Politics
j7uy5 | September 19, 2008A prominent political candidate had her email account pilfered.
It is not known, openly, how this was done.
Reportedly, it was a simple password, a word that could be
found in any English dictionary. That was a mistake.
Still, it was wrong for people to do it. Period.
Yes, the act does make some points. But they are all points
that could be made without doing something wrong.
clock | September 18, 2008This is not a real review - I never got to writing it - but it is about a book I mention quite often in my blog posts and think is one of the most insightful about the conservative mindset. Written originally on October 21, 2004:
Whenever a big black SUV with a "W" bumper sticker passes me on I-40 going 90mph in the work zone, my first thought is: "What is this guy compensating for?"
While I argued strongly before that Nurturant Parent model is not feminine, and is only seens as such by people adhering to the Strict Father model to begin with, I have always felt that the childrearing process…
razib | September 18, 2008FuturePundit points me to a new paper in Science, Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits:
Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals' experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits. In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies,…
clock | September 18, 2008
I wrote this on September 21, 2004, as a reaction to the misunderstanding of Lakoff's term "Nurturant Parent". Slightly edited (eliminated bad links and such).
Discussions of Lakoff's theory are going on in several places in the blogosphere, including on DailyKos and many other places...just Google it and you'll be floored. Spend some times reading the comments - there is some good thinking there.
There is something happening in these discussions that really bothers me. There is a number of people, including some who claim to have read "Moral Politics", who object to the use of family-based…
clock | September 18, 2008So says WIRED:
Barack Obama has established a small but well-regarded inner circle of science advisors that includes a vocal critic of creationism, a Nobel laureate who has championed open-access research, and another laureate who used his prize money to defend academic freedom against the war on terror. Though their influence on the policies of a prospective Obama administration are unknown, they've played a prominent role in establishing his science platform to date.
Obama announced his science platform earlier this month in response to questions posed by ScienceDebate2008, a nonpartisan…
gregladen | September 18, 2008There was a DNC bounce, then there was an RNC bounce. Really, the RNC bounce was a Sarah Palin bounce. And now the numbers are back to pre-convention levels and the horse race begins.
Or was there another factor?
But seriously.... New polls.
gregladen | September 18, 2008I truly hate that Contessa chick who pretends to be a news reporter on MSNBC. Let me recreate a recent annoying interview for you.
The guest is an expert on taxes and stuff. The issue is the Obama plan to tax the wealthy.
Contessa sticks her lower lip out and sarcasticizes her voice a bit more than usual and says, "So, what about this? The Obama tax plan is to raise taxes on individuals with incomes of more than 250,000 per year. But I checked (lip goes out farther, head bobs a bit) and that is like 2.5 million people. Biden is saying 'Let's be patriotic, let's stick up for America…
gregladen | September 18, 2008I think it might be important that Barack Obama knows how to use email and John McCain does not.
edyong | September 18, 2008When we're suddenly confronted with a shocking image, our skin becomes moist and we blink strongly. These actions are automatic and unintentional; they happen without conscious thought. So it may come as a surprise that they can also predict some of our most seemingly considered beliefs - our political attitudes.
According to a new American study, the stronger these responses, the more likely people are to support the Iraq War, Biblical truth, the Patriot Act and greater defence budgets. Conversely, people who show weaker "startle reflexes" are more likely to support foreign aid, immigration…
illconsidered | September 18, 2008Anthony Watt's blog seems to be a rather high profile climate sceptic site that usually seems to at least try to have substantive content, but I can't see watt's so interesting about this article from The Province, a BC, Canadian newspaper.
The article starts off with this remarkable statement:
As evidence to the contrary started rolling in and one prominent scientist after another abandoned ship, the global warming brigade lost much of its sizzle in the past year.
I think I can guess what he thinks is "evidence to the contrary", probably the supposed huge temeprature drop this year, the […
gregladen | September 18, 2008The same man who said "God will protect us against gays" and who has done much more for repression of diversity generally in East Africa than the average person has gotten all hot under the collar (or somewhere) about women's skirts that end above the knees. He wants them banned like cell phones.
James Nsaba Buturo has also served in Uganda as Minister of Information where is he generally known to have been more corrupt than the average government minister in East Africa. Uganda generally needs to be (and I think mostly is) embarrassed by this guy. By the way, gayness is a life in prison…
clock | September 17, 2008Here's another topic seen through the Lakoffian looking glass (July 23, 2005):
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Why is there a widespread belief that the difference between patriotism and nationalism is one of degree: loving one's country versus loving it even more? I think that the difference is not quantitative but qualitative - the phrase "love for one's country" used by the two kinds of people (patriots and nationalists) is based on very different meanings of the words "love", "for", "one" and "country".
I am assuming that this confusion arises from the fact that…
clock | September 17, 2008A repost from July 6, 2006:
OK, today I'd like you to superimpose a couple of very different articles that all look at the difference between patriotism and nationalism, but each from a different angle and see if, and how, they inform each other. First, I'd like you to read one of my old posts (which I may decide to re-post here one day, but for now, check it out on my old blog) - Nationalism is not Patriotism. That would be a bare-bone introduction to political psychology of patriotism and nationalism:
Why is there a widespread belief that the difference between patriotism and nationalism…
clock | September 17, 2008Under the fold:
Ex-Cheney aide: Bush won't hit Iran:
US President George W. Bush will not attack Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program before his term ends in January, David Wurmser, a key national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney up until last year, has told The Jerusalem Post.
Election 2008 | Papers Examine Comparisons of McCain, Obama Health Care Proposals, Positions on Science :
Three reports examine the health care plans of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Wall Street Journal reports (Meckler,…
jlynch | September 17, 2008"I feel like [Obama] is an elitist" says a blue-collar single mom who supported Hillary Clinton and has now decided to support McCain.
Just joking!
The statement was made by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, CEO of EL Rothschild and wife of international banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, whom happens to live in New York and London.
Elitist ... I think that word doesn't mean what she thinks it means.
gregladen | September 17, 2008
If you are a Republican and you don't think you look like this, think again.
Hat tip Joe
gregladen | September 17, 2008
A car bomb and rocket attack on the US embassy in Yemen has killed at least 16 people, including civilians and Yemeni security guards, Yemen officials said. -bbc
Why Yemen?
You might not know this, because the Bush Administration prefers you not, but Yemen is one of those places that is a major training ground and stopping off point for al-Qaeda linked (= can be hired by al-Qaeda at discount rates) groups. Yemen is more of a threat to US 'interests' in the middle east than Afghanistan, if we measure in numbers of crazy anti-US terrorists per cave or in absolute numbers. The entire time…