Snake Blind
Scientists, doctors, and all of us, are snake blind: it was true for Galen, Vesalius, and William Harvey, and it is true for today’s doctors & scientists.
Liberal and Conservative
Drive-By Journalism
Drive-by journalism undermines the essential role of a free press in the democracy. As media explodes, the news paradoxically becomes narrower and dumber.
The Gus Levy Syndrome
We are at a particularly contentious point in American politics. In all of it, there is a lot of finger-pointing. We blame the party bosses, the media, big money, lobbyists, extremists, and our own elected officials. Oh, and partisan politics: the worst bastards that every walked the Earth are our beloved fellow American sitting across … [Read more…]
Welfare as Training Wheels
I like to ask my conservative friends the following question. “If there were a social program that got people off of the welfare rolls, lowered crime, emptied prisons, strengthened the workforce, grew the economy, and elevated the general level of education, would you be willing to talk about it?” When I put it that way, … [Read more…]
Which Conservatives?
South Louisiana is famous for a number of things, the food, the festivals, the language, the joie de vivre. But most all, it is the music that has carried the culture into the international spotlight. It wasn’t always that way. You can buy t-shirts that read ‘Chank-a-Chank’, which is one of those pejorative-cum-pride things. Chank-a-chank … [Read more…]
Sabotaging Children: Living on the Edge
In the past when we were living on the edge, sabotaging children was the only prudent course of action.
The New US Founders
In one of the recent presidential debates, a panelist asked Ben Carson what he would do about ‘grey’ drugs, life-saving medicines that have recently seen astronomical price inflation. My ears perked up. For some time I have wondered about how we might resolve the tension, and where the balance point lies, between the considerations of … [Read more…]
On Prejudice
The real problem with prejudice is closed-mindedness: too often our first impression – our prejudice – remains our only impression.
The Raving Liberal Military
It would be hard to think of a more conservative culture than the military. There are strict rules, rigid protocols, and inflexible generic clothes. In addition, there is a prescribed, if unwritten, code for personal behavior that approaches the robotic, and is often a lampoon of conservative stereotypes: brusque, business-only, stoic, humorless, and unemotional. Perhaps … [Read more…]
Motorminds
For the sake of conversation, let’s say the human brain is like an automobile, and there are three basic models: the Corvette, the Silverado, or the amphibious Max IV 6-wheeler ATV. You get to choose. The Corvette is the sexiest, the social elite; as a mind, it’s the equivalent of, say, Carrie Fisher, easily one of … [Read more…]