“We don’t invade poor countries to make them rich.
We don’t invade authoritarian countries to make them democratic.
We invade violent countries to make them peaceful
and we… Read More
On this sign, a sentiment I fully agree with. Why are all of Trumps close buddies members of the Russian or American mafia? Why doesn't anyone care? I don't get it Read More
BEAUTY PARLOR
A place where women curl up and dye.
CHICKENS
The only animal you eat before they are
born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE
A body that keeps minutes an… Read More
I watched the 4th Democratic Debate. As always, Sanders and Warren are impressive for their focus on the wealth gap. As Wilkinson and Pickett's book The Spirit Level shows, inequality is eco… Read More
Here's the transcript of Trump's call to the Ukrainian president. He's clearly asking for a favor. And his request for Giuliani to carry out the diplomacy is clearly a violation of the Logan… Read More
Out of the Democratic candidates, I'm disappointed that Bernie Sanders isn't doing better in the polls. He's one of the few candidates who clearly identifies the key issues and what needs to… Read More
The Allergists were in favor of scratching it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologist's had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologis… Read More
The research on native American origins is getting interesting as new genetic analyses appear. There's now greater clarification regarding northern and southern branches. More is now known a… Read More
What Peterson says about the crisis in higher education (around the 30-minute mark)--bloated administration, excessive costs, and a lack of a sense of mission--is right on Read More
Drew Desilver has an interesting article on the lack of real wage growth in the last 40 years, despite the recent uptick in many economic indices Read More
From Mad Kane...
Vlad Visit Interruptus?
Over hosting old Vlad, Trump’s been heady.
But the Kremlin says Putin’s not ready
To say “Da” to a visit… Read More
I've been reading Erin Meyers' book The Cultural Map and have been very impressed with it. So many of these top selling books introducing a field tend to be well-written but fluffy. This boo… Read More
This is exactly where progressives should be campaigning. If their message doesn't resonate among the working class, it's time to change the message and transform the platform Read More
"We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
Supreme Court Justice Louis D Grandeis Read More
An AR-15 or a modified version of one was used to commit the attacks in Aurora, Colorado (June 2012); Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut (December 2012); San Bernardino, Ca… Read More
This is good to see. South Korea's making a bold move to cut out the use of plastic bags. I'm a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to this since I still end up taking the occasional plastic ba… Read More
I could care less about the move of the American embassy to Jerusalem. If that's where Israel wants to put their embassy, more power to them. The status of the Palestinians is another matter… Read More
MULLIGANS
born again profiteering false prophets
professing to protect the unborn only
to undo them, undermine them,
mine them monetarily once
the unborn is born time again
holier -than- t… Read More
Larison, writing for The American Conservative, does a nice job of summarizing the effects of Trump's recent decision to renege on the nuclear agreement with Iran. I quote the final three pa… Read More
Trump has nixed the nuclear deal with Iran. This has to be the surest way to ensure that Iran will get nuclear weapons. While I'm sure that the U.S. is ready to rubber stamp any Israeli plan… Read More
The Economist had a recent article about the continued popularity of fortune-telling, shamans, and clairvoyants in South Korea. It's interesting to see the established religions gradually fa… Read More
Looking at the map showing stagnant (and often declining) teachers' wages across the U.S., we find (again) that the worst states tend to be those that vote Republican, with the exception of… Read More
Watching the coverage of the Putin victory this morning, I was taken back by how many stations were interpreting it as a sign of his popularity. I'm sure he's popular among many in Russia, b… Read More
This is painful to watch. A very characteristic exchange...
CARDIN: Would you rely on scientists to give you that answer or not?
HARTNETT WHITE: No, I had that question for a very long ti… Read More
Correlation isn't causation, but it's always a good place to begin. The first map below is created by Google based on searches using the N-word. Oddly enough, the divide, rather than going n… Read More
I recently watched Arrival. It gets off to a slow start but is entertaining as several plot twists appear. The view of language put forth in the film strikes me as very unrealistic. The diff… Read More
This recent match in which I won as white wasn't a very exciting game, but I'm proud nonetheless. When I ran it through chess.com's deep analysis, the computer analysis couldn't find a singl… Read More
We have First Class, Business Class, and No Class.
Our prices can’t be beaten...but our passengers can.
We put the hospital in hospitality.
We beat our passengers, not the com… Read More
I don't see how the Republicans can win on healthcare as long as they're in the majority. Any solution they cook up will need to further enrich drug companies and ensurers while reducing cov… Read More
Chris Ladd has an excellent article on Forbes, describing the U.S. healthcare system and our system or corporate and individual write-offs as "white socialism" Read More
I've often wondered if the talking heads on U.S. news stations have any more expertise than our local barber or the guy (or gal) sitting across from us in the bar. As it turns out, my doubts… Read More
In one form or another, I eat red peppers constantly, so I'm really hoping that a recent Chinese study showing that consuming spicy foods reduces mortality is right Read More
I recently read the first half of The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris. Harris begins with the interesting argument that science (viewed broadly) can provide the basis for determining human val… Read More
A recent study by Brandt and Crawford shows different tendencies regarding prejudice and IQ.
Abstract: Previous research finds that lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice… Read More
Some people were unimpressed by Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC. The two conventions are based on easily refutable lies. No, the biggest threat to the U.S. isn't ISIS and crime rates are… Read More
Today, I finished Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ). I enjoyed this more than some of this other novels. The book's chapters skip back and &nbs&hell…Read More
I recently finished The Opium War by Julia Lovell. It isn't great writing--there are places where it's easy to get lost as the flow of the narrative isn't always smooth. But it has some fasc… Read More
China's apparently finishing its construction of the world's largest radio telescope. The Time article where this is mentioned says something about China searching for alien life and then me… Read More
There are rumors that Hillary's considering Al Franken or Elizabeth Warren as a VP pick. My guess is that this is intentionally misinformation, an attempt to make Hillary appear more at ease… Read More
An interesting new perspective on Alzheimer's has just been put forth. The following is the abstract from a recent 2016 paper:
A protein called Aβ is thought to cause neuronal death in… Read More
I just finished reading Baldwin's 1962 novel Another Country. The story explores a number of previously taboo themes (inter-racial and bisexual love, especially). It shows clear signs of hav… Read More
I just finished Benjamin Constant's book Adolphe. As this is an older work (1816), I thought it might feel very dated, but the descriptions of the psychological torment associated with the t… Read More
The appearance of the Panama Papers is providing welcome limelight on the illegal practices of the wealthy and well-connected. Hopefully, it'll go beyond that, educating the public about the… Read More
Skype recently deleted my account. When I asked why, they claim I've violated their agreement. However, they refuse to say how. (I'm totally mystified by all this since I only use Skype to c… Read More
The appearance of the Panama Papers is providing welcome limelight on the illegal practices of the wealthy and well-connected. Hopefully, it'll go beyond that, educating the public about the… Read More
This is a great film that ambitiously covers a lot of ground. I'm always surprised to find gems like this from several years back that I've never even heard of. I suppose it received less co… Read More
BBC documentaries range from the mediocre to the superb. This one on weight-loss is in the latter category. I've learned quite a bit about this during the last couple of years as I've lost w… Read More
Watching the March Republican debate, I was amazed at how vulgar the debates have become. We're literally down to conversations normally relegated to a corner of the junior high school men's… Read More
When I first came across this, I'd assumed it was from the Onion, but apparently it's real. Illinois Republicans have proposed a law that wouldn't give birth certificates to children of sing… Read More
My girlfriend invited me over. As I walked in, I found her unbelievably sexy sister alone in the house. The sister sauntered up to me and whispered in my ear, "I have feelings for you. Shall… Read More
It's a sign of how bad things have turned out when Jeb asks his brother for help.
In the last debate, Trump pulled no punches:
"Obviously, the war in Iraq was a big fat mistake. ... Ge… Read More
Although published some months back, Thomas Mann's Orion Magazine article "Peak Oil Fantasy" is definitely worth a read. (The discussion in the comments is also worth perusing.) I have previ… Read More