What with the rising hysteria surrounding the budget, I thought it best to take some time to dispel the fallacious and misleading arguments surrounding the upcoming fiscal crisis, as well as provide some context for the issue. Let me start off though, by laying down the shame on every part of mainstream news in this country. I’m looking at you NPR. And Fox. And MSNBC, CNN, New York Times, USA Today… you get the idea. Should one listen to these news sources (I use the term loosely), you would get...

It is truly remarkable that social security has not come up in either the debates or the presidential campaigns themselves. Well, remarkable may not be the best word, as there is one glaring reason why the democratic campaign has failed to demonstrate how the Ryan plan, a centerpiece of the republican campaign would lead to the collapse of social security in the next dozen years. Considering social security is perhaps the most successful program in US history, pulling millions of people out of poverty by guaranteeing a core retirement fund,...

It seems I cannot go a week without hearing one person or another argue against investment in NASA and space exploration as a whole. Whether they are waxing eloquent over the need to fix problems on Earth before looking out to the starts or complaining about a massive waste of resources, they are unified in opposition to a driving force for scientific innovation. This is not to say there are no problems that need accounting on Earth, no economies to fix or conflicts to be resolved.  There are so many...

Given the ubiquitousness and centrality of the Internet in American culture, it seems prudent to learn why, between 2000 and 2006, the U.S. dropped from fifth to 22nd in network speed, affordability and availability, when younger countries have universal coverage and speeds many times our own. Although appearances would suggest this country’s broadband exists in an unchanging state, it results from decades of policies and regulations that have led to the modern high-priced oligopoly unrecognizable by the intended market. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began crafting a regulatory structure in...

There is a problem with our media. I’m not speaking of the blind obsession with balance—as if such a thing were possible. Nor am I speaking of the media’s advertising-based focus on sensationalism, violence and voyeuristic news. I am speaking of the media’s pathological need for objectivity at the expense of informational broadcasting. This bastardization of the fourth estate has resulted in a political climate supporting misdirection, falsehoods and a refusal to establish any sense of context. Any fact-checking is decried as an inherently biased activity, and so the media...

One need only listen to the news for minutes before hearing a newscaster, blogger or radio host deplore the mainstream liberal media. This overwhelming liberal bias is mentioned in every source of media in the country on a regular basis. Yet here we run into a conundrum, because the “existence” of liberal media bias is a propagandistic lie. In refuting claims to the contrary, I will do my best to avoid making jabs at those responsible, but such criticism will be impossible to avoid in its entirety. The critique of a...

GOP Seeks Eradication of Equitable Voting Rights Recent Voter ID laws have been enacted around this country that complicate the voting process and disenfranchise minorities. Since 2006, GOP legislatures in 33 states have passed laws requiring some form of identification be presented upon casting a ballot. Seventeen of those states have passed even stricter laws requiring a government-issued photo ID. If one were to believe the GOP and media propaganda, these laws were put into place to combat the serious problem of voter fraud. Regrettably, that story fails to hold...