It has for some time been a hallmark of American politics that conservative ideologues speak of "liberals" with disdain and condescension, and liberals view "right-wing" politics as nasty and unsavory. But the recent eruption of anger, vitriol and even violent hatred, from some individuals attending… Read full post »

There are theories of cognitive science that posit that thought is a function of pleasure, and pleasure, as against fear, is a mechanism for helping us to avoid danger and locate abundance and prosperity, i.e., a higher probability of survival. Such a conceptualization of thought can play out in a nu… Read full post »

New York is a place where everything is just a little off kilter, pushed and angled by unwavering momentum, but there is flow and the hope of flow working in the depths of personal metaphysical craft, there is the dewy first light of possibility and the wisdom of the tempest-tossed, if/…

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Retired general, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and former secretary of State, Colin Powell has been involved in every administration since 1980. He is a towering political figure, and despite association with major controversies of conflict during that time, is broadly considered one of the le… Read full post »

Sen. John McCain has just embarked upon what may be his most incredible new campaign strategy yet: he now claims that by offering tax cuts and tax credits to the middle class, Sen. Obama is "socialist" and a danger to the American economy. In another effort to "reinvent" his campaign, Sen.… Read full post »

The Chicago Tribune, conservative monument of American journalism, which has never endorsed a Democratic candidate for president, since 1847, has endorsed Barack Obama, the US senator from Illinois, for president. Perhaps the most poignant phrase for many voters would be "He is ready." The fact that… Read full post »

Sen. John McCain brought back to life the question of whether or not the "No Child Left Behind" law was a good or a bad idea. He claims it was a good start, but foolishly glossed over the fact that the bill's punitive "accountability" measures target the poor directly. Schools that… Read full post »

It was the last night of the year, and we were visiting the belly of the whale: old shimmering Menäting, the Island Place. We sought the center of a culture of collective insight, a distillation of plunder and purchase, lend and lease, ache and expansion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: temporar… Read full post »

One of my closest friends in the world is a committed Republican, as is my father, whose father was a Republican elected to various offices in our state. The friend —whom we'll call "Dutch"— often chides me for our differences of opinion, and we often have energetic philosophical debates… Read full post »

Barack Obama appears to have kept his cool, delivered his message and kept his focus firmly on issues and the work of governing. John McCain fired a number of gimic-enabled shots at Obama, but failed to deliver a coherent message, other than his allegation that Obama wants to raise taxes and… Read full post »

The monumental series of 7 3-hour-long debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas ended on 15 October 1858, exactly 150 years to the day before tonight's third Obama-McCain televised 90-minute debate. The two Illinois politicians were competing for one of the state's two Senate sea/…

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Human society formulates an elaborate collective study of the universe, in which we all participate, with as much faith as determination

People want to believe what their friends, neighbors, teachers, political representatives or religious leaders tell them. They will express skepticism at times, and… Read full post »

Supporters of the McCain-Palin ticket shouting race-bias and false propaganda at PA rally, Saturday, one day after Sen. McCain tried to correct false impressions, called for civility

Sen. John McCain may be scrambling to save his political life. Of course, until the American people vote, it… Read full post »

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA/Dow) today had its single biggest day of gains in history, climbing 936 points. It could be a good sign, that on Friday the market "established a bottom", but it's important to remember: the nature of volatility is not that it is ripe for gain or/…

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American schools have been many things over the centuries: the world's first true universal public education system, a decentralized municipal forum for sincere ambition and hopeful good efforts, indoctrination channels, oases of political correctness, the envy of the world in science and ma… Read full post »

Terry McAuliffe, former chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign, and Howard Dean's predecessor as chairman of the DNC, has said 2008 will be "the most vicious campaign we have ever faced". Even before Labor Day, shadowy "527 groups" and PACs were running ads and sponsoring the publicatio… Read full post »

A revolutionary skyscraper design by Herzog and de Meuron, commonly known as 'the Triangle', aims to break the long-standing Parisian height barrier of 37 meters, while respecting the right of neighbors to the same quantity of sunlight they would have without the new structure. The Guardian h… Read full post »

Special transparent dyes coating glass or plastic panes concentrate the Sun's rays, guiding them to solar-voltaic cells lining the edges, allowing a window to act as a solar panel with 10 times the electricity generation capacity of solar cells, by current standards. The 'organic solar concen/… Read full post »

Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has become mired in a controversy over its aggressive personal attacks on Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, which has put the Republican candidate in a supremely awkward position. During a week in which rallies held for his candidacy have featured a… Read full post »

I want to write about hope, about the nature of optimism and how closely linked the quality of imagination is to our ability to conceive of, work for and see through meaningful improvements to the human condition. I want to write about it because it is such a vital commodity in/…

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The former vice president of the United States, Al Gore, yesterday announced an ambitious goal, which he says the nation can meet, of transitioning its entire domestic energy production to clean resources by 2018. The speech marks a major moment in the process of transition to the green techno… Read full post »