In Praise of Folly

A look at the absurd world in which we live, through the lenses of popular culture, sports and politics.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Democracy Run Amok

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While the Middle East continues to struggle to topple dictatorships and establish the roots of democracy ( TNR Article ), at home we continu...

Bipartisanism in the Shadows?

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The Washington Post reported a couple of weeks ago about a bipartisan group of Senators working behind the scenes to tackle the disaster tha...

Subwayization?

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Many scholars have been talking for years about the McDonaldization of the world, with U.S. "fast food"/consumer culture spreading...
Sunday, March 13, 2011

And the Great World Spins

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The world stands in chaos today, from protestors across the Middle East, to renewed violence in Israel/Palestine (where a husband, wife and ...
Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Photoshop as You Shoot

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Have you ever felt that photographs don't really capture the real you? Do you turn away whenever someone places you in the aim of their ...
Sunday, March 06, 2011

It's the Unions, Silly!

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Magnanimous Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has threatened to fire 1,500 public sector workers if the 14 Democratic State Senators who escap...
Sunday, February 27, 2011

Arsenal Blues

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I am that odd sort of American who actually thinks about football as soccer, and the U.S. version as American football. Having long been a J...
Saturday, February 26, 2011

The "New Classic" Man

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The rube in the big city has long been a Hollywood staple , from Mr. Smith Goes to Town to Mr. Deeds to The Hudsucker Proxy . The protagoni...
Friday, February 25, 2011

The More Things Change ...

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In a post-Tuscon world ... little appears to have changed. In a Town Hall meeting in Georgia a few days ago, a participant stood up and aske...
Thursday, February 17, 2011

Man vs. Machine

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Two events yesterday brought into acute focus the man/machine debate; at least for me. The first, reported widely, was the victory by IBM su...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

When a Lie is Not a Lie

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Anderson Cooper has been getting lambasted by the media for days now, for the unforgivable sin of, gasp, calling a lie a lie. The lies, told...
Saturday, February 12, 2011

Social Network (2010)

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I finally got around to seeing The Social Network last night and have to say that while it was a good movie, it wasn't anything earth sh...
Friday, February 11, 2011

On Language: Conservative Framing

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In this blog, I often talk about conservative framing. One of their brilliant strategies was to relabel what had become expected government ...
Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Tea Party Congressman: Good for Absolutely (Something), Say it Again

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Well, the Tea Party might be more than just a bunch of right-wing radical conspiracy theorists and racists after all. New Tea Party GOP cong...

The Crazy Times We Live In

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A series of stories today show how crazy the country has gotten, and how crisis appears to bring out even more nut cases than America has al...
Monday, February 07, 2011

Who's Serving Your Burrito?

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Wall Street darling and favorite of the commodified pseudo-ethnic chain movement Chipotle Mexican Grill is apparently in trouble as its hip ...
Wednesday, February 02, 2011

The Revolution Will Be Televised

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A few years ago, a documentary came out called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_B...
Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Democracy on the Mind

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The new year has started with a surge of populist democratic movements across the globe. In Tunisia, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was p...
Friday, January 28, 2011

The Face of the New GOP

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This article provides interesting background on Ryan: http://www.thenation.com/blog/158010/paul-ryan-republicans-thinker?rel=emailNation . A...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011

State of the Union

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Yesterday, I happened to catch most of the Republican response to the SOTU speech. One thing I found fascinating was the series of myths tha...
Monday, January 24, 2011

Investment Just Another Name for Spending to GOP

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In preparation for the State of the Union address, Republicans showed up on the Sunday talk shows to warn that they seek cuts in all areas o...
Friday, January 14, 2011

So That Explains It?

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News that astronomer signs are misaligned by as much as a month (due to "wobble" in the earth) has sent people into identity crise...
Sunday, January 09, 2011

Sparking Uprising?

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It is still unclear whether the shooting of Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was politically motivated, but it is clear t...
Friday, January 07, 2011

Bringing Out the Dead

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Obama announced yesterday that he is naming William Daley as his new Chief of Staff and will announce today that Gene Sperling will become t...
Thursday, January 06, 2011

ESP?

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ESP has generally sat alongside UFO sightings, flouridation, Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, life on Mars and the like, as the ra...
Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Payoff is Sweet

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The House of Representatives will change hands today and already Republicans are getting ready to pay back their corporate sponsors ( http:/...
Monday, January 03, 2011

Economic Arguments Against Small Government

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I often write in this blog about the social justice and empirical arguments against the "small government" discourse. I thought I ...
Thursday, December 23, 2010

Tween Queens

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Some of us remember the age when kids should be seen but not heard, or maybe even not seen that much. Youth was to be lived freely, spending...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Oped Objectivity?

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Michael Bloomberg has just announced that he is adding an opinion section to his financial news organization: http://www.salon.com/news/m...

Population Trends Favor GOP

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The U.S. Census Bureau released findings today that show an expected shift away from Democratic strongholds in the Northeast and Midwest to ...
Monday, December 20, 2010

Fluoridation Conspiracy?

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In the classic Stanley Kubrick spoof Dr. Stranglove , a mad general believes the Russians are contaminating our water to take over America. ...

DADT Finally Over ... Missile Treaty Might Die as Well

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A piece of good news emerged today as Obama finally came through -- ending Don't Ask Don't Tell and hopefully putting a first nail i...
Saturday, December 18, 2010

What's at Stake?

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As I contemplate the Republican victory in the election last month, it occurred to me what is at stake in a broader sense. I have often spok...
Friday, December 17, 2010

Extra Extra . . . Don't Read All About It

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A Bloomberg poll on the eve of the election found that two-thirds of likely voters believed that, under Obama and the Democrats, middle-clas...
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