Politics

I hesitated to write about President Obama's war speech on PT, but then failure of imagination is a life-threatening psychological condition. Read More

At the risk of being what one of my beloved and recently deceased mentors would call overideational (i.e. carry an idea to absurd lengths), I had some thoughts about how to achieve a victory in the war in Afghanistan. But to complete them I will need input from the AI community. Read More

In the primary elections, Mr. Obama made a big deal over his vote against the war in Iraq. He and other candidates jostled over who would end the war more quickly. What did it all mean? Read More

Rich Benjamin, an African American journalist (yes, his race matters) spent over two years (2007-2009) criss-crossing the country, traveling some 27,000 miles to document the latest manifestation of "white flight" -- the migration of white residents from cities and integrated suburbs to cloistered, racially homogeneous enclaves that Benjamin calls "Whitopias." Along the way, he bumps into a white separatist group that, by his own account, treated him with respect and dignity. What exactly does this "niceness" mean in contemporary U.S. race relations?

Read More

Belief in God and the controlling power of the government makes people feel more in control themselves. Read More

Representative government means that one's interests should be represented in Washington, not one's lifestyle, educational level, or drinking partner preference. Read More

This post will make you uncomfortable. You should read it anyway.

I'm going to talk about health behaviors and dangerous diseases. And we don't like to think about disease and death, and so we avoid it.

Instead, we talk around disease and death. For example, right now, there is a real uproar over the recommendation that women should not start having regular mammograms until they turn 50. Opponents of health-care reform have taken this recommendation as the first shot in the war to ration health-care to Americans. Read More

The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) comes into full effect this Saturday, November 21st. Employers need to take note, and employees should be aware of their rights. Read More

Overlooked children may not be the apple of their parents' eyes, but these kids can be driven to be valued. Ted Kennedy is an example of an overlooked child whose life was driven by his desire to make his father proud, to carry on the family legacy of excellence. Kennedy worked hard to keep up with his revered siblings, bringing this ethos to his life in the Senate. Our nation is better for that. Read More