Most Americans are not aware that visitors to the US are subjected to questioning whose intrusiveness is exceeded only by its absurdity.
It comes mainly in the form of an online form called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization that you must fill before you travel. An airline pilot has written an article titled How Not to Attract Tourists that discloses some of the questions visitors are asked. [Read more…]
It is a puzzle why people would want to join organizations that seem to actively work against their interests. Jason Jones of The Daily Show explores the weird logic used by those Muslims who want to join the Republican party and by the Republicans who are trying to keep them out. [Read more…]
There is a job opening to head the World Bank and there have been some interesting maneuverings to fill it.
Ever since its creation in 1944, the job has gone to an American while the corresponding position at the sister institution the International Monetary Fund has gone to a European. While the decision is ostensibly made by consensus, the actual voting strength depends on the contributions of each country and the US has about 16% and the EU countries have about 29%. As long as they stick together, it will be hard for other nations to get one of their own into the position. [Read more…]
I will be attending part of the Reason Rally on the National Mall in Washington DC tomorrow and so blogging will be light over the weekend. The national media have started covering the event. (See here and here and here.) [Read more…]
Jason Rosenhouse makes a point that I too have noticed in my discussions about religion with both sophisticated and fundamentalist believers. The former will pooh-pooh the whole idea of evidence for the existence of god and say that religion is based on faith and is a different way of knowing and thus is exempt from the normal demands of evidence and reason that we apply to every other aspect of our lives. They will argue that as a result these are two non-overlapping worldviews and that applying the standards of science to religious beliefs makes no sense. [Read more…]
One of the bizarre turns that this election campaign has taken is the assault on women’s rights by the Republican party. It seems crazy for politicians to advocate steps that could alienate potentially 50% of the electorate. Valerie Tarico argues that this is merely the flip side of their desire to appeal to their fundamentalist religious base. [Read more…]
During the time that Rick Perry was still in the running for the Republican nomination, I argued that, while the policies he advocated were as bad as those of the others, he was one of the less obnoxious choices in that he did not seem to have the same level of gratuitous meanness. My feelings were based on some articles I read that said that his administration in Texas actually had a good record on diversity and that he had little to do with that state’s policy on the death penalty and had not shown any particular enthusiasm for putting people to death. [Read more…]
He elaborates on his article that I linked to earlier where he says that we are over-reacting to the danger posed by Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb. [Read more…]
Yes, this series actually is coming to an end! But not before I add some final thoughts.
Insults usually have no basis in fact. In fact, the more spectacular insults may have absolutely no contact with even reality. They are meant to inflame passions by ascribing qualities to the other person that, looked at dispassionately, may not even be derogatory. [Read more…]
