Category Archives: Journalism

A PREFERENCE FOR CLEAR RATHER THAN MESSY RESULTS.

A PREFERENCE FOR CLEAR RATHER THAN MESSY RESULTS. The New York Times magazine (April 28) had an article by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee about Diederick Stapel, a Dutch social psychologist, who published a number of fraudulent papers based on data which he … Continue reading

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IS THIS “THE MOST LITERATE AGE IN HISTORY”?

IS THIS “THE MOST LITERATE AGE IN HISTORY”? Simon Kuper in the weekend Financial Times March 23-24) took the opposite position from those who think writing is on the way out, saying that: “We’re now the most literate age in … Continue reading

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GRANDFATHER OF A HUMAN CANNONBALL.

GRANDFATHER OF A HUMAN CANNONBALL. When I lived in New York, I read the Village Voice regularly. Nat Hentoff wrote regularly in the Voice about civil rights and jazz. I read the civil rights columns, which were excellent, regularly. One … Continue reading

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‘INFORMATION COCOONS”.

“INFORMATION COCOONS”. In 2007, in REPUBLIC.COM, as this Amazon book description says, Cass Sunstein “warned against ‘information cocoons’ and ‘echo chambers,’ wherein people avoid the news and opinions that they don’t want to hear.” He restated his concerns here in … Continue reading

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HOW I READ THE NEWS.

HOW I READ THE NEWS. The front page of Yahoo news has been my home page for a long time in internet years. I really don’t like the latest revision, and that dislike highlights for me how different the way … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Football, Journalism, Sports | Leave a comment

A MODEL FOR OP ED ARTICLES.

A MODEL FOR OP ED ARTICLES. I recall seeing a statement by Christopher Hitchens that he had been taught to address the other side’s strongest argument and that this approach had gone out of fashion. It seems to me that … Continue reading

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BRANCH RICKEY, PIONEERING SABERMETRICIAN.

BRANCH RICKEY, PIONEERING SABERMETRICIAN. Branch Rickey is best remembered for being instrumental in Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color line in baseball. This article by William Juliano recalls that Branch Rickey pioneered the use of statistics in baseball. Juliano links to … Continue reading

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OTHER THAN THAT, HOW DID YOU LIKE THE BOOK?

OTHER THAN THAT, HOW DID YOU LIKE THE BOOK? Nassim Nicholas Taleb has a new book out which follows up on his earlier books, FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS and THE BLACK SWAN. Since I have posted on them so often, it’s … Continue reading

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A SAFE PREDICTION ABOUT THE CONCLUSION OF THE CLIFF NEGOTIATIONS—AND OTHER NEGOTIATIONS (COMMENT).

A SAFE PREDICTION ABOUT THE CONCLUSION OF THE CLIFF NEGOTIATIONS—AND OTHER NEGOTIATIONS (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder also points out in his comment that both President Obama and Speaker Boehner have the problem that the public expects “hard positional bargaining”. Generally, in … Continue reading

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NEGOTIATING BY BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS (COMMENT).

NEGOTIATING BY BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS (COMMENT). I posted here about the negotiating precept that it is disadvantageous to make the first realistic offer. Nick commented that the precept assumed positional bargaining rather than interest-based bargaining. I didn’t have … Continue reading

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