An astronaut, miles above the Earth in a spacecraft voted in the American election with an encrypted ballot. I thought that was wonderful. On the other hand ruthless gerrymandering has discouraged thousands of US citizens from getting to the polls in person. The President has spent huge amounts of time trying to discredit mail-in voting. …
Continue reading ‘Every qualified citizen should be allowed to vote’ »
The politicization of science in the name of religion and political partisanship is not new to the United States, but transformation of traditional geographically and economically based political parties into religiously oriented ideological coalitions marks the beginning of a new era for science policy.” (Jon Miller and colleagues, Michigan State University in “Science” magazine) My comment: …
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Washington has initiated its largest spending binge in history. In the process, you might assume that the unparalleled spread of the disease would have led to a little rethinking when it came to all the trillions of dollars Congress has given the Pentagon in these years that have in …
Continue reading ‘Covid-19 Means Good Times for the Pentagon’ »
Arson,looting and street protests are a volatile enough combination in themselves. But what made the runrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and other US cities even more incendiary is the growing presence of armed vigilantes. These self-styled militia, or “civilian patrols”, claim to be helping keep the peace, yet their arrival simply makes violence more likely. Witness …
Continue reading ‘If you are not concerned about vigilantes you should be’ »
When citizens of 13 EU member states were asked which of 35 countries they would be willing to offer financial help to in a crisis, the UK came below all but Colombia and Tunisia. On average, the UK received a net score of -8%, compared with 30% for Italy, 29% for Spain, and 17% for …
