I wrote two weeks ago about the small Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights that I live in being faced with either voting for a city income tax increase or losing services. Yesterday the voters in the city easily passed (by a margin of 64% to 36%) the measure to raise the city income tax from 1.75% to 2.25%, an increase of almost 30%. [Read more…]
As the November election approaches, there will a lot of noise about taxes and the so-called ‘Buffett rule‘, named after Warren Buffett who has been saying that it was wrong that rich people like him should pay taxes at a lower rate than people who earn much less, like his secretary for example. This will intensify as the end of the year approaches and the Bush tax cuts are set to expire. [Read more…]
As often happens during chaotic and deadly shootings as what happened during the killings at the Sikh temple, some people hid in closets and other nooks to try and avoid the gunman. Since it was not initially clear how many gunmen were involved and whether people were being held hostage, it took some time for the all clear to be sounded and for people to feel safe enough to come out of hiding. [Read more…]
And so, inevitably, there has been another mass shooting, this time at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and we can expect the gun control debate to heat up again. I am not opposed to private gun ownership. I can understand how a ‘well regulated militia’ might be necessary for the ‘security of a free state’, as the Second Amendment to the US constitution states. I can understand how some people in some areas can feel so frightened that having a gun lets them feel more secure. [Read more…]
The Romneys’ horse Rafalca is still in contention at the Olympics. Although I promoted her as the ideal running mate for Mitt Romney, new information about her has considerably dimmed her chances of being selected, perhaps to levels even lower than those of Tim Pawlenty. [Read more…]
Via Pharyngula, I came across this article by Ian Murphy naming the five most awful atheists. Who are they? [Read more…]
Given the decades of conflict between Arabs and Israelis, it is perhaps not surprising, though still regrettable, that young people will grow up with racist attitudes towards those they perceive as ‘the other’. A new survey of attitudes among Israeli Jewish high schools shows a disturbing level of bigotry towards Israeli Arabs and that religion, rather than being a force for good and a driver towards peaceful coexistence as its supporters like to claim, only accentuates those attitudes. [Read more…]
Ever since Tim Palenty withdrew early from the Republican nomination race, he seems to have been auditioning for the vice-president’s slot. I thought that he could be a likely choice, having views that are extremely conservative, enough to placate the party’s rabid base, but also able to project an amiable persona that would not alienate the rest of the electorate too much. Indeed it was for these very qualities that I was surprised that John McCain did not pick him in 2008 over Sarah Palin. [Read more…]
One of the worst consequences of wars, including the so-called ‘war on terror’, is that in the name of defense and safety they give the security forces increased and largely unchecked power. When people with power over others such as police, TSA and DEA agents, and other government agents can also avoid public scrutiny of their actions, it inevitably leads to abuse. [Read more…]
I said in the previous post that I suspected that Mitt Romney may do something splashy to give his campaign a badly needed boost and break out of being stuck behind Barack Obama in the polls. One action that he has at his disposal is his choice of running mate. [Read more…]