Category Archives: Short Takes

Brief comments on new of the day or whatever else has caught my attention.

Lip Reading Babies: Utter nonsense!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by marc

Says psychologist David Lewkowicz of Florida Atlantic University, who led [a] study published yesterday…
’The baby in order to imitate you has to figure out how to shape their lips to make that particular sound they’re hearing,’’
Can you “figure out” why … Continue reading →

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The Mark of Cain

Posted on November 9, 2011 by marc

Watching Herman Cain duel with his female accusers is like watching the Jerry Springer Show. Not a pretty picture. If you partake, be sure an wash you hands afterwards.

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The Truth About Sovereign Debt

Posted on November 1, 2011 by marc

During the housing bubble people bet on rising home prices by taking out loans on to-good-to-be true terms and investment banking made bets on the rising home prices by lending on to-good-be-true terms. Everyone drank the Kool Aid. Prices went … Continue reading →

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Backdoor Corporate Socialism

Posted on October 21, 2011 by marc

My response to Paul Krugman’s NTY column today, “Party of Pollution“.
Profit-seekers who plunder national resources and despoil the environment that we all share, rich and poor alike, exact a price that must be paid at some point in the future. … Continue reading →

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U.S. Poverty Rate, at 15 Percent, Is the Highest Since 1993

Posted on September 13, 2011 by marc

NYT, WASHINGTON  — The percentage of Americans living in poverty last year rose to the highest level since 1993, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, fresh evidence that the disappointing economic recovery has done nothing for the country’s poorest citizens.
That’s 15 … Continue reading →

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There Goes Another Ambassador

Posted on September 3, 2011 by marc

Last week I wrote that the winds of war were piping up. Button up your collar, today Turkey kicked the Israeli Ambassador out, saying that…
“All military agreements (aka “treaties”) have been suspended,”

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The Arab Spring at Harvest Time

Posted on August 29, 2011 by marc

In his essay “If the Arab Spring Turns Ugly” (Sunday Review, NTY), Vali Nasr,  professor at Tufts University and author of “The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future”, offers up an informed view of the so-called … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Politics, Science of Consciousness, Short Takes, Theory of Knowledge | Leave a comment

Is Paul Krugman a Conspiracy Nut?

Posted on June 10, 2011 by marc

Rule by Rentiers, Paul Krugman, NYT
“I’m increasingly convinced that it’s a response to interest-group pressure. Consciously or not, policy makers are catering almost exclusively to the interests of rentiers.”
If there really is a conspiracy, then he’s not nuts. To connect … Continue reading →

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Kristof Connects Some Dots

Posted on June 6, 2011 by marc

Nick Kristof, writing in today’s NTY, helps us connect the dots of the Republican story in his essay, “Our Fantasy Nation?“. Here are the dots:
Dot 1 – “[T]he lowest tax burdens of any major country”
Dot 2 – “Government is limited”
Dot … Continue reading →

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“Unsafe at Any Dose”

Posted on May 1, 2011 by marc

Today Dr. Helen Caldicott  writes in a NYT Op Ed,
“…when I first heard about the reactor damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, I knew the prognosis: If any of the containment vessels or fuel pools exploded, … Continue reading →

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What If It Were Your Kids?

Posted on April 30, 2011 by marc

American media coverage of the nuclear power plant catastrophe in Japan been has largely devoted to hack punditry suggesting that Japan’s technology is inferior to ours and that events in Japan will provide valuable lessons we will use to make … Continue reading →

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Getting out of Bed

Posted on April 26, 2011 by marc

Everything you do or do not, is risky.
Every decision you make is a prediction.
Every action you take is a gamble.

Posted in Short Takes, statistical thinking, Theory of Knowledge | 1 Comment

Stiglitz Says It Better

Posted on April 5, 2011 by marc

In “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%” in this month’s Vanity Fair, noted economist Joseph Stiglitz writes about our rapid descent into the status of a banana republic. With a clarity I can only envy, he says … Continue reading →

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War Excuses: Somali Pirates vs. Libya’s Gaddafi

Posted on April 2, 2011 by marc

The Danish sailing family abducted by Somalian pirates a few weeks ago remains captive. According to an AP reporter, pirate Bile Hussein claims that semi-official government forces from Puntland, Somalia, (whoever they are) tried to surround the village of Hul Anod and … Continue reading →

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A note about this blog’s new look

Posted on March 30, 2011 by marc

WordPress is a great blogging platform but it is always a work in progress. This means that templates used for shape its look and feel frequently go out of date. To stay apace of these changes, I have switched my … Continue reading →

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