In the West, We Know Our Statistics
According to Todd Snyder, Oregon’s singer-songwriter extraordinaire, “64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot, 82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not.” [more]
And Here We Have Idaho…FallsSince many of us locals don't have a whole lot to beat our chests about when it comes to monetary gain or land ownership or careers, bragging rights about how long your family has been in Idaho Falls is of the utmost importance to the many circles of one-uppers sitting around playing Texas Hold 'em and swilling Bush Light every weekend. [more]
Celebrating America with Garrison KeillorOn the occasion of Mark Twain’s death centenary I would like to celebrate Garrison Keillor, America’s second best humorist, satirist, and essayist. When I told some friends that I was writing this column, there were howls of protests when I dared to reverse the ranking. One wrote to insist that both had to take a back seat to Ben Franklin. I just realized that I forgot Woody Allen, so let’s just not doing any ranking at all. Read the full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/Keillor.pdf [more]
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Singapore: Economic Freedom but Political and Social RepressionHong Kong and Singapore rank first and second in the world in terms of economic freedom, but they are only "partially free" politically. Both city states also have very high incarceration rates, and 70 percent of those executed in Singapore were drug offenders. Read full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/HKSing.pdf [more]
Is Hong Kong Actually A Free Market Shangrila?Libertarians praise Hong Kong low tax rates and economic performance, but they neglect to tell you that Hong Kongers have universal health care at one third the cost of ours, 50 percent live in subsidized public housing, and the government owns all the land. Read the full version with a comparison to Singapore at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/HKSing.pdf [more]
Obama is Distressingly CentristIf President Obama is a socialist because he passed an economic stimulus bill just as former President Bush did, and if he is a socialist because he continued Bush’s bank bailout, then that makes Bush a socialist as well? That of course is absurd. Read the full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/ObamaCentrist.pdf [more]
Obama is Distressingly CentristIf President Obama is a socialist because he passed an economic stimulus bill just as former President Bush did, and if he is a socialist because he continued Bush’s bank bailout, then that makes Bush a socialist as well? That of course is absurd. Read the full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/ObamaCentrist.pdf [more]
The Follies of Document FundamentalismAt Tea Party gatherings pocket Constitutions are handed out as eagerly as the Gideons distribute New Testaments on my campus every year. The message is clear: read God’s word and you will be redeemed, or read the Constitution and the country will be saved. In each case there are those who will very confidently tell you what text’s original intent and meaning is. Read full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/DocFundy.pdf [more]
Moscow Hearing on Exxon-Mobil Mega-Loads on Highway 12The June 28 Moscow hearing was set up as a poster session with Exxon-Mobil and Idaho transportation officials standing around for one-on-one conversations. I objected to the format, saying that the 150 people present wanted a public presentation with Q&A. Rep. Tom Trail added his authority and we had 1.5 hours of Q&A. It's too bad that the Lewiston meeting went according to the original plan. Read the full version at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/Hiway12.pdf [more]
The Touchdown Jesus and Spiritual TitanismLightning reduces a Jesus statue in Ohio to a pitiful armature; a bolt singes the eyebrows and fingers of Brazil's Christ the Redeemer; and an arm is severed and the feet are damaged by heavenly powers on a Christ outside of Golden, Colorado. With the exception of one large Thai Buddha, Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist statues have stood unharmed for over 1,500 years. This columns explores the implications of these facts. The full version with pictures can be read at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/JesusStatue.pdf [more]
