Where's the Outrage?

The Flintstones are 40 years old today. Now the Flintstones are a piece of Americana. If I’m not mistaken they were the first prime-time cartoon.

From Wiki:

The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966 on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man’s life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS.

Critics and fans alike agree that the show was an animated imitation of The Honeymooners with rock puns thrown in. William Hanna admitted that “At that time “The Honeymooners” was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with “The Flintstones”….”The Honeymooners” was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept.” However Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that “I don’t remember mentioning “The Honeymooners” when I sold the show, but if people want to compare “The Flintstones” to “The Honeymooners,” then great. It’s a total compliment. “The Honeymooners” was one of the greatest shows ever written.”^[1] Its popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern-day concerns in the Stone Age setting.^[2][3]

(more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Television by ecthompson md
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How can you oppose giving medical care to volunteers who sucked up all of that dust and crap at Ground Zero? Government has no higher purpose than to take care of those who laid it on the line for our country and fellow citizens.

From Political Animal:

A bill that should have been one of the year’s most obvious no-brainers passed today, about three months later than it should have.

The Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would pay health care costs for 9/11 rescue workers, sickened after exposure to the toxic smoke and debris. The legislation was fully paid for, financed by closing a tax loophole for American companies that try to hide their headquarters at P.O. box in the Caymans.

The GOP trashed the bill, calling the health care money a “slush fund.” In July, it needed a two-thirds majority to pass, and it came up short — nearly every Democrat voted for it, and nearly every Republican voted against it.

Today, the House tried again, and this time it passed.

The final vote was 268 to 160. Among the majority, 251 Democrats voted for it, while only three voted against it. On the other side of the aisle, 17 House Republicans voted for the bill, while 157 opposed it.

The bill calls for providing $3.2 billion over the next eight years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris at ground zero. New York City would have paid 10 percent of those health costs. The bill seeks to set aside $4.2 billion to reopen the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide compensation for any job and economic losses.

In addition, the bill contains a provision that would have allowed money from the Victim Compensation Fund to be paid out to anyone who receives payment under the pending settlement stemming from lawsuits that 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers filed against the city.

Tags: 9-11, Congress by ecthompson md
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This is the third in my series of posts (first and second) on Long Term Capital Management, a hedge fund which blew up in 1998. Much of the following information comes from the book When Genius Failed – The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management.

From their new headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut, John Meriwether and his merry band of geniuses, began to work their magic. They started relatively slow at first. The first two months – no profits. Then, like the calm before an avalanche, the profits began to roll in. There was significant trouble in the bond market back in 1994. The trouble started in the US and spread across Europe. This widened interest rate spreads and made for more investment opportunities for LTCM.

At the end of their first year, LTCM could look back on a extremely respectable 28% rise in total assets. They were proving to everyone that they were, the brightest guys in the room. They found investment opportunities everywhere. Because they were using arbitrage trading, they were buying and selling at the same time. This allowed them to mitigate risk. For example, if you’re buying U.S. Treasury 30 year notes due to expire in January 1995, for example, because their interest rates are “relatively” low and you are selling U.S. Treasury notes that are due to expire several months later because their interest rates are “relatively” higher than you’ve balance the risk.

LTCM looked for these fixed income trades all over the world. They traded in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Egypt, Russia and many places in between. They clearly took advantage of the new computer technology in order to facilitate trading. They were the best and the brightest. They believed in their company. The partners initial investment of $150 million had grown to a stake of $1.4 billion. Again, this is not the total worth of the company instead, this is the amount of money that the partnership poured back into the company because they knew they were on the right track. They were riding the golden goose. Total profits in 1996 were a mindnumbing $2.1 billion.

Then, as if written by Hollywood, the two whiz kids, the two geniuses at long-term capital management, Merton and Scholes won the Nobel Prize in economics. The good times were truly rolling. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be a hedge fund manager? This is great.

Tags: Economy by ecthompson md
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Since everyone yawned and fell asleep over my post from yesterday, I’m going to continue my post on Long-Term Capital Management later on today. First, I thought would be interesting to post several of the MacArthur Foundation Fellows.

From HuffPo:

Abo-Shaeer prepares public high school students for careers in science and mathematics, combing applied physics, engineering and robotics

Little Doe Baird revives the Native American Wopanaak language to provide her community with a new sense of cultural heritage.

Berry creates scientifically accurate visualizations through data from a variety of fields to improve our understanding of a range of biological processes and systems.

Finally, my personal favorite -

Dabiri enhances our understanding of evolutionary adaptation and issues of fluid dynamics, such as blood flow to the heart, by studying the hydrodynamics of jellyfish propulsion.

You can find out more about the MacArthur Fellows.

Tags: Science by ecthompson md
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(Much of the following information comes from the book When Genius Failed – The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management)

John Meriwether was the heart, soul and brains of LTCM (Long-Term Capital Management). He was an extremely successful trader, arbitrage trader, at Salomon Brothers. Then, a funny thing happened, he was caught up in a scandal in falsifying U.S. Treasury auctions. Although he was never accused, a top bond trader who worked under him admitted to the allegations. John Meriwether was forced to resign. That was 1991. He decided that he was going to start his own hedge fund. This is not to be just any old hedge fund. This was can be a hedge fund that was the home to the “best and the brightest.” He cultivated a close knit group that work together at Salomon Brothers. These weren’t the typical cigar chomping, hard drinking Wall Street types. He cultivated college professors. College professors like Eric Rosenfeld who was a Harvard business school assistant professor and Lawrence Hilibrand who had two degrees from MIT.

John Meriwether did have a reputation for making money on Wall Street. Because of his reputation, he should’ve been able to raise $100 million without much trouble. He wanted to raise an astonishing $2.5 billion. In order to do this, you have to do something special. You just can’t walk into Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs or some other Wall Street firm with your resume and a smile. There’s no way even to get $2.5 billion. On the other hand, if you walked in to one of these firms with Robert C Merton a prominent finance professor at Harvard whose theories were well known to all on Wall Street. If you’re able to walk in with Prof. Merton that would turn heads. What if you could walk in with Myron Scholes (half of the Black-Scholes model) who was somewhat of a rock star/financial guru on Wall Street. (Not only were these guys economic gurus, they both ended up winning the Nobel Prize in Economics while employees at LTCM.) Finally, if you were not buying the pure star power of Myron Scholes and Robert Merton and what about David Mullins? David Mullins was a former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve. John Meriwether had put together what must be called the Dream Team of Wall Street.

John Meriwether and his team collected large checks from around the world and from Wall Street. Italy central bank invested on $100 million. A large Japanese bank signed up for another hundred million dollars. The largest investment bank in Brazil ponied up $65 million. PaineWebber invested $100 million. The pension of Black & Decker invested $5 million. When the dust had settled, John Meriwether had raised $1.25 billion. This may not of been the $2.5 billion that he wanted to raise. It may have been far short of his goal but it was still the largest amount of money raised to start a hedge fund… Ever.

These guys could not lose. That was the feeling on Wall Street. It seems that everybody wanted to be a part of LTCM. Everybody put in money and almost as important everyone wanted in. What did everybody really know about LTCM? The truthful answer is, in spite of everybody putting up as much money as they could, they really didn’t know much. John Meriwether never explained his investment strategy. He basically walked into Wall Street executives offices and said, “we are smart and we are going to make money.” It was that easy.

Tags: Books, Economy by ecthompson md
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About a week and a half ago I had an opportunity to interview Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos. Markos has a new book called, American Taliban, How War, Sex, Sin and Power Bind Jihadists and the Radical Right. Although Markos is clearly a progressive, he’s not one to mince words or to shy away from touchy subjects. In my 15-minute interview, we discuss current events, the enthusiasm gap between the Right and the Left and several subjects covered in his book, including the extremism of Rush Limbaugh and several others on the far right.

I must congratulate Markos on this absolutely fabulous book, American Taliban. He takes on James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, John Ashcroft, Oliver North, President Ronald Reagan, Glenn Beck, President George W. Bush and many others. This book is written well and brings back to our attention many of the incidents that we have forgotten over the past 10-15 years.

Enjoy the book. I highly recommend it. Listen to the interview:

Markos Moulitsas [ 17:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Party Politics by ecthompson md
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I thought that this was interesting. Ben Stein spoke out against a tax increase several weeks ago and Linda McGibney has a thoughtful and articulate reply:

Transcript:

A number of you have contacted us in response to what Ben Stein had to say about the prospect of higher taxes last week … including Linda McGibney, a Supervising Producer and Writer for the show “Stargate Universe” on the SyFy Channel. She had some things of her own to say:

BEN STEIN: “Maybe when the economy recovers, raising my taxes makes sense, but for now, it’s just punishment, and I can’t figure out what for.”

All I have to say is, Ben Stein is wrong.

I am an American. I am in the highest tax bracket. I also work in entertainment – which is what Mr. Stein does as well.

I am fine with the tax increase. I think it patriotic that I am taxed in this way. I want to help my country.

I believe the fact that I can have a job this year, and hopefully every year to come, is a privilege. (more…)

Tags: Economy, Taxes by ecthompson md
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We have been told in school that we, the people of  United States of America, are one big, huge, loving melting pot. (I have no idea where this melting pot concept came from, but its effect on the minds of impressionable little kids like me was tremendous.) Outside of a few dust ups, America has been one big love-fest. At least that is how the story went. Here’s a GREAT article from the Smithsonian on how that tale was just that, a tale.

The problem is that this tidy narrative is an American myth. The real story of religion in America’s past is an often awkward, frequently embarrassing and occasionally bloody tale that most civics books and high school texts either paper over or shunt to the side. And much of the recent conversation about America’s ideal of religious freedom has paid lip service to this comforting tableau.

From the earliest arrival of Europeans on America’s shores, religion has often been a cudgel, used to discriminate, suppress and even kill the foreign, the “heretic” and the “unbeliever”—including the “heathen” natives already here. Moreover, while it is true that the vast majority of early-generation Americans were Christian, the pitched battles between various Protestant sects and, more explosively, between Protestants and Catholics, present an unavoidable contradiction to the widely held notion that America is a “Christian nation.”

First, a little overlooked history: the initial encounter between Europeans in the future United States came with the establishment of a Huguenot (French Protestant) colony in 1564 at Fort Caroline (near modern Jacksonville, Florida). More than half a century before the Mayflower set sail, French pilgrims had come to America in search of religious freedom.

The Spanish had other ideas. In 1565, they established a forward operating base at St. Augustine and proceeded to wipe out the Fort Caroline colony. The Spanish commander, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, wrote to the Spanish King Philip II that he had “hanged all those we had found in [Fort Caroline] because…they were scattering the odious Lutheran doctrine in these Provinces.” When hundreds of survivors of a shipwrecked French fleet washed up on the beaches of Florida, they were put to the sword, beside a river the Spanish called Matanzas (“slaughters”). In other words, the first encounter between European Christians in America ended in a blood bath. (more…)

Tags: Civil Liberty, Religion by ecthompson md
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I’m to spend most of this week looking at many of the aspects of a defunct hedge fund called Long-Term Capital Management. This is a hedge fund which most Americans have not heard of yet. Its influence needs to be understood. In my opinion, in order to understand some of the craziness that exists in our economy, we need to look back to this hedge fund and its four-year rise and dramatic fall. Over the next several days, I would like to talk about risk, leverage, another bailout and the role of the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury in our economy and looking out for our best interest (no pun intended).

Before I go any further, I must talk a little bit about bond trading. This is also called arbitrage trading. Specifically, this is fixed income or convergence trading. I can try to go into a long explanation of what I’ve read which would probably be confusing to you and me. From the book, 13 bankers, “Salmon Brothers also pioneered arbitrage trading, which took a variety of forms. For example, traders could make certain money by finding to securities that should but did not have the same value – say, U.S. Treasury bonds maturing in August of 2040 and September 2040 – buying one and selling the other, and waiting for their prices to converge. Or they can achieve the same goal by buying the interest payments and the final principal payment on a 30 year bond separately while selling the whole 30 year bond (including interest payments and principal) for a higher price.” There are many different ways that Wall Street has figured out to to make money using this arbitrage method. For example, if you notice there’s a difference in the value of the US dollar compared to the German mark compared to the Russian ruble, if the German Mark is valued relatively high compared to the dollar and the Russian ruble is valued relatively low compared to the dollar menu itself German Marks short and by Russian rubles.

In 1994, John Meriwether opened the hedge fund called Long-Term Capital Management. This hedge fund was designed to scour the world looking for arbitrage trades. The fund was started with a whopping $1.01 billion in capital.

I think it is important for us to remember that hedge funds are mostly unregulated. There is no specific reporting that is required from arbitrage trading either. Therefore, a fund like Long-Term Capital Management was completely invisible to the government. This a fund which started with over $1 billion in assets and there are no safeguards are firewalls anywhere. As a matter fact, I think that one has to question why arbitrage trading is legal? This seems to be no different than betting on a roulette wheel. You can read more on arbitrage trading here and here. What are your thoughts? Should any scheme that Wall Street dreams up to make money be legal?

Tags: Economy by ecthompson md
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Tennessee Titans versus New York Giants — This will be hard-nosed, smash mouth football. Neither team has really gotten their offense cranked up. Both defenses have a very aggressive front seven. Momentum and turnovers will be the key to this game. The game is being played in the new Giants Stadium, which I think will give the Giants a slight advantage. Last week I was looking for Vince Young to really have a breakout game. It didn’t happen. Both teams need to get their running game going. In spite of the fact that the Giants are playing at home, I give a slight edge in this game to the Tennessee Titans and Chris Johnson.

Cincinnati Bengals at the Carolina Panthers — I think one of the common themes in the NFL is what happened to the offensive production? When you look at the Cincinnati Bengals, you begin to scratch your head. Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco have combined for not much. You have to have more offensive production from these guys. This will free up the running game. I look for the Cincinnati Bengals to come out and throw the ball. If they’re able to complete some 15-20 yard passes, look for them to come back and pound the ball. I think this is a good plan in theory but Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati Bengal offense has been anemic at best over the last two years. I’m not sure that the Carolina Panthers are going to get the much-needed adrenaline that they are looking for. I give a slight edge in this game to the Bengals.

Pittsburgh Steelers at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Pittsburgh Steeler defense appears to be in championship form. I think it’s going to be a long day for Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay offense. Look for turnovers. In spite of the Steelers’ offensive woes I think the Steelers will win this one big.

Buffalo Bills versus New England Patriots — The Buffalo Bills continue to be a rebuilding team. They have yet to find a quarterback. They really just cannot win in this league without a viable quarterback. The New England Patriots will cruise to an easy victory.

Cleveland Browns versus Baltimore Ravens — I look for Joe Flacco to pull his head out of the sand and start playing good solid football. He’s been a turnover machine so far this year. If he is able to prevent turnovers, I think the Baltimore Ravens will roll. The Ravens’ front seven, on defense, are playing as well as anyone in the league right now. Look for their defense to create a couple of Cleveland Browns turnovers.

The San Francisco 49ers versus the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs — Do you believe it? The Kansas City Chiefs are currently undefeated. They’ve won ugly, extremely ugly. They have turned the ball over. They have somehow gotten their running game going and made just enough plays in the passing game to win. I don’t think it’s going to happen against the San Francisco 49ers. I think the 49er defense is going to stiffen. I think they’ll shut down the Kansas City offense. Kansas City’s defense has been plenty porous. I think the 49ers can move the ball. The pressure is on Alex Smith. He showed some flashes of brilliance in last week’s game and gave 49ers fans some hope that he can actually play the quarterback position at a high level. He must build on this performance. I look for the 49ers to dominate.

Dallas Cowboys versus Houston Texans — It is not impossible for the Dallas Cowboys to win this football game. They have to fix their problems inside the 20. Tony Romo simply has to play better. If he’s able to play better, this will open up the running game. The Houston Texans have been playing fantastic offense. They put on a show last week against the Washington Redskins. They simply didn’t show up in the first half and then crushed the Redskins in the second half. Matt Schaub has been on fire. All of the football gurus are picking the Houston Texans at home to beat the Cowboys. The Cowboys are 0-2. They cannot go down 0-3. I look for somebody on this Dallas Cowboys football team to step up. Everyone is talking about the Cowboys offensive line. Mario Williams, All-Pro defensive end, will have an opportunity to go up against new left tackle, Doug Free. This does not look good for the Cowboys on paper. Maybe Doug plays better in actuality than he does on paper. The Cowboys are probably going to have to give Doug some help. Look for the Cowboys to figure out a way to win. (Yes, I’m a diehard Cowboys fan, but also a realist. This is a longshot.)

Detroit Lions at the Minnesota Vikings – What is wrong with the Minnesota Vikings’ offense? We have seen the bad Brett Farve each of the last two weeks. Look for him to break out of his slump and have a good game. This should open up more running lanes for Adrian Peterson. Detroit has been playing better but I don’t think they have the weapons to stop the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings, like the Cowboys, have their backs against the wall.

Atlanta Falcons versus New Orleans Saints — Although the New Orleans Saints have been wanting to, they have not been able to unleash their much feared offensive machine. They just haven’t been able to sustain drives. This is a big rivalry. Anything can happen. In order for the Falcons to win, they have to run the ball well. Matt Ryan has to play like he did two years ago. He really needs to torch the Saints in order for the Falcons to win. Finally, the defense of the Falcons has to create turnovers. I’m not sure that the Atlanta Falcons are going to be able to do all of this. Look for the New Orleans Saints to figure out a way to win. [Read more →]

Tags: Sports by ecthompson md
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Terence Blanchard with his sextet consisting of Brice Winston-tenor, Aaron Fletcher-alto, Eric Harland-drums, Ed Simon-piano, Derek Nevergelt-bass, 2000.

(This isn’t the best recording but I think that you can enjoy it.)

Artist: Terence Blanchard
Tune: Autumn Leaves

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson md
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I have no idea why I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head for the last several days. Anyway -

Artist: Run DMC with AeroSmith
Tune: Walk this Way

Tags: Music by ecthompson md
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There have been just a few things that I wanted to cover but that don’tneed separate posts.

• From the Economist: ONE IN six adults in the 33 mostly rich countries of the OECD is obese (measured as a body mass index of 30 or more) according to a report published on September 23rd. The fattest countries are the United States and Mexico, where around a third of adults are obese. Britain’s adults are the biggest in Europe. By contrast, Asian OECD countries Japan and South Korea are the leanest. Governments will count the eventual cost: health-care spending on an obese person is 25% more than for someone of average weight. And the problem is not confined to the rich world. In rapidly developing countries such as China, Brazil and India obesity rates, though still low, are growing fast as the dietary habits of the ever-increasing middle classes change. (Ed. Note – The Economist notes that they made an error in these data. The US is the most obese country and NOT Mexico.)

• For some reason, there is a buzz around the $100 million that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is giving to the Newark public school system. He might be trying to clean his image. Really? S, he is the first millionaire billionaire to try to whitewash his image? If you give me $100 million, I’ll hold a press conference and thank you without worrying about your motivations. Arianna has more: So the $100 million donation to Newark’s crumbling public schools is not in and of itself the story? The story is figuring out the motivation behind it? Is this what we have come to? Can you think of anything more ridiculous? I really don’t care why Mark Zuckerberg is donating $100 million of his own money that will make a profound difference to the lives of Newark’s children. I care very much that it’s being done — that one of America’s worst school systems will be getting a massive infusion of funds.
• The Republican “Pledge” is one of the biggest pieces of public misinformation in a long time. I’m still laughing at Republicans who now think that their plan will reduce the deficit.
• One of the best examples of a non-story is Rep. Steven King being steamed that Stephen Colbert testified on Capitol Hill. I’m sorry, but I don’t care that Rep. King is steamed. He seems to love being on Fox and will say anything to be on the network, again.
• Speaking of a media hound, there is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president. He made wildly inaccurate statements during his UN speech yesterday, accusing the US of being behind 9/11.  Then again, this is par for the course. He has denied that millions of Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
• Finally, on a lighter note, a lost language may have been found.

Tags: Civil Rights, Healthcare, Iran, Science by ecthompson md
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It is customary to try to be polite to a guest even if you are asking tough questions. Bill O’Reilly didn’t even try. Then again, I would have been surprised if he had.

There are several interesting moments in this interview. First, O’Reilly suggests that only “dope heads” watch The Daily Show, which is true. I’m doing lines of blow on my computer right now before I go back and listen to another lecture at this trauma conference I’m attending in Boston. Secondly, Stewart mentions something that is really true, that on Fox, O’Reilly is the liberal. He is the closest thing to sanity on Fox. Is Hannity any better or worse? Beck is so much more right wing, more crazy, simply more out there than Bill. Bill O’Reilly has been left behind.

Tags: Books, The Daily Show by ecthompson md
6 Comments »

From LA Times

I have no idea how many towns in America have managers who are ripping off the public. I hope that the officials of Bell, Ca are the only ones who are openly ripping off the public, but, you know, I doubt it. We have to spend more and more of our time watching our money. We can’t shop at that store because their prices are too high. We can’t get that credit card because there are hidden fees. We have to watch our city council officials because they might be lining their own pockets with our money. It’s pure craziness.

I don’t think believe type of thing is new. I think it’s probably been going on since the founding of our nation. There are always going to be crooks. With the economic conditions so tight, we have to look out for these con artists. I suspect that they are everywhere.

From LAT (I added emphasis):

The prosecution documents allege that Rizzo used the false 2008 contracts in response to questions about his salary. He allegedly told one citizen who asked whether he was really making $400,000, “If I can make that kind of money, I wouldn’t be working here.”

Prosecutors accused Rizzo of continuing to use the false contracts in recent months amid growing scrutiny of his salary by the district attorney’s office and others.

Sometime after June, one of the false 2008 contracts was given to the city attorney following requests for records of Rizzo’s pay. The contract listed Rizzo’s salary as $221,460. In reality, Rizzo was on course to make more than $1.5 million in salary and benefits this year.

As recently as last week, Rizzo pointed to the contracts in response to questions from the state attorney general’s office and falsely claimed they were genuine and were approved by the City Council, the court documents allege. (more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson md
20 Comments »

Tags: Books, Congress, Elections, House of Representatives by Neil Aquino
1 Comment »

We already have laws in the US against discrimination. We have amended the constitution to make sure that we aren’t discriminating against anyone, yet we are having this stupid debate over gays in the military. Why? What’s the problem? Gays have been serving in the military since the Revolutionary War. There are codes in the military about unwanted sexual advances. So what is the problem? There are gays in the military now. I just don’t understand the opposition. Sen. Al Franken made a very emotional speech from the floor of the Senate last night. Take a look:

Shortly after Senate Republicans and two Democrats blocked a vote to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Sen. Al Franken gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor.

Franken (D-MN) told a story about one of his trips to entertain the troops when he was a comedian, and started to choke up over the people who told him they were gay. You can watch him get emotional as he tells the story below.

Franken said the year was 2006 and it came at a time when the military had a tough time recruiting. He said they gave waivers for just about everything at the time.

“If you ask every man and woman on that base, who would you rather have standing to your right, standing to your left, that gay man or that gay woman who has been serving with you the last year, or somebody comes in here with a moral waiver and those troops who had moral waivers, many of them served very honorably and bravely, or some with a cognitive waiver, many of those flourished in the military and are doing great things,” Franken said.

He added: “All gay and lesbian service members want to be able to serve. Instead, people are getting kicked out of the military. People who don’t need any moral waiver, people who don’t need standards lowered for them in order to serve. People who are patriotic and courageous and who have vital, irreplaceable skills.”

Tags: Civil Rights, Military by ecthompson md
33 Comments »

A friend of mine, a conservative, wrote a very thoughtful piece on racism a couple weeks ago. He has been the single look at it. I think what he has written is extremely well thought out. He begins with the question whether racism will ever die. I applaud his effort.

Racism, sexism, fat-ism and short-ism are simply variations of that old cheer “We’re Number One.” It is not simply a problem in the United States but I believe it is part of the human condition, we like to separate into clans or groups. Whether it is Republicans versus Democrats or the Longhorns versus the Sooners, we all like to be part of a group. Teenagers instinctively gravitate to those who accept them. This is exactly why gangs are popular among teenagers. It Is a feeling of acceptance and it is us versus them. It is from within these clans that our ancestors learned to hunt and fish and, most importantly, to survive. Being able to recognize those that mean us harm from those who are part of us was an essential trait for hundreds of thousands of years. We’re not in a fix that evolutionary trait in 50 years or even 100 years.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that racism is a good thing. Instead, I’m saying that racism is a part of us. Curiosity and altruism are also a part of us. This is what gives the human condition so many interesting facets. We can reach out and embrace those that are different from us. This is also essential in our evolution. If we only stayed with our clan, we would’ve become too inbred and died off. Instead, we had to have a balance. Caution and curiosity have to be balanced in such a way that we don’t naïvely walk into strange situations which may result in our death and, on the other hand, we have to have enough curiosity in order to mingle with those who are different than we are in order to learn new techniques of hunting, fishing, preserving food and the like.

So, I don’t think I will be able to twitch my nose and have racism go away. Instead, we have to understand that we need to force ourselves to accept those who are different than we are. We need to suppress our instinct to chastise, to belittle and discriminate against those who are not like us. We are never going to get it perfectly right. In my book, this is okay. In my book if we are all aware of it and we all try to embrace our fellow man, we are on the path to enlightenment. That’s all we can ever hope for.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Race by ecthompson md
6 Comments »

Emptywheel has highlighted a series of articles that I agree needs more discussion.

From Emptywheel:

Tim Noah’s great series on the causes of income inequality got a lot less attention during its second week than its first week. So I thought it worthwhile to focus on what he concluded was causing the dangerous new income inequality in America.

Here’s how he described the relative importance of each of the causes of income inequality he looked at:

Here is a back-of-the-envelope calculation, an admittedly crude composite of my discussions with and reading of the various economists and political scientists cited thus far:

• Race and gender are responsible for none of it, and single parenthood is responsible for virtually none of it.
• Immigration is responsible for 5 percent.
• The imagined uniqueness of computers as a transformative technology is responsible for none of it.
• Tax policy is responsible for 5 percent.
• The decline of labor is responsible for 20 percent.
• Trade is responsible for 10 percent.
• Wall Street and corporate boards’ pampering of the Stinking Rich is responsible for 30 percent.
• Various failures in our education system are responsible for 30 percent.

Most of these factors reflect at least in part things the federal government did or failed to do. Immigration is regulated, at least in theory, by the federal government. Tax policy is determined by the federal government. The decline of labor is in large part the doing of the federal government. Trade levels are regulated by the federal government. Government rules concerning finance and executive compensation help determine the quantity of cash that the Stinking Rich take home. Education is affected by government at the local, state, and (increasingly) federal levels. In a broad sense, then, we all created the Great Divergence, because in a democracy, the government is us.

Here’s Noah’s installment on executive pay, in which he argues that things like technology make it easier for entertainers and top execs to maximize their pay, while deregulation allowed the banksters to command huge salaries.

And here’s the one on educational problems. Largely, Noah describes, the problem is that K-12 education isn’t preparing students as well for today’s job market as it used to. In addition, between college costs and the removal of incentives (like the draft) to stay in school, educational attainment stalled for a number of years. As a result, the value of a college education is much greater, so those without a degree do worse by comparison.

I don’t think that these articles really stress the constant pressure that conservatives have put on government to cut taxes. The pressure directly impacts our schools. (more later)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Education by ecthompson md
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Tags: Other Political Thoughts by Neil Aquino
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