1. Analysis of Media Coverage in 2012 Presidential Race
The Project for Excellence in Jouralism has conducted a study of media coverage of all 2012 presidential candidates (including Barack Obama) and released its results. Unsurprisingly, Ron Paul ranks among the three that have received the least media coverage (the other two being Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman), though he has the highest rating among all of the candidates in terms of positive mention in the blogosphere. At the top of the list in terms of positive coverage is, believe it or not, Rick Perry. The Project reports that Barack Obama has received the most negative coverage of all of the major candidates.
2. More on Anti-Science Politicians
There are two things at issue here. One is the safety of genetically modified foods and the other is whether they should be labeled as genetically modified or not. I don’t see any reason why the latter is a problem, just so long as people understand that the vast majority of the products they see on the shelves at the supermarket would wind up with such a label. If the regulations applied to the rest of the agricultural industry were enforced in the “organic” sector (they are not), I’d wager many of the foods peddled by organic farmers would wind up with a big old “GM” label as well. As to the former, there is currently no compelling evidence that GM foods have led to any significant illness or side effect. None. As a matter of fact, GM foods present the greatest opportunity in world history of finally realizing the goal of ending the global hunger epidemic. But Greenpeace douche bags with flamethrowers are happy to destroy GM crops grown by researches that could likely have saved millions of lives, and politicians in Washington “have concerns.”
3. Constitutionally-Protected Ignorance
This article would be hilarious if it weren’t so infuriating. There are far too many misrepresentations of the constitutionalist viewpoint to be counted, but chief among them are the belief that the “original intent” of the Founders is infallible. Constitutionalists are happy to admit the Founders may have been wrong (SLAVERY), its just that they understand that the constitution is one of enumerated powers and strict construction and, in order to add new federal powers or alter it a constitutional amendment should be adopted. The second is the canard, dropped casually early in the article by the author in a rare and hypocritical moment of Framer-intent-referencing, that the Framers established Congress for the express purpose of collecting taxes. While one of the chief powers of Congress is to collect taxes, every single one of the Framers warned against overburdensome taxes as a form of pecuniary slavery, and the country spent well more than a century without a federal income tax while attending to its business quite nicely. I’ll concede the point to the author that there are many conservatives who claim to know and love the constitution but espouse all sorts of social positions that are anathema to it, and that we would all do well to jealously guard the constitution against any politician claiming to best represent it, but this gentleman seems to prefer shadow-boxing to having a constitutional argument with real constitutionalists.
4. Computers Doing Our Research B*tch-Work
Interesting, and akin to the whole “crowd-sourcing” breakthrough via gaming for HIV earlier this year.
5. FBI’s DNA Database
Great news, the FBI is updating its DNA database (you weren’t aware that they had one?) and doesn’t seem to have any idea of the scientifically-sound approach to running matches against it! So (surprise!) you may be getting your front door knocked in for mailing anthrax to the White House! “Oh, you’re innocent, eh? Tell it to the military tribunal... once your indefinite detention is served.”
6. Green Energy Hurting the Middle Class
Amazed at this very well-written expose from Slate, of all places, of the corruption and pocket-lining that is the administration’s green-energy agenda, the practical effect of which is that the rich get richer while absolutely no benefit of any kind is seen by the middle class.
17.10.11
Early Edition
1. The Bullsh*t Moose Party
Great piece that obliquely reflects some of the sentiments from the Salon article cited in Thursday’s Late Edition, that the social upheaval we’ve experienced recently in the form of the Tea Party and now Occupy Wall Street is not, as the establishment and the media keep peddling, a call for moderation and compromise. Moderation and compromise are the parents of stagnation and have resulted in the promulgation of the crippling status quo these two disparate movements are rebelling against. Now may well be the ideal time for the rise of a third party, but it certainly won’t be a “No Labels” fusion ticket that mashes up two establishmentarians. A Ron Paul/Ralph Nader coalition held together by the glue of anti-establishment fury would probably be a more accurate reflection of the mood of these movements. But the utter impossibility of such a coalition actually coalescing, let alone performing well in a general election, suggests that the path to drastic reform lies with the existing two parties. Which is why such a coalition might seem so appealing in the first place. My brain hurts.
2. We’re All Leeches
I could focus on the inflammatory comments made about “coded racism” in this video but I’d actually much rather draw attention to the ensuing conversation about transfer payments and dependency in our society. Without knowing it, I think, this group lays bare just how pervasive (and perverse) our system of dependency is as a result of our tax code. Nearly everyone in this country is living off of the forced goodwill of someone else, even those who have no need of it, and as they discuss, hardly anyone is conscious of it! Mortgage tax deductions, Medicare, Social Security, etc, etc. The answer to this isn’t to maintain the system as is on the basis that it helps everyone, it’s to rip the system out at the roots and start over.
3. Cracking the Eusociality Code
I’ll warn that this article is dense and time-consuming, but I found it very rewarding and incredibly relevant to our recent discussions on free will, the human brain, morality and the human “superorganism”. It focuses on evolutionary biologist EO Wilson and, once you get past the flowery personal bits in the prologue, the complicated challenge presented to traditional evolutionary biology by eusocial species such as humans, termites and ants (why individual organisms cede certain rights or specialize within groups). In the end, the conversation veers toward recently discussed concepts among us about the role evolutionary biology plays in brain functioning and the ordering of human society at large.
4. More on Cain
This article delves into Cain’s background and controversial positions, as well as the politics of race. I strongly believe that, when one takes a close look at Cain’s platform, particularly on social issues, there’s little to differentiate him from a Michele Bachmann, and that his rise is likely only temporary as his time in the spotlight reveals some of the same inadequacies that saw Ms. Bachmann’s precipitous fall. The only thing that could save him from fading into obscurity is the infatuation on the part of the media and some Republicans with his race.
Great piece that obliquely reflects some of the sentiments from the Salon article cited in Thursday’s Late Edition, that the social upheaval we’ve experienced recently in the form of the Tea Party and now Occupy Wall Street is not, as the establishment and the media keep peddling, a call for moderation and compromise. Moderation and compromise are the parents of stagnation and have resulted in the promulgation of the crippling status quo these two disparate movements are rebelling against. Now may well be the ideal time for the rise of a third party, but it certainly won’t be a “No Labels” fusion ticket that mashes up two establishmentarians. A Ron Paul/Ralph Nader coalition held together by the glue of anti-establishment fury would probably be a more accurate reflection of the mood of these movements. But the utter impossibility of such a coalition actually coalescing, let alone performing well in a general election, suggests that the path to drastic reform lies with the existing two parties. Which is why such a coalition might seem so appealing in the first place. My brain hurts.
2. We’re All Leeches
I could focus on the inflammatory comments made about “coded racism” in this video but I’d actually much rather draw attention to the ensuing conversation about transfer payments and dependency in our society. Without knowing it, I think, this group lays bare just how pervasive (and perverse) our system of dependency is as a result of our tax code. Nearly everyone in this country is living off of the forced goodwill of someone else, even those who have no need of it, and as they discuss, hardly anyone is conscious of it! Mortgage tax deductions, Medicare, Social Security, etc, etc. The answer to this isn’t to maintain the system as is on the basis that it helps everyone, it’s to rip the system out at the roots and start over.
3. Cracking the Eusociality Code
I’ll warn that this article is dense and time-consuming, but I found it very rewarding and incredibly relevant to our recent discussions on free will, the human brain, morality and the human “superorganism”. It focuses on evolutionary biologist EO Wilson and, once you get past the flowery personal bits in the prologue, the complicated challenge presented to traditional evolutionary biology by eusocial species such as humans, termites and ants (why individual organisms cede certain rights or specialize within groups). In the end, the conversation veers toward recently discussed concepts among us about the role evolutionary biology plays in brain functioning and the ordering of human society at large.
4. More on Cain
This article delves into Cain’s background and controversial positions, as well as the politics of race. I strongly believe that, when one takes a close look at Cain’s platform, particularly on social issues, there’s little to differentiate him from a Michele Bachmann, and that his rise is likely only temporary as his time in the spotlight reveals some of the same inadequacies that saw Ms. Bachmann’s precipitous fall. The only thing that could save him from fading into obscurity is the infatuation on the part of the media and some Republicans with his race.
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