Category: Columns

Calls for unity fall on deaf ears in an increasingly fractured country

We are in the midst of the first 100 days of a new presidency, and as usual that means sophistic journalists and politicians are sure to have one refrain always on their lips: unity! Yes, it was a contentious election cycle, but what we really need is “unity.” We need to “come together,” and realize… Continue reading Calls for unity fall on deaf ears in an increasingly fractured country

The biggest issue in science, and what young scientists can do about it

Ever since we were all kids, starting about the fourth grade, we had to relearn a simple process every time we cracked our science book open for the first time that year: Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment, Collect Data, Falsify or Sustain Hypothesis, Report Results. The good ole’ scientific method. Literally the bedrock of all advanced scientific… Continue reading The biggest issue in science, and what young scientists can do about it

The Week in Viewpoints

This week in Viewpoints I wanted to focus on language, specifically how language can make a difference in our everyday lives on a casual, cultural, and political level. This theme is much in-keeping with this week’s Engage the Times session which dealt with civility in public discourse. One reason, perhaps, that American politics is so… Continue reading The Week in Viewpoints

The politicization of phobias

Politics and psychiatry are unlikely bedfellows, but in the 20th century they became quite cozy. Sometimes that came in a more benign form, like providing fodder for catty magazine articles. In 1964, Fact magazine published the opinions of several licensed psychiatrists who testified in large part that the Republican candidate of that year’s election, Barry… Continue reading The politicization of phobias

Advice for young conservatives

This is a trying time to be a young, conservatively-minded person. First, there is the politics, which everyone automatically goes to first. Despite an overall good performance for the GOP, given the circumstances, the Republicans lost both chambers of Congress and the Presidency during the 2020 election. More to the point, the right-of-center political establishment… Continue reading Advice for young conservatives

Should anyone have the right to speak privately over the internet?

Whether it’s attacks from the right or left, internet privacy and security is a hot political potato these days. During the Trump Administration, there were widespread concerns that ANTIFA and other such groups were organizing online to commit street violence, and likewise media figures and the Biden Administration have voiced increasing alarm that right-wing extremist… Continue reading Should anyone have the right to speak privately over the internet?