The Cost of Living Crisis Revisited
I know the situation is very different from the 2008 financial crisis but the effects are very similar. A year ago a cucumber at my local supermarket (Intermarche) was 1€, … Continue reading
Denialism: what drives people to reject the truth by Keith Kahn-Harris
“In recent years, the term has been used to describe a number of fields of “scholarship”, whose scholars engage in audacious projects to hold back, against seemingly insurmountable odds, the … Continue reading
A marble bust of the Roman Emperor Commodus | Christie’s
“… Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus (161-192 AD), or Commodus as he was more commonly known, was the last emperor of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire for … Continue reading
It’s not my fault | Edouard Louis
“It was a chase scene. In the foreground was what looked to be a middle-class man, wearing a white shirt and suit pants. He was trying to get away from … Continue reading
How the oligarchy wins: lessons from ancient Greece | Ganesh Sitaramanan | Opinion | The Guardian
“To understand that, we can turn to an instant classic from a few years ago, Jeffrey Winters’ Oligarchy. Winters argues that the key to oligarchy is that a set of … Continue reading
It’s an alpha male thing: what dominant chimpanzees and Donald Trump have in common | via The Guardian
“Chimpanzee politics can be intricate, but they always obey the rules of social dominance. Because chimps and humans evolved from a common ancestor going back 5-7m years, we humans know … Continue reading
Why Are Americans So Afraid? | Class Warfare Blog
“I was reading an article over at AlterNet with the title above. The subtitle is “Facts Take a Backseat to Deeply Ingrained Fears.” That article takes a fact-based approach in … Continue reading
How the middle class hoards wealth and opportunity for itself | Inequality | The Guardian
“… Opportunity hoarding does not result from the workings of a large machine but from the cumulative effect of individual choices and preferences. Taken in isolation, they may feel trivial: … Continue reading
Perspective, Priorities & Women in Society
Yesterday I was reading John Oliver’s more than justified criticism of the coverage of the most recent terrorist attacks in London; this was shortly after reading an article someone emailed … Continue reading
Free speech is at the core of the left-right divide. But what are we fighting over? | Jason Wilson | Opinion | The Guardian
by Jason Wilson “… Free speech in the Bill of Rights is not freedom from criticism or disagreement. But this was not what Christian appears to have had in mind. … Continue reading
Salvador Sobral WON Eurovision!!!
How absolutely wonderful. First Macron, now this. There is much light at the end of this tunnel.
The science of inequality: why people prefer unequal societies | Inequality | The Guardian
“… For example, studies of income and happiness have revealed that, once a basic level of wealth is achieved, relative wealth is more important for overall happiness. Similarly, a vast … Continue reading
Reflections on White Masculinity via The Guardian + Society’s failure to discuss ideas.
[The book is] “slated for 2018 . It’s based on interviews with four different groups around the world. One of them is an organization in Sweden which helps young neo-Nazis … Continue reading
The Anatomy of Populist Economics by Brigitte Granville – Project Syndicate
A bit of a long read, but well worth it. Professor Brigitte Granville’s article is outstanding. PARIS – For at least the past year, populism has been wreaking havoc on … Continue reading
From Simulation Confusion by K. Sanes
“… more often, we are being deliberately tricked, by people who have something to gain by manipulating us with misleading appearances. Indeed, much of America’s economy is based on providing … Continue reading
Things an agendist does when he’s bored: This is a Reince Priebus
Well, I was bored yesterday and so decided to make a joke (picture and all) out of the name of the current White House chief of staff . The people … Continue reading
Skittles, Terrorism & the Hippopotamus Factor
These excellent graphs are by the wonderful people at Datagraver. For more interesting graphs, numbers and information on terrorism, Oxford University’s OWID is fantastic. I thought it would be interesting for … Continue reading
Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom. – Petitions
If you’re a UK citizen or resident, you can sign this petition: Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, … Continue reading
Sean Spicer: Trump considering 20% tax on Mexican imports – Business Insider
“Sean Spicer, White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, told reporters on Thursday that the administration is pushing for a 20% border tax on Mexican imports. “When you look at … Continue reading
Clickbait title: Is rape imaginary?
…“The dissociation of labor and disintegration of society, which liberty and free competition occasion, is especially injurious to the poorer class; for besides the labor necessary to support the family, … Continue reading
The Magic(al thinking) Word of 2016/2017: Deal
Bold, ambitious, Global Britain- those were some of the terms Theresa May repeated ad nauseum in today’s speech on Brexit. The most used word, however, was deal. That is undoubtedly … Continue reading
The Mother of All Muckrakers
“… Tarbell was the nemesis of John D. Rockefeller, the creator of Standard Oil, precursor of ExxonMobil. But she was a lot more than that — as a journalist she … Continue reading
Lessons in Ethics: The Moral of Annie
The moral of Annie is that there was a time when it really didn’t matter how talented your child was and/or how well they could sing, if it was a Ginger, … Continue reading
The adventures of President Shyster & his Shysterettes
By now you’ve probably seen President Shyster posing next to a table covered in files: The setup was extraordinary. Basically he said, Dear Public, these are papers. Papers mean I … Continue reading
Darwin, Bonaparte & the Samaritan (starting the year on a good note!)
That’s the title of Michel Serre’s new book. Unfortunately I think it’s not yet available in English (but it is in French & Spanish.) He’s one of the great minds … Continue reading
Democrats, demagogues and despots via the FT
“The more powerful the passions and the more uncontained the ambitions, the more likely the democratic system will collapse into despotism. Demagogues are the Achilles heel of democracy. There is … Continue reading
Ich bin ein Berliner
Right now we don’t know what the reasons were- and frankly I imagine the motivation doesn’t play much of a role in the feeling of loss of those who have lost … Continue reading
When The New York Times Defended Putting a Black Man in the Bronx Zoo – TDB
Just as the late Stephen Jay Gould updated Charles Darwin by arguing that humans evolved through fits and starts—“punctuated equilibrium”—social progress also is less steady than we would like. Even … Continue reading
Welcome to the age of anger
The seismic events of 2016 have revealed a world in chaos – and one that old ideas of liberal rationalism can no longer explain by Pankaj Mishra “Writing in the … Continue reading
What Gamergate should have taught us about the ‘alt-right’ + Let’s talk about language.
“It’s understandable that the world didn’t much care about Gamergate. The 2014 hashtag campaign, ostensibly founded to protest about perceived ethical failures in games journalism, clearly thrived on hate – … Continue reading
Already Happening: The Normalization of Trumpism – via TDB
“… Only the characteristic bluntness of a child, who proclaimed the emperor’s nudity as he paraded through the streets humiliating himself and his kingdom, threatened to break the spell. But … Continue reading
White nationalists? Alt-right? If you see a Nazi, say Nazi | Lindy West | The Guardian
“What does it take to call a Nazi a Nazi? In the interminable fortnight since the election of Donald Trump, the US press has been floundering in a gyre of … Continue reading
What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class via The Harvard Business Review
“My father-in-law grew up eating blood soup. He hated it, whether because of the taste or the humiliation, I never knew. His alcoholic father regularly drank up the family wage, … Continue reading
The Economist’s Ode to Canada
“In this depressing company of wall-builders, door-slammers and drawbridge-raisers, Canada stands out as a heartening exception. It happily admits more than 300,000 immigrants a year, nearly 1% of its population—a … Continue reading
History – Attention Must Be Paid | Envisioning The American Dream
“In my constant field of vision, are a series of framed vintage Vanity Fair magazine covers from 1933 that powerfully illustrate that most tumultuous year, a year that would have … Continue reading
Lord Haw-Haw: How a Little Liar Sold the Biggest One – The Daily Beast
“While studying at the University of London in the early 1920s, Joyce became virulently anti-Semitic. Some say that when a leftist slashed his face from the edge of his lip … Continue reading
Must Read: Resisting Resentment Politics Down Under, Paul Tyson
How owning our Resentment can save Australian Politics In this piece, Paul Tyson, honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, outlines his take on the rise of right wing … Continue reading
Absolutely Fascinating
I was awake late last night and then early this morning. I think like most, I expected Clinton to win. WOW! What a shock. I’ll probably surprise you by not … Continue reading
How do we combat flawed thinking?
SANE ASYLUM The Swiss Know How to Beat Wingnuts Flavia Kleiner and Operation Libero handed the anti-immigrant right a major defeat last spring. Now they’re building their ‘rebellion of the … Continue reading
First there was the vote. What now? The future of Brexit.
“The widespread assumption that Britain would remain in the EU gave way, after the June referendum, to the antithesis: the prospect of “hard” Brexit. Now, courtesy of Japanese carmaker Nissan, … Continue reading
What Do Trump and Marx Have in Common? – The New York Times
HAMBURG, Germany — “We have a word in German, “Wutbürger,” which means “angry citizen” — though like many German compound words, its meaning can never quite be captured in a … Continue reading
The brain adapts to dishonesty : Nature Neuroscience : Nature Research
“Dishonesty is an integral part of our social world, influencing domains ranging from finance and politics to personal relationships. Anecdotally, digressions from a moral code are often described as a … Continue reading
Racial identity is a biological nonsense, says Reith lecturer
It’ll only take you a few minutes to read this (by this I mean the full text!), go on, indulge me! “Regarded as one of the world’s greatest thinkers … Continue reading
(Conservative) Niall Ferguson on (Conservative) May’s Abbanomics
Even though Ferguson is often a jack ass, this is an excellent article. “On one side, the citizens of the world — the Weltbürger — who are only citizens in the … Continue reading
Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005 – The Washington Post
On soap opera set, the GOP nominee bragged about groping and trying to have sex with women. Source: Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005 – … Continue reading
Thoughts on The Best News You Don’t Know
Source: The Best News You Don’t Know, Kristof for the NYT, 22/09/16 “As world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly this week, all the evidence suggests that we … Continue reading
The Year We Lived Stupidly: Tory minister on what Brexit means … via Pride’s Purge
(not satire – it’s the Tories!) So we’ve finally found out what Tories mean when they say “Brexit means Brexit”. Former banker, Tory minister and very very nearly Tory leader Andrea … Continue reading
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended for Rest of His Term Over Defiance on Gay Marriage – WSJ
“A disciplinary court suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for the remainder of his term Friday for violating judicial ethics in his defiance of federal court rulings on same-sex marriage. The decision … Continue reading
Mike Pence Opposes Word ‘Vice’ On Religious Grounds, Doesn’t Want To Be Called Vice Presidential Candidate | Huffington Post
“… Pence’s comment about Duke came in response to a question after Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, referred to Trump supporters, including Duke, as a “ basket of … Continue reading
Hard Brexit via Clare
“The Single Market is not a matter of common tariffs but common law. It is our agreement to common standards of product safety, for the good of consumers, as well … Continue reading
Social Comparison Theory
That paragraph from Marx’s Wage Labour & Capital distills the entire concept of Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory. It’s the backbone of the psychological manipulation that occurs/occurred in communist and fascist … Continue reading
Andrea Leadsom thinks men shouldn’t be employed to look after children in case they’re paedophiles
New Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom has warned it would be sensible not to employ a man to look after children in case they are a paedophile. Leadsom – who was … Continue reading
Michele Bachmann Says Jews Will Be Free To Say ‘Merry Christmas’ When Donald Trump Is President!
“He even said, ‘I don’t understand, when I was growing up, everybody said Merry Christmas. Even my Jews would say Merry Christmas,’” she explained. “’New York City, there are a … Continue reading
Almost 10 thousand euros per month?
Yep. It’s apparently true. President Hollande keeps a hairdresser on staff at the Élysée Palace at a cost to the taxpayer of €9,895 per month. This has been the case … Continue reading
Must read: Black Lives Matter and the Facts of Life | Envisioning The American Dream
Earlier that year, a Negro family had moved into our lily-white neighborhood, with a son just my age. Ensconced in their newly built American Dream split level with the immaculate … Continue reading
Acorn Antiques to return to television with whole new cast!
Low production values, wobbly sets, overacting, appalling dialogue and wildly improbable plots- a British soap? No, the Tory leadership election.
The Mask You Live In – Coalition of the Brave. The harm patriarchy inflicts on… men.
Video post. Source: The Mask You Live In – Coalition of the Brave
Theresa May Emerges as a Contender to Lead Tories – WSJ
LONDON— Theresa May, one of the U.K.’s longest-serving home secretaries, has emerged as a favorite to become the next prime minister. Source: Theresa May Emerges as a Contender for U.K. … Continue reading
Trump Orders Surrogates to Intensify Criticism of Judge and Journalists – Bloomberg Politics
An embattled Donald Trump urgently rallied his most visible supporters to defend his attacks on a federal judge’s Mexican ancestry during a conference call on Monday in which he ordered them to question … Continue reading
Donald Trump’s ‘Secret’: Americans Love Bullsh*t Peddlers and Miracle Cures – by Michael Moynihan
Absolute must read article: Indeed, Americans have a particular talent for transforming charlatans, cranks, and frauds into celebrities—and a particular tolerance for fact-free fads promoted by already-existing celebrities. Our favorite … Continue reading
Post-truth politics: Michael Gove says it’s time to tell Europe’s elites ‘you’re fired’?!?
Listening to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove in the past two weeks one would be obliged to think they’d left the Tories to start a Neo-Bolshevik British revolution. They do … Continue reading
Transgender bill passes House with unexpected support
BOSTON — Support for the transgender public accommodations bill exceeded expectations on Wednesday as it not only passed the House, but earned a veto-proof majority, something House Speaker Robert DeLeo … Continue reading
This is how propaganda works: Donald Trump’s Worthless Real Estate Math
…In his presidential disclosure Trump valued the golf course and its massive clubhouse at more than $50 million. In tax documents Trump valued the same property at just $1.35 million… … Continue reading
Brexit: The EU’s “red tape”?
A constant refrain of the out campaigners seems to be the EU’s red tape and how Europe interferes with British law. On occasion they go on to say the UK … Continue reading
How the Kleptocrats’ $12 Trillion Heist Helps Keep Most of the World Impoverished – The Daily Beast
An investigative economist has crunched 45 years of official statistics to discover just how much kleptocrats have plundered from 150 mostly poor nations. Full text: How the Kleptocrats’ $12 Trillion … Continue reading
The Brainwashing of My Dad + Pick a dictator, any dictator.
Yesterday I watched The Brainwashing Of My Dad. It’s a film about the rise and socio-cultural effects of right-wing media in the United States (Fox, Limbaugh etc.) It’s interesting but comes … Continue reading
Of religion and successful marketing: The doctrine of finding solutions to nonexistent problems
If you follow American politics, by now you’re privy to the case of the many bathroom bills introduced by religious conservatives in various states. The recent, rather unsurprising revelation that all … Continue reading
One True Ideologies: Sectarianism. I think she just said white supremacist.
The way my encounter with the TERF group began was bad enough- but trust me, it’s been all downhill from there. People who don’t embrace their discriminatory ideology aren’t just alleged supporters … Continue reading
A very short lesson in political philosophy: The reality of politics. Cowboys vs. Indians?
Most people think we can describe politics with the linear model above. One side wants one thing, the other wants the opposite. Yes to abortion rights, no to abortion rights. … Continue reading
Coddling Idiots: Safe Spaces, Trigger Warnings & Microagressions
That, my friends, was an actual discussion chez Roughseas. I’ve been hearing murmurs of this new phenomena for a while now, but I’d never seen it in action (courtesy of … Continue reading
Umberto Eco on Political Correctness (Translated and Revisited)
Eco died a few days ago. He’s best known as the author of The Name of the Rose, but he was also an exceptional social commentator and philosopher. Among his … Continue reading
The Blue Jasmine Doctrine
Yesterday El Pais live streamed the pre-trial motions in the Noos case and I watched most of it. I’m not sure why I find it so interesting, I suppose it just represents a … Continue reading
A Tildeb Moment: The dangers of interpretation bias
As I said a few days ago, this blogging thing is fascinating. Yesterday Tildeb was pointing out in one of his comments the dangers of interpretation bias. That is, when an … Continue reading
New York Times Sparks Breitbart Article Scapegoating against LGBT Human Rights Advocacy | Melanie Nathan
NEW YORK TIMES SPARKS BREITBART ARTICLE SCAPEGOATING AGAINST LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY By Melanie Nathan, December 22, 2015. Who has hurt African LGBT people more? Is that the question? Ask yourself … Continue reading
The head spinning Spanish election results
Spanish politics are in chaos! Hurray! There was no absolute majority for any party. Forming a government won’t be easy for any of them. On the right are the PP … Continue reading
Déjà Vu, Global Radicalism Edition | Right Wing Watch
Sometimes, covering the Religious Right every day, we feel like we’re hearing the exact same talking points repeated over and over again. And then, sometimes, we actually are hearing the … Continue reading
Austin Ruse’s C-Fam Conjobbery
First, I recommend anyone who has a sense of humour visit the (anti-gay and anti-women’s rights) C-Fam site and read through Austin Ruse’s bio. It’s just hilarious. One gets the impression … Continue reading
Acceptance Of Profound-Sounding “Bullsh*t” Linked To Lower Intelligence | IFLScience
As Marcello Truzzi, a renowned skeptic and professor of sociology in the United States, once said: “An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof.” This notion unfortunately doesn’t stop people the world … Continue reading
Magnificent: Victim Leaves Man Who Attempted To Rape Her Battered And Bruised – Yahoo News UK
A would-be rapist was left with a bruised and battered face after the woman he tried to attack fought back using her keys. Source: Victim Leaves Man Who Attempted To … Continue reading
#21h20 Paris time turn on your lights and play loud music
“Around the world, French artists and cultural figures are calling for people to mark a week since the start of the attacks with an outpouring of ‘noise and light.’ The … Continue reading
The Middle Class Canard & Debate Manipulation
It’s election season and they’re at it again. Politicians and the media all using the term middle class. That’s become the everyman term, especially in the Americas. When I was … Continue reading
What Jack said: My tup-penny(pig) opinion on the Piggate scandal. I’ve not put my willy in a pigs mouth but hear me! (NSW) | jackzivvi
Enough with the pseudo outrage on David Cameron possibly doing the silly (and harmless) things that young men do before our brains are fully developed. Don’t take my word for … Continue reading
Twitter: What in the world?
I looked at twitter today. I’d never really used it until a few weeks ago. I find it semi-amusing. Five of my new followers, I’m guessing from their picture choice, are … Continue reading
When yes means nai. Greece & battered wife syndrome
I know, how childish. How so very News of the World of me, but I couldn’t resist. The Greeks are voting today Oxi: No to the euro-deal Nai: Yes to … Continue reading
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Announcing a series on religious hate groups & their methods.
There’s no other way to begin this than with an apology to fellow bloggers VW, CF and RSM. They were right, I was wrong. Here is my public mea-culpa. In the … Continue reading
Why Angela Merkel Is Wrong On Greece
An outstanding article by German philosopher Jürgen Habermas: “…Because the federal German Chancellor opted as early as May 2010 to treat investor interests as more important than a haircut in restoring … Continue reading
Hiding behind the children: the current tactics of the anti-gay brigade
Some of them are appalling individuals. Creators and fomenters of social apartheid. Others are ordinary people, caught up in the storm, parroting the discredited propaganda of old. Propaganda that’s been … Continue reading
A Brilliant Day. Does he classify as a Trojan?
Gay marriage, fabulous dinner, great time- but I’ve got to hand it to Mr. Tsipras, that was the best political move I’ve seen, E-V-E-R. He let the European right led … Continue reading
A superb article in Le Monde which is a message to the British people
It’s in English and not too long, so definitely worth a read: Britain beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo ! But if you’re too lazy, the best part is the last … Continue reading
Some numbers that’ll shock you
I was looking through the 2014 Credit Suisse wealth report– which shows just how precarious the situation on this planet really is. Most of us in developed nations have no clue. You … Continue reading
Harsh, but – No more Dukes of Palma.
In tomorrow’s BOE, there will appear the news that the title of Duchess of Palma is revoked from the Infanta (Princess) Cristina of Spain. Felipe VI has very high standards. … Continue reading
Must Read: Let’s talk about cults
From the Daily Beast: Megachurch: Stay With Your Kiddie Porn-Watching Husband—or Face ‘Discipline’
Arguing religion at face value and why it’s a waste of time
“It is the law of the brothel. This type of marriage will never be anything but an immoral and scandalous concubinage. A form of incest.”— Spokesman for Catholic Bishops (El Pais archive) … Continue reading
Serious Cultural Differences (regarding women)
This has been a very interesting surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a culture where sexism was so frowned upon. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but … Continue reading
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