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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1455 )

• John Gray Versus Pinker on Violence: “The Sorcery of Numbers”

  

  Steven Pinker’s 2011 book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, argued that declines in all kinds of violence, including war, reflect moral progress. I reviewed it... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Inequality and Family Culture – A Disagreement With My Wife

  

  I recently left my wife a newspaper clipping, writing “Read” on it. She returned the favor by writing “Total Rubbish!” on it.It was a column by Ross Douthat (a... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Dalai Lama Reincarnation: Who Gets to Decide?

  

  Tibet has had 14 Dalai Lamas. Heretofore, when one died, the leading lamas went out to find a small child who is deemed to be the reincarnated Dalai Lama. Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Criminalization of American Business

  

  When the future Gibbon chronicles America’s decline and fall, the war on business will feature prominently.Some readers will gag. That’s precisely the problem. Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• I Have a Dream: Israeli Election Speech

  

  My fellow Israelis – I’m seeking your votes in this week’s election, for a policy that both reflects our highest human values, and offers a sustainable path... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Embellishing Reality: Brian Williams, Bill O’Reilly, and Frank Robinson’s Moon...

  

  Recently news personalities Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly, and VA Secretary McDonald, have been assailed for embellishing the truth about some war zone... Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Edmund Pettus Bridge – 50 Years Later

  

  Edmund Pettus was a Confederate soldier, Klansman, and U.S. Senator. It’s an irony that the bridge named for him became a landmark for black rights. Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2015 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• 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