From parents, politicians, and do-gooders alike. Children are our future; we should invest in them, with... Read more
Posted on 20 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Great News: Sri Lanka Blows Off Authoritarianism
RajapaksaI have written before about Sri Lanka’s vile President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Yet another example of how power corrupts. Together with his band of... Read more
Posted on 15 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Everything is Awesome” – The Lego Movie and Ideology
(Consonant with my ongoing effort to provide readers with insight concerning seminal cultural phenomena, herewith is my meditation on The Lego Movie)A... Read more
Posted on 11 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Mario Cuomo and Bess Myerson
My view of Mario Cuomo was not colored by his having knocked me publicly.I was a PSC administrative law judge, presiding over a case involving Long Island’s... Read more
Posted on 07 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Has Progress Stalled?
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers achieved a 12-second, 120-foot flight. Within about half a century, we were flying to Europe in eight hours. After a... Read more
Posted on 03 January 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
How Big is a Googolplex?
K.C. Cole is an award-winning science writer, whose 1998 book The Universe and the Teacup—The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty, I typically found at a used book... Read more
Posted on 30 December 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Big Picture
For all America’s partisan divisions, we’re in remarkable agreement on one thing: the country is on the “wrong track,” the American dream is struggling, and... Read more
Posted on 27 December 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Christmas in July: An Economic Program
It’s fashionable to decry the commercialism and materialism of Christmas. And I recently reviewed Naomi Klein’s book saying we must cut back our consumer... Read more
Posted on 23 December 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
My So-Called Political Career – Rage Against the Machine
When young, I was mad for politics; active in both campus and local Republican politics in Queens, NY – generally playing the outsider-provocateur-clown. Yet I... Read more
Posted on 20 December 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ebola: God’s Punishment for Homosexuality?
Recently the Liberian Council of Churches met, with over 100 participants, to discuss Ebola. They unanimously resolved “That God is angry with Liberia, and... Read more
Posted on 16 December 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY