Via Inside Higher Ed, the Boston Globe reports that the Pentagon opposes increasing GI Bill funding. Why? Because if they gave them full tuition, eligible soldiers might not re-enlist: Now, five years into the Iraq conflict, a movement is gathering steam in Washington to boost the payout of the GI Bill, to provide a true… Continue reading Dispatches from the Class War
Category: Politics
Duty is Heavier Than a Mountain
I’m registered as an independent, so I can’t vote in either of the primaries today (and I like it that way). If you are an American registered with one party or the other, though, and in a state holding a primary today, go vote. End of civic duty nag.
European Politics Have No Right Wing
Over at Aardvarcheology, Martin complains about US politics. This is bog standard European oh-you-benighted-Americans stuff, with a convenient one-sentence summary: From a European perspective, US politics are an ongoing battle between the extreme Right and the middle Right. This gets up my nose a bit, because as I commented over there, it would be perfectly… Continue reading European Politics Have No Right Wing
Non-Dorky Poll: General Fears
As promised (threatened?) in the previous post, here’s a space for more general commentary in response to the question asked by our Corporate Masters, and modified slightly for blog use: What non-scientific developments do you fear you’ll be blogging or reading about in 2008? Consider this open to all areas of politics and pop culture.… Continue reading Non-Dorky Poll: General Fears
Non-Dorky Poll: General Hopes
As promised (threatened?) in the previous post, here’s a space for more general commentary in response to the question asked by our Corporate Masters, and modified slightly for blog use: What non-scientific developments do you hope to be blogging or reading about in 2008? Consider this open to all areas of politics and pop culture.… Continue reading Non-Dorky Poll: General Hopes
School Killings and The Problem With Relative Numbers
The mysterious Revere looks at school killings today (or, more accurately, looks at a study looking at school killings). He/she/they opens with an arresting factoid: The second leading cause of death in the 5 to 18 year old age group in the US is homicide. These are school aged children and the first thing that… Continue reading School Killings and The Problem With Relative Numbers
The Importance of Connotations in Headline Writing
The Washington Post has an article this morning headlined Navy Wins Exemption From Bush to Continue Sonar Exercises in Calif.: The White House has exempted the Navy from two major environmental laws in an effort to free the service from a federal court’s decision limiting the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises. Environmentalists who… Continue reading The Importance of Connotations in Headline Writing
Steroid Madness
Steroid scandals in sports, most particularly baseball, have been dominating sports media for a couple of years now. I thought that there really wasn’t anything I could possibly care less about, but the New York Times proved me wrong with an article on steroid use among hip-hop artists. Actually, the Times story is a report… Continue reading Steroid Madness
Google-Bomb the Debates
Steinn offers an excellent suggestion, after noticing that CNN is soliciting debate questions from random people on the Internet: Keith over at NASAwatch suggested his reader swamp it with NASA policy questions to try to get one into the actual debate. Scienceblog readers could do the same – send in a lot of good, coherent,… Continue reading Google-Bomb the Debates
The Clinton Conundrum
I’ve seen a lot of people linking to this exhaustive recounting of Chris Matthews’s unhealthy fixation on Hillary Clinton, which leads off with a great quote from this firedoglake post: I do not care which person is your candidate. I don’t care what you think of Hillary Clinton as a potential president. What is being… Continue reading The Clinton Conundrum