Category Archives: Politics

Anything that involves power relationships between people and groups.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Surveillance Self-Defense

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created a new web site, Surveillance Self-Defense (ssd.eff.org). The site collects information about surveillance techniques that governments, large companies, marketing firms, criminal organizations, and some individuals are using to track you through the day. … Continue reading

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China: Don’t See the Dalai Lama

China is wagging its nether parts in America’s face, or so CNN reports. I don’t know what Obama will say to China, and I doubt he cares what I think he should say, but China richly deserves to be told … Continue reading

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Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

As everybody and his brother has said today, Nelson Mandela was a great man, one of the greatest of the 20th century. I’d like to point out that, unlike many great men, Nelson Mandela was also by almost any measure … Continue reading

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Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons

Washington Post columnist George Will, a politically conservative columnist whom I often agree with about limited government and fiscal responsibility, but often disagree with on human rights issues, today posted a thoughtful and quite pointed op-ed on the use of … Continue reading

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On Punishing Children for the Sins of their Parents

Orson Scott Card is one of the best writers alive today. He’s also a devout (if atypical) Mormon who has a conscience formed by his faith. His religious beliefs and mine differ significantly (I’m an Orthodox Christian), but we both … Continue reading

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The Republican Party’s Conservative Problem

Jonathan Bernstein wrote the following in today’s Washington Post, and it’s so good that I want to quote verbatim: The sad part of all this [the defection of conservative intellectuals from the Republican party] is that it leaves the Republican … Continue reading

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A “Gaffe” by Prince Philip of the UK

Today, after the Duke of Edinburgh (aka Britian’s Prince Philip) — who was attending an event with the Queen — made a very funny and rather inappropriate comment about a stunning red dress worn by an equally stunning young woman … Continue reading

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John Edwards: Distracting From the Real Issue :/

Ruth Marcus in the Washington post gets it about the current national soap opera that is the trial of John Edwards. Edwards is unquestionably a self-involved, narcissistic cad. We knew that. What he did might, just barely, crawl into range … Continue reading

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When a Personal Attack Backfires….

So Rush Limbaugh thinks that any woman who believes that birth control drugs and medical devices should routinely be covered by health insurance plans is a slut. <yawn> Well, I would yawn, except that I (to my embarrassment at the … Continue reading

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The Supreme Court Steps Up to the Plate

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that use of a GPS locator/tracker on a person’s car without a warrant is a violation of the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution. All I can say is — it’s about d*mn time … Continue reading

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