Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
I must weigh in on Jacob Weisberg's rather strange piece on Republicans using elitist as a pejorative term: Palin's definition says elitists are those who think they're better than other people—a category in which by Election Day, on the evidence of her autobiography, included many of the people working for her own campaign. Palin is …
Continue reading "Of Course They're Elitists! A Reply to Slate's Jacob Weisberg"
How soon we forget: "People are frustrated, their anxious, they're scared about the future. And they have a right to be impatient about the pace of change. I'm impatient," President Obama said at an event for Gen44. "It took time to free the slaves," he added. Barack Obama has forgotten a simple fact: in this …
From this fascinating analysis by Walter Russell Mead on China and the U.S.: Over the long term, what American policy makers need to remember (and what I fear too many have forgotten in both parties over the last couple of decades) is that America’s international standing and security ultimately depend on health of our domestic …
Let's start with this statement about the "lost decade" of the 2000's: From 2000 through 2009, the Census Bureau found, the median income (measured in inflation-adjusted dollars) declined by 5 percent for white families, 8 percent for Hispanic families, and more than 11 percent for African-American families. That's almost unimaginable over an entire decade. From …
Continue reading "The Prosperity of the 1990's May Well Have Been Borrowed"
This is amazing, in many ways: In a very unusual move, University of Illinois trustees Thursday denied giving emeritus status to controversial retired professor William Ayers. The vote, at a U. of I. board meeting in Urbana, was unanimous and came after a passionate speech by board chair Christopher Kennedy, who invoked the 1968 assassination …
Continue reading "Bill Ayers is Denied Emeritus Status: There Are a Few Who Do Remember"
Velma Hart and others needn't have asked: "Quite frankly, I'm exhausted," Velma Hart said, looking the leader of the free world in the eye. "I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now." There was more. "I have …
Continue reading "Killing the American Dream was the Whole Point"
In the middle of his lengthy article about America's "One-Child Policy," Jonathan Last makes an interesting observation: Finally, we could address the dirt gap—the underlying cost of land, which drives the cost of living and gives rise to the dramatic differences in fertility we see across the country. People often make decisions on where to …
Continue reading "The Relationship Between Public Works and the Birthrate"
There's no reason to be shocked by this: Saudi King Abdullah and security czar Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz have held talks with top intelligence and counter-terror officials from the United States and Canada, the SPA news agency reported. John Brennan, assistant to US President Barack Obama for homeland security and counter-terrorism, discussed in Jeddah …
Continue reading "The Saudis Have Many Things to Discuss With Our Intelligence Chiefs"
The division between the Tea Party and "regular Republicans" is well publicised, but not so well understood is that between public trade unions and the "gentry" (I prefer limousine) liberals: My subject today is the civil war raging in one of our great political parties, as highlighted in recent primary elections. No, I'm not talking …
Continue reading "Trade Unions vs. Tea Party: The Emerging Brawl in American Politics"
Yes, we all know that the White House "should" retract insurance industry threats: Everybody loves to hate health insurance companies. Who doesn't have their favourite story about arbitrarily denied claims and, especially these days, excessive premiums? So why would anyone care about their free-speech rights? You should, if you care about your own free-speech rights. …
Continue reading "Putting Our Free Speech Rights in the Subjunctive"
Positive Infinity 