Archive for December, 2013

A Brief Disquisition on Ideology and Interest

Unemployment insurance is expiring, and the Republicans in Congress seem quite happy to let that disaster happen.   One reason frequently cited for the Republican stance is their belief that unemployment insurance reduces incentives to work; in the conservative worldview, the ...

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The Middle East Conundrum and the ASA Boycott of Israel

John Kerry has been valiantly working to bring about negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians aimed at a final settlement of their dispute over the land of Palestine.  I’m not a mind reader; I don’t know if Kerry truly believes he ...

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False Balance, Again

Once again the New York Times’s “Invitation to a Dialogue” feature has gotten me riled up. Yesterday’s “Invitation” author has come up with the idea that both political parties need to shed their extreme wings, which will somehow enable the ...

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Mandela the Communist

There is little doubt that Nelson Mandela was for a time a member of the South African Communist Party, a fact cited by some on the right as evidence that the man was no saint.  I don’t believe in saints, ...

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Perspectives on Media Bias

American right-wingers (i.e., self-proclaimed “conservatives”) constantly complain about the alleged liberal bias of the mainstream media (the “lamestream media” in Sarah Palin’s clever formulation). I am very critical of the media myself: I think there certainly is media bias, but ...

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