The term culture in a society has been parsed as shared patterns of behavior and interaction, cognitive constructs, and affective understandings that are learned through a process of socialization. In the United States, the cognitive constructs of most people about… Read More ›
politics
Lex Obscura
We concocted the term “lex obscura” (law in a darkened enclosure) to describe the distance a word or term may have traveled or matured from creation to contemporary usage. In the fallout from hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced across… Read More ›
One Size Does Not Fit All
By Frank Blechman Unlike many of my columns for this blog, which are long, rambling, have unexpected conclusions, and challenge belief, this column is short, true, and clear. For many years, I have supported community organizing as the critical tool… Read More ›
Two May Not Be Better than One
A simple Google search inquiring “why do US state legislatures have two chambers” returns no sources providing convincing, rational reasons. Rather, reviewing a number of the results, one hears the words from grammar and high school civics course resonating that… Read More ›
Inflation Fright is GOP Scam
Editors’ Note: Reposted from The New York Times, March 23, 2021. A drum beat by elected GOP officials has begun with chants about rising gasoline prices and blame for the new administration. Krugman’s easy to understand explanation helps to counter… Read More ›
Vetting Facts Before the Fact
The Washington Post reported that the former president told 30,573 lies during his four years in office, with more than half being in the final year. Fact checking the 45th president emerged as a premier occupation or fascination during the… Read More ›
Around the Novahood
GMU FACULTY SUPPORTS ITS CUSTODIANS Professors at George Mason University in Fairfax are expressing solidarity with the custodial workers, who say that they were exposed to poor working conditions and have faced retribution for trying to organize. More than 220 people… Read More ›
Suisse Cheese: Bait for Tax Cheats
Editors’ Note: Reposted from The New York Times, March 13, 2021. Tax avoiders, complicit international banks, expensive lawyers work together. By Katie Benner and Michael Forsythe Seven years after Credit Suisse promised federal prosecutors that it would stop helping rich Americans hide their… Read More ›