BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue: "Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers."
As a result, 15 girls died.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A Religious War in Israel’s Army - NYTimes.com
A Religious War in Israel’s Army - NYTimes.com. "The publication late last week of eyewitness accounts by Israeli soldiers alleging acute mistreatment of Palestinian civilians in the recent Gaza fighting highlights a debate here about the rules of war. But it also exposes something else: the clash between secular liberals and religious nationalists for control over the army and society."
Religious warriors are scary regardless of their religion.
Religious warriors are scary regardless of their religion.
Monday, December 22, 2008
YouTube - Benoit Mandelbrot thinks we're all screwed
YouTube - Benoit Mandelbrot thinks we're all screwed
Among other interesting insights in this piece is the identification of efficiency as one of the causes of fragility in the system. In turn, this is a "Tragedy of the Commons" problem - it is in the interest of individual firms to be as efficient as possible but that may cause small problems to have large negative consequences on the rest of us. Is it a job for government to ensure that there is slack in the system?
Among other interesting insights in this piece is the identification of efficiency as one of the causes of fragility in the system. In turn, this is a "Tragedy of the Commons" problem - it is in the interest of individual firms to be as efficient as possible but that may cause small problems to have large negative consequences on the rest of us. Is it a job for government to ensure that there is slack in the system?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
YouTube - Atheist IQ - Faith vs Reason
YouTube - Atheist IQ - Faith vs Reason Is religious belief negatively correlated with intelligence? You decide.
The Investment Deficit in America | OurFuture.org
This is why Reaganomics destroyed America. (And why the middle class is shrinking.)
The Investment Deficit in America | OurFuture.org: "Previous generations of Americans built interstate highways and transcontinental railroads. Now we sit in traffic."
The Investment Deficit in America | OurFuture.org: "Previous generations of Americans built interstate highways and transcontinental railroads. Now we sit in traffic."
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The GOP's McCarthy gene
The GOP's McCarthy gene - Los Angeles Times: "the real father of modern Republicanism is Sen. Joe McCarthy, and the line doesn't run from Goldwater to Reagan to George W. Bush; it runs from McCarthy to Nixon to Bush and possibly now to Sarah Palin."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Paul Samuelson: The Dynamic Moving Center - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Paul Samuelson: The Dynamic Moving Center - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "Libertarians are not just bad emotional cripples. They are also bad advice givers. I refer of course to the views of both Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. The “serfdom” they warn against is not that of Genghis Khan or Lenin-Stalin-Mao or Hitler-Mussolini. Rather, they warn against the centrist states of the modern world. Think only of Switzerland, Britain, the US, the Scandinavian countries, and the Pacific Rim. Why do citizenries there report high indexes of “happiness” and enjoy broad freedoms of speech and belief?"
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