Search Results for: "why government matters"
Why government matters, cont’d: Rescuing Detroit
If you want to convey a message of grit, hope, and determination, you can hardly do better than Clint Eastwood in this great Superbowl spot: Bob Cesca points out the obvious irony: My only issue here is the unspoken fact … Continue reading
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Why government matters, cont’d: Advancing the frontier
A very lively exchange of ideas (and arguments) about the future of human spaceflight and exploration, from last summer’s The Amazing Meeting. Panelists are Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pamela Gay, and Lawrence Krauss, moderated by Phil Plait of Bad … Continue reading
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Why government matters, cont’d: Elizabeth Warren on fair taxation
Elizabeth Warren debunks the accusation that a proportional tax on the rich amounts to class warfare, and gives a rousing defense of the social contract: Yes. It strikes me, once again, that it’s a Democrat who’s arguing for the importance … Continue reading
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Why government matters: “No single individual built America on their own”
I listened last night to President Obama laying out his jobs proposal. And as disappointed as I am in his apparent inability to stand his ground in the face of a relentlessly obstructionist Republican Congress, he did say some things … Continue reading
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The stakes
Bob Cesca spells them out: [I]f the president loses the second debate as badly as the first and, subsequently, isn’t able to recover enough ground to win the election, it will be seen as a major loss for Keynesian economic … Continue reading
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How to build a person
Tim Minchin narrates a nice introduction to the history — and future — of genomics: More on ENCODE — the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements — here: Gina Kolata of the New York Times walks us through the most recent breakthrough … Continue reading
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“You want to talk about values? … Looking out for one another — that’s a value.”
President Obama makes the case — brilliantly — for pulling together, for the responsibilities we bear toward each other in a community, and for government’s role in doing so: Yes. The president has argued for why government matters before — … Continue reading
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Newt Gingrich is right (about exactly one thing)
I never thought I’d say this, but Newt Gingrich is right. Call him a blowhard. Call him an egotist. Call him a moral hypocrite. Call him a bomb-thrower. Call him undisciplined and incapable of follow-through. Call him one of the … Continue reading
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The infinite city, cont’d: Welcome to the grid
A fascinating new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, “The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011,” commemorates “the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, the foundational document that established Manhattan’s famous street … Continue reading
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The 1% don’t get it: “What makes people furious is that they have stopped being citizens”
Matt Taibbi calls attention to an article at Bloomberg.com in which the much-put-upon billionaires of America frown upon the “imbeciles” of the Occupy movement for hurling abuse their way: Asked if he were willing to pay more taxes in a … Continue reading
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