The question of work-life balance is often posed in the context of professionals trying to juggle careers and family. It is good to be reminded from time to time about the real lives of young people who struggle against great odds to just make ends meet, many of them having to juggle many duties and shoulder responsibilities that the rest of us did not have to think about until we were much older. [Read more…]
On Science Friday last week, I heard a segment about Cotard’s Syndrome, also known as the Walking Corpse syndrome. This is where some people are convinced that they are dead and actually tell other people so, saying things like “It is no use talking to me. I am dead.” [Read more…]
The new media venture by Glenn Greenwald has caused the traditional media to sit up and take notice. The combination of Greenwald’s blockbuster scoops on the NSA, his openly expressed contempt for the way that much of traditional media operates, and the deep pockets of the financier underwriting it, has made them realize that the cozy world in which they operate is soon going to be under serious attack. [Read more…]
Via Jonathan Turley, I came across this video of a group of Hungarian shadow dancers known as Attraction. It is a wonderful performance. The catch is that this clip is from some talent show in which the annoying Simon Cowell appears but you can ignore that. [Read more…]
Via reader Norm, I heard of this story from France where a young woman was subjected to a crucifixion-style exorcism by her former boyfriend and three others, all members of the Seventh Day Adventist church, because they thought she was possessed by the devil. [Read more…]
The organization Cleveland Peace Action is sponsoring the above talk by Dr. Jeff Halper who will speak on “Challenges of Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine” on Wednesday, October 30th, 6:45 p.m. at Bertram Woods Library, Shaker Blvd. at Warrensville Center Rd.
The program is free and open to the public.
I heard Halper talk some years ago at my university and it was good to hear a first-hand account of what is going on with Israel’s steady annexation of Palestinian lands. [Read more…]
While the US government has been using the ‘everybody does it’ excuse to downplay the damaging effects of the Snowden revelations, one can only imagine the outrage if it were discovered that (say) the Germans or the Brazilians had been eavesdropping into all president Obama’s communications. It is this asymmetry about the latest revelations of spying that are triggering some actions. [Read more…]
It is no secret that many prescription drugs are extremely expensive. Much of the price is not due to the actual cost of manufacture but due to the companies that produced them seeking to recoup the costs of their research and development and marketing investment plus their profit margin. The difficult question is how to balance the legitimate needs of the drug companies to stay in business while preventing them from simply gouging sick people for profit. What seems to be the case, at least in the US, is that the insatiable desire for profits by the drug companies are the main driver of the rapidly increasing prices. Timothy Noah says that drug companies make huge profits while artificially inflating the cost of bringing new drugs to market. [Read more…]
The war between the crazies and the not-crazies in the Republican party seems to be shifting into high gear. Always keep in mind that this division in not ideological at all, except on the most minor issues. The party is pretty much united in wanting to march lock step into a future in which the few rich control everything, the poor are kicked to the curb, the social safety net shredded, the diminishing middle class squeezed, and a backward Christian mentality determines all social values. [Read more…]