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.