Monthly Archives: January 2012

In a recent review about the TV series Portlandia, New Yorker writer Margaret Talbot gave a great definition of what Freud called “the narcissism of small differences.”  She called it “the need to distinguish oneself by minute shadings and to … Continue reading →

My initial support for the war [in Iraq] was symptomatic of unfortunate tendencies within the foreign policy community, namely the disposition and incentives to support wars to retain political and professional credibility. We ‘experts’ have a lot to fix about … Continue reading →

A professor and leading expert on hereditary diseases won a prestigious award.  At the award ceremony, she wore a long-sleeve top and a long skirt to appease the conservative acting health minister.  She was not allowed to sit with her … Continue reading →

In today’s New York Times, columnist David Brooks wonders why, if “liberals” have so much “cultural power,” why are they so weak politically.  Brooks posits that two perceptions are responsible: a) that “liberals” believe in the federal government, and b) … Continue reading →

In North Carolina’s eugenics program from 1929 to 1974, the state had one of the most aggressive programs to sterilize people to reduce welfare costs and cleanse the gene pool.  In North Carolina alone, about 7,600 people were sterlized. A … Continue reading →