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Goldman Sachs: villain in a dumbed-down fable

Thumbnail : Goldman Sachs: villain in a dumbed-down fable

UPDATE: This post has been re-published as an article in spiked (here). The media is in a frenzy over Goldman Sachs. On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Goldman Sachs of securities fraud in a civil lawsuit. The SEC claims that the Wall Street giant deceived clients by selling them a subprime mortgage investment […]

Chicago’s art and architecture

Thumbnail : Chicago’s art and architecture

  Chicago has wonderful architecture, public sculpture and art. The photo above shows “Cloud Gate” by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor. Below is a picture of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry and home to the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Both “Cloud Gate” and the Pritzker are located in Millenium Park, which is […]

This week’s articles of note

“The comeback country,” Newsweek, by Daniel Gross “Nudge, nudge, wink, wink: behavioral economics – the governing theory of Obama’s nanny state,” Weekly Standard, by Andrew Ferguson “On closing the culture gap,” Seed, by Paul Ehrlich “Everything is contagious: has a plague of social illness struck mankind?” Slate, by Dave Johns “After the flood: the creator of […]

Tea Party “revelations”: will liberals stop obsessing now?

Thumbnail : Tea Party “revelations”: will liberals stop obsessing now?

Today is “Tax Day”, April 15th, the deadline for filing federal income taxes. Predictably, the Tea Party organized gatherings in Washington, D.C. and other cities to protest excessive taxation and spending. And so it was perfect timing for the New York Times to publish the findings of its poll about the composition of the Tea […]

Technical-fix education reforms have failed

I’m in Chicago, and I was pleased to open the Chicago Tribune and read a sensible op-ed by Steve Chapman on education reforms. Considering reform moves over the past two decades, Chapman finds that “Coming up with solutions for public education, it turns out, is easy. Coming up with solutions that actually work – well, that’s […]

Nebraska law is first to ban abortion on fetal pain basis

Nebraska passed a law on Tuesday that bans most abortions 20 weeks after conception or later. What’s unique about this law is that is is the first to restrict abortions on the grounds that the fetus feels pain. Some states require counseling to women contemplating an abortion, and are told then how fetuses may experience […]

South Hadley suicide: the dangers of stressing vulnerability

Thumbnail : South Hadley suicide: the dangers of stressing vulnerability

Guest Post by Nancy McDermott A sad story of teenage suicide in a small town has become a national fascination. Last week three teenage girls pleaded “not guilty” to civil rights violations and harassment in the death of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year old girl who committed suicide in her home in South Hadley,  Massachusetts. The three girls […]

In defence of science and progress

In this TED talk video clip, Michael Specter, a New Yorker journalist who writes about health and science, passionately argues against those who adopt anti-scientific stances: those who, despite the evidence, reject vaccines, consider GM foods “Frankenfoods”, believe there is a link between MMR and autism, embrace alternative health, and so on. Specter argues that this is a fear-driven response […]

Family is becoming “more important” in America

Writing in Forbes, Joel Kotkin argues that the American family, despite claims of its decline, “is becoming not less but more important”. Some facts that Kotkin marshals to establish his case: “80 percent of Americans eventually get married, often after cohabitation” “Since 1982 the number of those over 35 who give birth have more than tripled” “According to […]

Bacevich: “Osama is not Hitler,” use police not military

Bill Moyers has a very interesting interview with Andrew Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University and a former US Army colonel (watch video here). Here is Bacevich’s perspective on Osama bin-Laden and the war on terror: BILL MOYERS: In this context, then, what do we do about what is a real threat, from […]

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March 2024
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