Two English health scholars have written a book called ‘The Spirit Level’ which locates the cause of social ills in income inequality. The Boston Review unpacks their arguments.
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“Students are taking out loans that they may not be able to repay, and some fear massive defaults.” Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says for-profit colleges may be doing a public disservice.
“We were promised a life of leisure thanks to hard-working robots and fiendishly clever cyborgs. But the android fantasy has largely been terminated,” says The Independent.
“An online game that tasks players with reining in government spending suggests the public is more willing to make hard choices than they get credit for.” Miller-McCune on the deficit question.
“The fiscal 2010 deficit—$1 trillion and counting—is an encouraging sign,” says Daniel Gross at Slate. The business columnist says worries about a short-term American debt crisis are unfounded.
Al-Shabaab, a brutal Somalian insurgency, has attacked inside Uganda. How much should this international Islamic terrorism concern the U.S. and how can, or should, the U.S. respond?
Hendrik Hertzberg at The New Yorker looks on the bright side of life: despite unprecedented world problems, the author appreciates the good food and good cooking culture in America.
Computing speed doubles once every year and a half, and so does the electrical efficiency of processors, from laptops to servers. The pattern makes our computing lives more convenient.
It’s not Shakespearean. It’s not eloquent. It may not even be meaningful as anything other than today’s shallow distraction. Yet Gibson’s hate-laced phone porn has captured our attention. Is it […]
What does the future look like? We essentially rely on science fiction thrillers to give us a taste of what lies ahead for humanity: Avatar; Iron Man; I, Robot; Surrogates; […]
Nobel Prize-winning physicist William Phillips has used lasers to make atoms nearly as cold as they can possibly be—but he says he still hasn’t gotten them cold enough. “Every process […]
The number one story that has been dominating the headlines for the past two months is the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama is now dealing with […]
Psychologists and economists have long wondered whether increased wealth does indeed translate into happiness, and now new research indicates that to the (small) extent we are made happier by our […]
Dana Goldstein reports in the Daily Beast that the HHS may require all insurers to cover birth control as part of health reform’s focus preventive care: “Experts expect the Department […]
Robert Reich warns of “coming trade wars” in a recent blog, also carried by Big Think. It is an important contribution in as far as it recognises that a debate […]
“Innovation is like a bush fire that burns brightly for a short time, then dies down before flaring up somewhere else,” says Matt Ridley, whose new book chronicles the history of prosperity.
Gerald Dworkin at 3 Quarks Daily asks if three Navy Seals in Afghanistan, who were killed as a direct consequence of their decision to spare civilian life, should have acted otherwise.
“Stem cell ‘pharmacies’ that dispense tissue therapies could be as common as chemist shops in 20 years’ time, according to a top scientist.” The Independent envisions the future of medicine.
“We’re in the grip of a cultural panic and we have no idea whether we’re coming or going,” says The Guardian’s Books Blog. The rapidity of current cultural change can be baffling.
British philosopher A.C. Grayling thinks a new book on current neurological studies of wisdom fails to capture the true nature of knowledge because MRIs are too narrowly focused.
A Massachusetts judge has ruled that the federal gay marriage ban, a.k.a. The Defense of Marriage Act, violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Once known for its cool and revolutionary attitude, Apple now appears to have gone soft, using canned emotional appeals to market its iPhone, says The Atlantic’s Niraj Chokshi.
Christopher Hitchens heaps rare praise on The New York Times for its story on tax breaks given to pro-Israeli foundations who oppose a two-state solution, contradicting stated U.S. policy.
Eliot Spitzer is branded “disgraced” while David Vitter and Newt Gingrich are not. Glenn Greenwald at Salon asks what moral standards the so-called liberal media are applying.
Though oil companies like BP are the target of popular anger—private companies with selfish profit motives harvesting environmentally suicidal energy—the biggest oil companies are state-owned.
Jenny Holzer works in words. Her art flows from the endless river of language that surrounds us. She dips her hands into that river and pulls out a tiny handful […]
Twin blasts ripped through the Ugandan capital of Kampala Sunday while the rest of the world watched Spain claim the World Cup title. A group called al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility […]
“No one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended.” This was English author Philip Pullman’s response (speaking […]
Did you hear the one about the cryonics enthusiast who married the hospice worker? It sounds like the setup for a dark joke, but that’s exactly what Robin Hanson and […]
Despite widespread fears of a “double dip” recession, Wall Street is hiring again in droves, a sign that the financial industry anticipates a strong economic recovery. According to The New […]