Tag Archives: political-ish

Who Is the Most Corrupt US Businessman?

Posted on April 30, 2018 by jlredford

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post was recently writing about the raid on the office of Donald Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, which is likely to uncover lots of shady dealings.  Waldman wrote “He [Trump] may well be the single most … Continue reading →

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When Modeling Goes Bad – “Weapons of Math Destruction”

Posted on December 10, 2016 by jlredford

The political modeling that I talked about in the last post now affects most decisions that institutions make with respect to individuals.   This is nicely described in in the recent book Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil.   She has … Continue reading →

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Weaponized Psychology Helped Elect Trump

Posted on November 20, 2016 by jlredford

The US has just elected a president who is an outright criminal – a man who cheats contractors, steals from investors, and assaults women. What on earth happened?  Everyone has a theory, but let me add one more – his … Continue reading →

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Rebecca Leaf, Engineer Heroine from MIT

Posted on May 17, 2016 by jlredford

I recently came across a striking set of stories about leftist women who attended MIT.  The school has had female graduates longer than any other major US university (their first was in 1873), and they’ve done remarkable things.  It turns … Continue reading →

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Paying for Bad News: Funding the Keeling Curve

Posted on September 8, 2014 by jlredford

Here’s one of the most frightening charts in all of science: CO2 has risen by a quarter just in my lifetime, and we all know the consequences. The chart comes from a remarkably sustained effort by Charles David Keeling: and … Continue reading →

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Thomas the Tank Corporatist

Posted on December 23, 2010 by jlredford

Last Sunday the Boston Globe ran a piece on the rise of right-wing  books for children,  “Bedtime for Little Patriots” by Tom Scocca, an author and blogger for Slate.  His funniest case is shown to the right, where the National … Continue reading →

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Political Stagnation

Posted on December 10, 2010 by jlredford

One hears little besides politics on the news, of course, but one thing that strikes me is how little the US political system has actually changed in the last several decades.   The last new state was Hawaii in 1959.  The … Continue reading →

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How Nice To Have a President Who Can Speak

Posted on November 4, 2010 by jlredford

So even when he’s had a pretty serious political defeat, even when he looks really depressed, Obama still has the presence of mind to use an obscure term like “shellacking” in his post-midterm-election press conference. You know this is something … Continue reading →

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Rejected by the American Legal System

Posted on August 6, 2010 by jlredford

… for jury duty.  Geez.  I got a series of ominous notices over the last couple of months telling me to appear at the district courthouse: So I appear at 8 AM per request.  This being an important civic duty, … Continue reading →

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Disasters vs Development

Posted on August 4, 2010 by jlredford

Here in the Northeast US it’s been a damn hot summer.   In Boston  last month the average maximum was 85.8 deg F, 3.5 deg higher than the average from 1971 to 2000, and we had several heat records. We dealt … Continue reading →

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