News and Views

Derek had a checking account with Chase a few weeks ago that he decided to close out. He had just $5.59 in the account, and by accident he withdrew $5.60.
For that one cent overdraft, Chase charged him a $25 fee. Jocelyn may argue that this is justified, but you can’t convince me that […]

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This quiz of basic American Civic Literacy is a sobering test of how much US citizens know about their government.
71% of Americans failed the test (less than 60% right). Less than 1% of the test takers scored above 90. How well do you know how our government was established and functions?
I’m proud to […]

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Tom Bradley ran for governor of California in 1982. Bradley, a black man, was leading in the polls by over 10%. However, he lost the election.
The so-called Bradley Effect was named after this event. In several other elections in the US the actual votes received by African Americans was significantly less than […]

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Nature magazine recently published an article that analyzed the position on and approach towards science of the two major party presidential candidates.
As one excerpt, it’s interesting to compare Obama’s Science and Technology team of advisers with McCain’s:
Obama’s:
Dan Kammen, University of California, Berkeley
Don Lamb, University of Chicago
Gil Omenn, University of Michigan
Henry Kelly, President, Federation of […]

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Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart asked why they won’t let Sarah Palin talk with the press? What could a Vice Presidential candidate possibly say that could hurt them?
Then he cut to Joe Biden telling about how Franklin Roosevelt got on television after the stock market crash to calm the nation.
Ouch! […]

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In an editorial published today, arch-conservative George Will said:
“It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. […]

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This is a bi-partisan plea. Both Obama’s and McCain’s campaign’s continue to release ads with lies and half-truths.
McCain keeps insisting that Obama plans to raise taxes on the middle class, which is untrue.
Obama says that McCain wants to cut Social Security benefits in half, which is not true.
McCain runs an ad stating that Obama […]

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A couple of days ago, Bill O’Reilly (Fox) talked about the Palin daughter’s pregnancy, saying: “It is a personal matter… It is true some Americans will judge Sarah Palin’s family… We hope things calm down,”
A reasonable position.
But back in December, talking about Brittany Spears’ 16-year old sister’s pregnancy, he said, “…the blame […]

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Imagine that, a guy gets a law degree, his total political experience is to serve 8 years on the Illinois State Legislature, then one term in the US Congress, and then he has the audacity to think he’s ready to be president. How ridiculous! Sure, he delivers a good speech, but he […]

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Almost every speaker at the Democratic and Republican conventions says, at some point in their speech, “God Bless America”. What does this mean?
I’ll set aside the issue of the existence of this supernatural being for this blog, but I want to hear from people who accept it. What do they mean?
Do they believe […]

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