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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1469 )

• Our Dubai Trip: Shopping Mecca

  

  Dubai’s main attraction is shopping. Maybe not an obvious vacation choice for us non-shoppers.Luckily, there was a big international art fair, with worldwide... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Russia Acting From Weakness — ?

  

  President Obama says Russia is actually acting out of weakness.Maybe the most fatuous thing I’ve heard a president say. If this is weakness, we could use some i... Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• “The World Without Us” — America’s Global Role

  

  We got this film from Netflix on a misunderstanding. A book with the same title imagined Earth’s future if humans disappeared. But the film is a documentary... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• A New Cold War?

  

  DUBAI, U.A.E. — I recently  participated in a discussion where someone said, “Why is Obama taking such a strong stance on Syria?” Huh? Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Pleasantville: A Subversive Allegory

  

  “Pleasantville” was a 1998 film starring a young Tobey Maguire as Dave, a high schooler whom his popular slutty sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) considers a... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Freetards

  

  Paul Rapp is a local lawyer who writes a column on intellectual property in an “alternative” newspaper, Metroland. One of his 2013 columns started with a viciou... Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• 21st Century Socialism and the War on (Small) Business

  

  When I wrote about the “war on business,” some commenters dismissed this, saying profits have been strong, while it’s middle class jobholders who are hurting.... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• World in Tumult: Tufts EPIIC Symposium

  

  On Sunday we attended this annual event at Tufts University. This year’s topic was the Middle East and North Africa. The six-day symposium hosted around fifty... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The President’s Ukraine Speech

  

  Good evening, my fellow Americans, listen up, and the rest of the world too. That includes you, Mr. Putin.I know I was a complete wuss on Syria, and let Putin... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Film Review

  

  OK, so we’re a little behind in reviewing flicks, and this one dates from the eighties. But we thought we had to see it because it’s such an iconic classic... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Ukraine’s Revolution: It’s 1989 Again

  

  “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”                      — Martin Luther KingMy favorite year was 1989. Today, in Ukraine, it’... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Obamacare, Jobs, and La-La Land

  

  So you’ve heard that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates 2.3 million fewer people working by 2021, due to Obamacare.Republicans gleefully said,... Read more

  Posted on 19 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Women, Bad Boys, and Contingency in Life

  

  My Valentine’s Day post–I’ve written before of my difficulties getting it on with women. Being such a rationalist, I thought the way to go about it was to... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• More New York Legislative Slime: Senator Jeff Klein

  

  I’ve written before about corruption and cringeworthy behavior in our New York legislature.Despite a heavy Democratic enrollment edge, Republicans have managed... Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• “Inequality For All”

  

  Robert Reich’s film, Inequality For All, spotlights a problem that’s real. But it’s very complex, with no simple answers (“tax the rich;” raise minimum... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Inequality Obsession

  

  Continuing my discussion of George Kennan’s book (see previous post), he also addressed inequality. So have I (here, here, and here; maybe thus my own... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• George F. Kennan: Grumpy Old Man

  

  George F. Kennan (1905-2006) was considered one of our great wise men. A diplomat, he was a key architect of the cold war “containment policy” toward the... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Momma’s Boy: “Elsewhere” by Richard Russo

  

  Richard Russo is a novelist, author of Nobody’s Fool, Empire Falls, and other major works. Elsewhere is a memoir. He should have called it Momma’s Boy. Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Egypt, and the Future of Democracy

  

  Egypt’s new constitution was approved last week by a 98% vote. When a vote is 98%, you know it ain’t democracy. In this case, no opposition campaign was even... Read more

  Posted on 21 January 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Benjamin Franklin: Reason Versus Romanticism

  

  Impressed by Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio, I thought I’d read his Benjamin Franklin – though familiar enough with Frankliniana that another immersion might... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2014 CULTURE, HISTORY, SOCIETY