Blogs
The KKK Brought Anti-Socialism to US Politics
The KKK brought the terms Socialism and Communism into US political parlance in the 1870s. Rich white property owners should pay minimal taxes for poor (black or white) voters! Poor folks setting tax levels steals from the deserving rich!
Reflections on MLK Day — What is MLK Christianity?
I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward… Over and over I have found myself asking: “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? … Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?
Mississippi 1,660 vs. South Carolina 1,436 – Mississippi Wins SAT War!
If someone tells you that South Carolina has a bad educational system AS DEMONSTRATED BY SAT scores, just remind them of how good Mississippi is! (1,660 average score vs. 1,436 for SC). How can that be? On other test scores SC is tied for 35th in the nation, not 49th as the SAT scores suggest. Context in social measures is critical!
Overview of Issenberg’s “The Victory Lab”
How to increase voter turnout and win in swing districts. More recent links on Cambridge Analytica and Russian use of microtargetting in more recent elections.
Do the facts matter? The Austerity Fail!
Neoclassical economic theory predicts that austerity will cure a recession while preventing inflation. Actual results suggest this is false — countries with larger stimuli and safety net payments recover faster from recession.
Robots and Artificial Intelligence
On April 18, 2014, the NPR show On The Media produced a theme show that focused on Robots and Artificial Intelligence. You can listen to or download the entire podcast here.
The segment I found most interesting and potentially disruptive was a 14-minute interview with Jerry Kaplan of Stanford University titled Engineering Intelligence (link to the segment podcast here.) The segment made several key points.Read More »Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Some “Ken Burns effect” videos from 2009 vacation
Three “Ken Burns effect” videos of 2009 travels in Italy — The Duomo Square in Florence with Sunday church bells, Ancient Rome, and Saint Peters and Vatican Museums. Plus St. Ives, UK.
Were SC textile jobs sacrificed to our economic elite?
Descriptions of the techniques and processes that the economic elites and political parties have used to reduce the power of the middle classes and in the process enrich themselves and acquire the best fellow supporters they can buy.
Have you seen? US Austerity!
Public-sector austerity in one graph. Fifty little Herbert Hoovers — the fifty states — contribute to making this rescession go on. An Ezra Klein graph… Read More »Have you seen? US Austerity!