Edward Snowden is repeatedly being compared to another former intelligence analyst, Daniel Ellsberg. So it’s time for a very quick history primer on Ellsberg, and a discussion of why the two men have even more in common than you might think.
Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg, Watergate, and Mental Illness Read More »
Ann Coulter is not funny. And I say this only with the deepest respect for comedy.
Ann Coulter is Not Funny Read More »
Baladev Maharatha, “Koti Brahmanda Sundari” (n.d.)
Baladev Maharatha, “Koti Brahmanda Sundari” (n.d.) Read More »
Could anything better illustrate the unseemly intimacy of the the relationship between politicians and lobbyists?
Guest Blogger: Louis Renault on Unethical Lobbyist-Government Relations Read More »
Now, normally I don’t use this space to take cheap shots at respectable intellectuals. But Coulter is neither an intellectual, nor respectable. She’s merely an ideological provocateur, a cross between Joseph Goebbels and Lindsay Lohan. That much I was able to gather without even reading her work. Simply watching her perform on television, making grisly attempts to simultaneously push her venomous ideology and groping sexuality, was enough.
Dissecting Ann Coulter Read More »
The closest I came was one spring evening when something approximating a tornado struck. There was no actual funnel in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska where I lived, just winds reported in excess of 100 miles per hour out by the airport.
102 years after Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire tore through the Asch Building, I am reminded of that event by the tragedy that recently struck Bangladesh. More than 1,100 people died in what is now being recognized as the worst workplace disaster in the history of the textile industry.
The Bangladesh Tragedy: Triangle Shirt Waist Fire Redux Read More »
What if the United States has already passed its peak and begun a slow decline?
It’s impossible to know the future, but thoughtful speculation can enlighten how we understand the present. In that spirit, if the United States has turned a corner, I offer these four possible factors to explain its impending imperial decline.
The Decline of the American Empire: A Premature Postpartum in Four Parts Read More »
I’m not one to compare the “tragedy quotient” of various horrors. I roll my eyes at people who want to debate whether slavery or the Holocaust was worse. And I won’t indulge that sentiment vis a vis Boston and West. Both episodes were tragic and resulted in the death and maiming of innocent people.
But I do want to question our collective reactions.
The Noble Tragedy of Boston vs. The Shameful Tragedy of Texas Read More »
The Public Professor