During last night’s Democratic presidential candidates’ debate, moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News prefaced a question with this: “Secretary Clinton, the Department of Health and Human Services says more than 17 million Americans who are not insured now have health … Continue reading
The following segment from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show tries (sometimes successfully) to be funny but also makes some serious points about the notion that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy … Continue reading
In a recent post I passed on a recommendation to prefer the name “Daesh” to others for the self-styled “Islamic state” (which is neither). Another good reason can be found in a November 27 article (link) in The Sydney Morning … Continue reading
A little over two years ago I posted something (link) about research showing that white American women without a high school diploma were experiencing falling life expectancy, though comparable members of other races were not. Note that this should not … Continue reading
(A caution to sensitive visitors: Both clips below involve the use of strong language, entirely justified in my view.) First, one you’ve likely already seen: John Oliver condemns the terrorists and celebrates France: Link: https://youtu.be/glxh9ZgP7kc Below, engineer turned writer and … Continue reading
Republican Congressman Steve Russell of Oklahoma is a decorated veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was involved in the operation that tracked down Saddam Hussein and wrote a book about it, We Got Him! A Memoir of … Continue reading
A terrorist group that controls a (now reduced) amount of territory in parts of Iraq and Syria proclaims itself a “caliphate” and an “Islamic state,” designations widely rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of practicing Muslims. Western media … Continue reading
The U.S. dollar is “fiat money,” meaning money that’s just declared into existence, in the dollar’s case by the U.S. Federal Reserve. (“Fiat” is Latin for “let there be” or “let there be made” or “let there be done” as … Continue reading
Neighboring countries have taken in a few million refugees from the Syrian civil war. Another several hundred thousand have fled into Europe. Canada proposes to take in 25,000, and President Obama is planning to allow 10,000 more into the United … Continue reading
A recent paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues that a record drought in 2007 through 2010, combined with poor agricultural practices and environmental problems, led to “widespread crop failure and a mass migration of farming … Continue reading