Common Sense and the Minnesota Recount

Take a minute to peruse this article from the Minnesota Public Radio website, detailing some of the challenged ballots up for recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.  It is interesting to see the actual photographs of a sample of challenged ballots as well as the reasons for the challenge. [...]

Spit from the Horse’s Mouth – Paulson Editorializes Himself

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wrote an article for todays New York Times Op/Ed page.  Topic: Henry Paulson.  In efforts for full disclosure, the article, entitled Fighting the Financial Crisis, One Challenge at a Time, was actually an account of where we stand a few short months after the announcement of the crisis.  As Secretary Paulson was the [...]

A Quick Financial Crisis Update

 
When Secretary Paulson announced the need for a massive 700 billion dollar bailout of the financial sector, it seemed like an immense amount of money.  He said that the stability of the US financial institutions were at stake.  The taxpayers trust, the treasure of our country, was offered as the stopgap.  Congress passed legislation, pundits [...]

Bailout Pie in our Face

The Washington Post is reporting that, although we have committed over $290 billion of the original $700 billion bailout, we have not begun serious implementation of a system of oversight.  
Barney Frank is claiming that, because the nature of the giant rescue package has changed, the need for oversight is not as pressing as it [...]

American Politics and Argumentative Fallacy

Sometimes I wonder if our entire political system is based on argumentative fallacy.  This is a very sad prospect to someone who prizes logic.  Is it a hasty generalization (irony intended)?  Perhaps, however, this election cycle, I too often found myself referencing the ideas of Ad Hominem, Ad Populum, straw man, and moral equivalence arguments. [...]

On Veterans Day

When I think of Joe the Soldier…
I remember when my parents took me to see the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.  I was very young and the Memorial was one stop of many as we took in as much as we could on our brief visit.  We toured the FBI building, the White House, the [...]

Winners and Losers From This Election Cycle

Fresh Faces, Old Faithfuls, First Looks, and Last Hurrahs Part I
 
When Senator Obama reached the 270 electoral vote threshold last Tuesday, he was announced as the President Elect of the United States of America.  Senator McCain conceded soon after, and the most tangible winner and loser were defined.  They were not, however, the only winners [...]

Waiting in Line to Vote

Some of the things I heard while standing in line at my polling place in West Philadelphia this morning…  
 
“We’re making history today, boy!”
“Oh my Lord, you’re all grown up, I haven’t seen you in, what, 15 years!”
“Don’t let them turn you away.  You have the right to cast a provisional ballot.”
“He’s said he ain’t.  [...]

‘Twas the Night Before…

We stand at the precipice of history.  The citizens of the United States of America are poised to elect the first non-white President of our country.  This is an amazing accomplishment considering both the historical and current state of racism in the US, and its conspicuousness at the highest levels of our political and societal [...]