Fsrcoin

LATEST ARTICLES ( 1455 )

• Ferguson

  

  As a blogger, I’m required to comment on Ferguson.I’ve read that 65% of blacks polled believe the police overreacted to the protests. This shocked me. I thought... Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• TSA Follies and The Death of Common Sense

  

  I hear the TSA is seeking public suggestions.Recently at airport “Security” we almost missed a flight because TSA thought a boarding pass didn’t look quite... Read more

  Posted on 25 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy

  

  For a long time I was vaguely aware of writer Paul Auster. His name would come up here and there. I’d never read his stuff; nor anything, really, about it. Yet ... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• James Foley’s Head Was Not Chopped Off

  

  American journalist James Foley was beheaded by the “Islamic State.” You might picture his head on a block, neatly chopped off with an axe. It wasn’t. Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Obama, Hillary, and “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff”

  

  Bill Clinton had “It’s the economy, stupid.” For President Obama, it’s “Don’t do stupid stuff” (sanitized version) in foreign affairs. Now comes Hillary saying... Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Sarah’s Story — Abraham and Isaac Revisited

  

  NPR’s “Selected Shorts” features actors reading short stories. Today’s, “Sarah’s Story,” by Galina Vroman, read by the terrific Jane Curtin (here’s a link),... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Let Women Go Topless in Public?

  

  I recently wrote (disparagingly) about Muslim craziness with covering up women. Shortly after, I heard a radio discussion about public breast-feeding and, more... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Inquiring Minds Want To Know

  

  Last year, when President Obama was mulling limited air strikes to punish Syria’s chemical weapons use, he stopped and decided it would need a Congressional... Read more

  Posted on 13 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Injustice To Muslim-Americans

  

  The other day I did something I hadn’t done in over 20 years: marched in a demonstration. The previous time was a protest against the acquittal of officers who... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• “Her” — A Love Story

  

  The plot: boy meets girl. They fall in love. Boy loses girl.Theodore works for an agency writing gooey personal letters for clients. Samantha is a computer... Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Muddle East

  

  Columnist David Brooks recently opined (quoting Richard Haass) that the Middle East may be entering its Thirty Years War. The reference is to the cataclysm... Read more

  Posted on 03 August 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• How Hillary Can Be Beaten

  

  Not in recent memory has one presidential prospect, so far in advance, been so pre-emptive a front-runner. To be exact, not since Hoover in 1928. Read more

  Posted on 31 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The World Until Yesterday – What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?

  

  Jared Diamond authored Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, tackling big questions of the human story. His latest is The World Until Yesterday: What Can We... Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Peter Watson: The Age of Atheists: How We Live Without God

  

  The other day I presented a review, at the Albany Public Library, of Peter Watson’s book, The Age Of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God... Read more

  Posted on 24 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Ukraine Plane Shame

  

  The world knows perfectly well who did it. All talk of investigation and forensic evidence just muddles moral clarity. This isn’t a criminal trial requiring... Read more

  Posted on 21 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The New Gaza War: What Is The Point?

  

  I am no pacifist. Some say war never solves anything; I say it sometimes does; and there are things worth fighting for. But about this latest round of... Read more

  Posted on 19 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Female Genital Mutilation and Islam (WARNING: Graphic Content)

  

  Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s beautiful and inspiring memoir is titled Infidel. Born in Somalia, she escaped to the Netherlands from an arranged marriage; became a member o... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Mexico and India: Some Good News For a Change

  

  The world is always full of bad news, but here’s something in line with this blog’s title.Background: Mexico had a big revolution/civil war a century ago. Read more

  Posted on 13 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Social Safety Net Or Bed of Nails? It’s Costly Being Poor

  

  Being billed for room and board in jail might sound like a joke. It is not. In fact, it’s increasingly common in America, among cash-strapped local governments. Read more

  Posted on 09 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Hateful Jews

  

  The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity — W. B. YeatsI almost titled this, “I Hate Those Jews. Read more

  Posted on 06 July 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY