Ending Fiscal Fluster…and Anxiety
A broad coalition of representatives of many major economic policy organizations came together in late September with a common message and program for economic recovery. The political establishment now favors economic “stimulus.” Stimulus is a nice, positive sounding (in most cases) word, but it doesn’t tell us with any specificity what we should do for the economy. Those of us Read More ›
Rules of TV Punditry
“We’d like you for an on-air terrorism and defense commentator.” “No.” “We’ll pay you.” “Yes.” And so, last September, I morphed from think tank policy pogue (a venerable military term denoting anyone who’s farther from the fighting than you are) into regional TV bobble head. KING5 in Seattle and their co-located sister station, NorthWest Cable News. Good folks. Good product. Read More ›
A New Birth of Wisdom
Jihadistan 3
Critics Want More Facts, While Darwinists Push Their Faith
Osama bin Luddite
Tragedy purges the mind of trivia. Perhaps the horror of a new Black September can rescue our culture from its thrall of humorless TV Conditry. From gossip about the moral codes of mayors and actors. From the search for the combination to the loony bin of politicians and economists who believe in the lockbox for Social Security. Instead, we can Read More ›
Missing Link
A note from Discovery: We are pleased to see the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, endorsing the “Teach the Controversy” approach regarding Darwinian theory. This is a step forward for academic freedom, critical thinking and science itself. Though a given theory may survive by censoring its critics, science itself may not. We commend the Plain Dealer for recognizing this Read More ›
Amtrak Has Failed, But What Comes Next?
The quick, pragmatic answer is the national passenger snail service known as Amtrak cannot be allowed to collapse. That means the railway should receive the short-term financing needed to keep it alive through October and into next year. Clearly, however, the three-decades-old Amtrak is a failure as it is now configured. Last week, the Bush administration proposed shifting more of Read More ›
Fatuous Filmmaking
To put the upcoming seven-part PBS series Evolution in perspective, think fat. Dietary fat. For decades folks in white coats have confidently assured the public that shunning fatty foods — bacon and eggs, butter, steak — would make for longer, healthier lives. Well, guess what? In The Soft Science of Dietary Fat, published in the March 30 issue of the Read More ›