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In a different age, politicians quoting Shakespeare might not have gotten far with voters; in Bard-mad 19th-century America, it was a sure way to win over a skeptical audience.
The ultimate question is not whether cameras work. It stands to reason that they can work when used wisely—just as a hammer works for certain tasks. But not everything is a nail.
Surely there is something more ambitious to be done with our modern technology than trying to guess what kind of microwave someone will want next. Something like preventing murders.
Montana State Representative Joe Read doesn’t deny global warming is real. He just thinks it is we’re not causing it—and that it’s a good thing anyway. That’s why the Republican […]
At this month’s Vanity Fair, best-selling author Michael Lewis chronicles Ireland’s collapse into the deepest recession of any European Union country. In a guest post today, my American University colleague […]
A: Soldiers dressed in civilian clothes, who were ordered into the street. Most people have assumed that many of the thugs beating back protesters every day in Sanaa have been […]
The day started off bad in Sanaa when students managed to beat GPC-paid thugs* to the area outside of Sanaa University. (Michelle Shephard details the day in an excellent report […]
Apple has levied a new tax on publishers who sell subscriptions through the Apple iTunes Store. Now, one new report suggests Apple is being investigated by two federal agencies.
People confess under torture, or if they are mentally incapable of grasping the situation. But sometimes suspects who are perfectly healthy still confess to crimes they didn’t commit. Why?
In the wake of the Palestine Papers and the Egyptian uprising the “peace process” as we know it is dead. The myth persists, however, of “the deal that almost was”.
Why has the royal family of Bahrain allowed its soldiers to open fire at peaceful demonstrators? The heavy hand of Saudi Arabia may not be far away.
Brilliance in the morning: The New York Times had an absolutely wonderful op-ed today (some of you may have noticed that I have been strongly disagreeing with Victoria Clark’s piece […]
The Party of Spite strikes again. The Republican-controlled House voted Friday to de-fund not only Planned Parenthood, but all Title X funds for clinics that perform abortions: If the resolution […]
The experiences of transgendered men demonstrates that gender is still an issue in the workplace.
The week buzzed by … and we actually end with a bang (albeit a cloudy one). Dr. Boris Behncke brings us news that Etna seemed to have another eruption, however […]
The Republican Party has declared war on public servants in the United States the same way Middle East dictators have declared war on political dissidents. Members of the GOP like […]
Around this time of year many high school and college students worldwide come to the sad realization that they’re failing chemistry. To them, a mole will always be just a […]
Not everyone needs heavy duty pain relief in labor, but a significant percentage of women do. Let’s not make their needs invisible.
A year ago I wrote a piece in the National entitled “Yemen’s Coming Power Struggle.”* Much of the article focuses on what I saw then as the coming battle between […]
In casting about for an idea about how to blog on everything that is going on in Yemen, I found this Mareb Press story (Ar.) and I really like how […]
Today is mostly reserved for finishing the edits to the paper I have in review, so I thought I’d provide the answer to MVP #33 (top left). There is some […]
Before talking more about happiness, I need to say something about the middle-class way of life we almost all live. To be middle class is to be a free being […]
Today marks the opening in Washington, DC of the annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest event dedicated to science, policy, and culture. […]
Financial crooks brought down the world’s economy—but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them, says Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone Magazine.
After more than 250 days in isolation, three participants of a simulated mission to Mars stepped out to a mock-up of the red planet in Moscow and planted flags in the sand.
The circumstances were bizarre. The sudden return, the backdrop of war, a shady banker and arms dealer as a sponsor. But it was Bobby Fischer! One could not believe it.
Global warming helped drive a rise in the intensity of extreme rain and snowfall across much of the Northern Hemisphere during the last half of the 20th century, a new study has found.
Washington policy wonks have been grappling with a subject that is more the province of poets and philosophers than bureaucrats: what is the value of a human life?
Hi everyone, If you type www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org into your browser, you’ll see that Dangerously Irrelevant has a new home! I’m now hosted at BigThink, which is dedicated to deep thinking on […]
Just how well computers are able to understand language nuance–what researchers call the “Paris Hilton” problem–will determine how far A.I. has come.