I am not feeling very well and might go home after I make this post, so sorry for the anemic output.
When I wrote a recent post on the cost of colonizing the moon I commented that sometimes the government …
Category: Society
This is going to start a shitstorm…
Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice
http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-conservatism-racism.html
This is actually an interesting report that, while likely incendiary to those in the right-wing, should non-the-less be considered. The article makes several caveats, the most notable below:
…A study of
My own little bit of promotion
Birth Control Matters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nita-chaudhary/kathleen-sebelius-plan-b_b_1241653.html
This is a big deal, but the topic has been hijacked by people who have no stake in the matter and want to revert us to a reproductive stone age. I recently read an article in …
A book on our broken health care system
How doctors do harm
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/health/how-we-do-harm-brawley/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
Astounding:
…American medicine is big business. It is about 18% of the U.S. economy and growing. The average cost of a health insurance policy for a family of four is $19,400 per year. The expense
Security theater in the police state
TSA rail, subway spot-checks raise privacy issues
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/28/travel/tsa-vipr-passenger-train-searches/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
So, in addition to the complete waste of time we now have in our airports, we are pissing money away on totally useless efforts to screen road and rail customers. The moronic …
The art of scapegoating
The thrill of blaming others
We’ve always loved scapegoats, in politics and our own lives. Now science offers a new glimpse into its appeal
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/29/the_thrill_of_blaming_others/singleton/
I see bits of myself in this article, which perhaps makes me someone who isn’t …
USA, the prison society
The Caging of America
Why do we lock up so many people?
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik
This is a really long article by ‘net standards, but I suggest that anyone who either doesn’t understand how punitive our incarceratative society is or wants to …
SOPA, PIPA? Pansies!
If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/23/if-you-thought-sopa-was-bad-just-wait-until-you-meet-acta/
Just like the bla bla bla police state bla bla bla, this is getting tiresome in its repetition. The US uses to be a bastion against the …
Yes, it is from the WSJ, but…
No Need to Panic About Global Warming
There’s no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world’s economy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Expecting unbiased discussions on global warming from the Wall Street Journal is sort of like expecting an unbiased review …
Skynet in its infancy
New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who’s accountable?
The Navy is testing an autonomous plane that will land on an aircraft carrier. The prospect of heavily armed aircraft screaming through the skies without direct human control is unnerving to …