The news hit earlier today that Christine O’Donnell, queen of the small and shrinking anti-masturbation movement and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Delaware, lied about her academic career—yet again! A few months back, officials at Oxford University said…
The National Retail Federation told us yesterday that the average American plans to spend $66.28 on decorations, food and costumes for Halloween this year, up almost 18% from the $56.31 per person we spent last year. I learned about it…
Another blog full of short takes, beginning with a political cartoon I saw a few weeks back that gratuitously communicated a “big lie” through conflation, which is when someone equates two things that aren’t comparable, like comparing Bush II’s national…
Instead of a long essay today, I want to provide some quick takes on recent news: I’ll start by commending U-Mass professor Robert Pollin for his article on rising inequality in the United States since the mid-70’s in the most…
Michael Luo had a poignant article in this past Sunday’s New York Times about the 40,000 leap in the number of families with children in homeless shelters across the country since the current recession began. The article has a lot…
War used to be a great way to make a living for poor males or younger sons with no other prospects. But in today’s global, technology-driven society, war can help no one but the wealthy and their chosen governments, corporations…
I subscribe to Merriam-Webster’s online unabridged dictionary, which contains the definition and spelling of more than a million words and also gives me access to a myriad of online resources that are helpful to a writer, including the Collegiate Dictionary,…
Earlier this week the Old Farmer’s Almanac came out with its prediction that the United States will have a colder than average winter this year. An Associated Press article by Russell Contreras is the version of the news that most…
One of the most important principles of logic, employed by scientists, historians and most other researchers, is that things that correlate do not necessarily have a causal relationship. Now that’s a mouthful, but it’s really a simple concept: Just because…
Someone in the mainstream news media is talking about what has been a major theme in this blog for some time now: the need to foster a more equitable distribution of wealth and income in the United States. (see blogs…
Follow Us!