-
Sponsored Links
Follow Us!
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Power + Isolation = Brain Damage
Once we become socially isolated, we stop simulating the feelings of other people.* As a result, our inner Machiavelli takes over, and our sense of sympathy is squashed by selfishness. The UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner has found that, in many social situations, people with power act just like patients with severe brain damage. “The experience of power might be thought of as having someone open up your skull and take out that part of your brain so critical to empathy and socially-appropriate behavior,” he writes. “You become very impulsive and insensitive, which is a bad combination.” Of course, we live in an age when our most powerful people – they tend to also have lots of money – are … More >>
In The Good Years, Take From NYC. In The Bad Years, Take From NYC.
The 1st lesson of Economics 101 is the rule of scarcity: An economy is faces with limited resources but unlimited wants and needs for these resources. But what happens when you have someone each year taking more and more of your resources? This is the dilemma New York City faces again. The worst kept secret in state and city relations is we have given billions more to the State coffers than we receive back. We have essentially bailed out the entire state year after year. But now that we are in a recession and New York City is facing the brunt it, Albany has decided that there’s no better time to take more from us. In Governor Paterson’s latest budget, … More >>
Tagged budget, mike bloomberg, new york city
1 Comment
Can NYC Afford the Terror Trials?
Count me as someone who would philosophically like to see the 9/11 suspects tried in the former shadow of the World Trade Center. I think it would be powerfully symbolic to the world and illustrate the best principles of American justice in a time when that concept has withstood a serious test under the Bush administration. (I also believe that terrorists should treated as criminals rather than “enemy-combatants.”) And speaking for myself, a citizen who admittedly did not live in New York in 2001, but does spend each weekday in lower Manhattan, I do not believe we should allow the fear of further attack to influence decisions like this… But reading an article like this, a good case is made … More >>
Awesome: 1.3 million watched SOTU via Whitehouse.gov
Awesome (via Mashable): According to the White House blog, 1.3 million people watched U.S. President Barack Obama’sState of the Union speech live on the White House’s website — or at least on sites that embedded the official video. The White House also said that 50,000 people participated in a Q&A with officials on Facebook after the speech. Less awesome (speaking for me only): The Twilight Saga: New Moon red carpet event on Ustream actually had more live viewers than the State of the Union did on whitehouse.gov… NOOOOOOOOOOO! (Of course, we weren’t watching via WhiteHouse.gov, because we were at Tonic with DL21C [which was packed!], watching the SOTU on twelve gloriously humongous screens.)
Tagged sotu, technology
Leave a comment
Gas Drills Bring Gas Spills to PA – Don’t Let Them Come Here!
According to the investigative journalists of ProPublica, “as more gas wells are drilled in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, more cases of toxic spills are being reported”. The DEP in Pennsylvania discovered 13 violations from drilling company Atlas Resources in an 8 month period last year. Many of these violations were related to the spill of fluids due to the hydraulic fracturing process. Liquids released during this process are extremely harmful to people and the environment. They contain chemicals used in the hydrofracking process, including known carcinogens. Altas Resources is just one of the companies that owns drilling rights in the Marcellus Shale, a broad area of gas deposits which stretches through New York State’s pristine waterways. If PA is a test case, hydrofracking … More >>
Did You Watch A Different SOTU, Rudy?
Rudy should have stayed up a little longer and watched the whole speech before going to bed for his morning TV appearance. In a post by David Kurtz from Talking Points Memo, David focuses on claims made by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the CNN morning show accusing President Obama of avoiding the discussion of terrorism and the Christmas Day bombing attempt during last night’s SOTU address. But exactly the opposite happened and thanks to some quick editing you can see Rudy make mistake after mistake: In hindsight, his mind might have been otherwise occupied… He could have been focused on the incriminating article in last week’s Village Voice that ties him even closer to shamed former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik or maybe he … More >>
Tagged rudy giuliani, sotu
Leave a comment
