Paul Krugman in today’s NYTimes editoral describes the huge jobs problem America faces. Krugman states: “ There are six times as many Americans seeking work as there are job openings, and the average duration of unemployment — the time the average job-seeker has spent looking for work — is more than six months, the highest level since [...]
Entries from November 2009
November 30, 2009
Bin Laden in Our Sights, But We Failed to Nab Him?
Do you suppose it is really true that if the first pictured Mullah had been on his toes, the second one might not have escaped from Afghanistan in 2001? And further, Senator Levin contends, we might not now be fighting the war in Afghanistan if bin Laden had been captured in 2001.
Predicting the future is [...]
November 28, 2009
Saturday, 11/28/09, Public Square
Ooooops. Better late than never? Here’s that delayed open thread.
fnord
November 26, 2009
Palin and Obama’s Reversal of Fortune?
The ultra-conservative New York Post recently commented on the reversal of fortunes of Palin and Obama. This time last year Obama was the sensation, this year it is Palin’s turn.
To quote the article:
“This flip-flop in fortunes stems from many factors, war and recession chief among them. Yet ultimately, Obama has mostly himself to blame.
“He’s aligned [...]
November 25, 2009
Today’s New Word: “Surreality”
This new word was inspired by a post from our guest, Paula. It is a combination of the words “surreal” and “reality”.
sur-re-al – 1 : marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream
re-al-i-ty – 1 : the quality or state of being real
Sur-re-al-i-ty – 1: The sinking feeling one gets when communicating with a [...]
November 25, 2009
Obama Losing the “Job Approval” Support of White People
Politico reports that this latest Gallup poll shows that Obama’s job approval among white people has dipped below 40%. Previously his support among white voters was over 60%. Black voters rate his job approval at about 90%. His loss of support appears to be largely due to dropping support from white voters.
My question: Does this racial breakdown really [...]
November 25, 2009
Wednesday, 11/25/09, Public Square
“Cardinal, give the rack a turn!” Have a great day and as much fun as you can manage.
fnord
November 24, 2009
Torture and Dick Cheney’s Moral Calculations…
I just purchased Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? On an NPR program today, Sandel had some interesting comments on Dick Cheney’s moral calculations on torture and the limits of the same. Before discussing those comments, let me first set the stage for them.
Sandel is a philosphy professor at Harvard University. He [...]
November 24, 2009
How About the Full Range of Reproductive Rights?
This is an exchange between myself and a local woman who is a well known reproductive rights advocate. I will label myself as ME, and her as RRA.
ME: Should the Democratic party and liberal thought continue to support the right to abortion? I have pretty liberal friends, one is in my friend list here, whom [...]
November 24, 2009
Tuesday, 11/24/09, Public Square
Evolution Day is the anniversary of the first publication of The Origin of Species on November 24, 1859. Also celebrated is Darwin Day which commemorates the birthday of Charles Darwin who established the theory of natural selection which provided for a biological process behind evolution.
The year 2009 will mark the 150th anniversary of the [...]
November 23, 2009
Monday, 11/23/09, Public Square
After they get over the thrill of saying “You can’t pahk your cah in Hahvahd Yahd,” about 30 bazillion times, tourists love to walk through the Yahd and have pictures of themselves taken with the statue of John Harvard, whose foot they then rub for good luck.
What most of them don’t know, however, is that [...]
