Glen Beck declares that Harvard banned military recruiters from campus when Kagen was Dean of Harvard Law School. Not so. (more…)
July 9, 2010
June 25, 2010
I am a co-complainant to the U.N. Human Rights Council
I am a signatory and co-complainant in a formal complaint to the United Nations. We are waiting to receive a full response. (more…)
June 22, 2010
Supreme Court says counseling Peace to terrorist groups aids terrorism.
The NYTimes today reported on the Supreme Court’s decision that advising about peaceful or humane alternatives with groups that the State Department has designated as terrorist is the equivalent of aiding and abetting the enemy. I guess the U.S. follows the “shoot first, talk later” approach – oops, we can’t be doing that, that’s terrorist. So what IS the Supreme Court thinking?
One of my NYTimes Comments in response to their articles was the following: (more…)
Are incompetent folks too incompetent to know it, or do we teach them false self-esteem?
This NYTimes article presents research that attempts to establish that incompetent people are too incompetent to realize their incompetence. The authors note that those grammatically challenged actually believe that they are good writers. Sometimes overall incompetence may be the answer, but there is another possible explanation for why incompetent writers think that they are doing so well. I posted the following response on the NYTimes Comment site. (more…)
April 10, 2010
Jury duty – a meaningful four-day experience
Although I often get called to report for jury duty, this week was the first time I have been selected to serve. Usually they are not interested in me; search Jury Duty on this site for possible reasons. This time I was selected even though I wore a button that said Wage Peace next to the button that said Juror and had indicated on a questionnaire that I could not promise to follow the judge’s instructions. My thinking on this issue is that I would have to follow my conscience first, if there were a conflict between conscience and the law. I am pleased that I was found suitable for jury duty. Things might have been different in a murder trial, because I cannot support capital punishment. It is appropriate to remove from society people who are a danger to others, but I wish to leave open the possibility of rehabilitation. The trial lasted four days, and to learn about the trial itself, read… (more…)
March 20, 2010
Historians’ fact sheet about atomic bombing of Japan.
At the time of the public exhibit of the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima), a substantial number of respected historians sent a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution objecting to the bias inherent in the exhibit. Their letter is one of the best statements of some historical facts (see their reference list) that support that there was no military rationale for using atomic weapons on Japan. Please read the letter and other supporting reference material (click the Comments for the full story) and evaluate the situation for yourself in light of this informaton.
March 18, 2010
Was Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist, a “nice” man?
Was Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist, a “nice” man? He had some progressive views, gave away much of his enormous fortune, was very bright and hard working, and died a rich man. The crucial fact is that he was responsible for putting Henry Frick in charge of his Carnegie Steel, and Frick was definitely NOT a “nice” man. But Carnegie knew what he was doing, because now the appalling business practices that profited Carnegie Steel could be attributed to his underling, while he could be seen to soften some of the worst edicts of his Chairman. This approach may favor the financial bottom line, but the ethical bottom line is quite another story. Andrew Carnegie was NOT the “nice” man that he either pretended or imagined himself to be, but a sanctimonious hypocrite of perhaps the worst kind.
February 10, 2010
New York Cabs Gouged Riders Out of Millions (NYTimes)
The New York Times reported how thousands of passengers in NYC cabs were charged at double the legal rate for their area. Many drivers are honest, but there is no question that this fraud was well known both by cab drivers and the regulatory agency. Click Comment for my comment and selected comments by other NYTime’s readers. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/nyregion/13taxi.html?th&emc=th
December 5, 2009
What do we mean by the much-used phrase “middle class”?
Click Comment to read my response to a friend’s blog post that discussed “middle class” spending habits:
December 2, 2009
Political Correctness, and Liberals and Conservatives (so-called)
I consider myself to be liberal in that I believe in freedom of thought and expression. Political Correctness hampers the thought process through the enforcement of linguistic conventions. I contributed the following post to the discussion that followed Political Correctness Revisited – NYTimes.com by Stanley Fish (November 30, 2009). The author was concerned that there are a disproportionate number of “liberals” in the liberal arts of universities and that they aren’t liberal anyhow and misuse tenure to push their own agenda. Other commentators offered explanations for why there would be relatively few conservatives in the liberal arts and relatively few liberals in business. (more…)