Category Archives: Politics

LONELINESS RECOGNIZED AS A MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEM.

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Philip

LONELINESS IN THE WORLD. Years ago, I read the haunting observation that loneliness is the biggest social problem in America, but that loneliness is not generally thought of as a social problem because there isn’t anything the government can do … Continue reading →

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BASEBALL AND GENDER POWER IN PALAU.

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Philip

BASEBALL AND GENDER POWER IN PALAU. David Walter argues that baseball is the key to the government of Palau and that baseball has reversed the gender power relationships in Palau. Walter says: “Before the 20th century, Palau was a matriarchy. … Continue reading →

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SOME WAYS THAT BASEBALL IN PALAU IS DIFFERENT.

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Philip

SOME WAYS THAT BASEBALL IN PALAU IS DIFFERENT. David Walter gives a number of differences in the way baseball is played in Palau. Kids learn to play with bamboo bats and coconut-leaf balls. Pitchers chew betel nut…. Monsoons rain out…. … Continue reading →

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PALAU—A NATION GOVERNED BY BASEBALL PLAYERS.

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Philip

PALAU—A NATION GOVERNED BY BASEBALL PLAYERS. Palau is an archipelago in the Western Pacific with about 20,000 inhabitants. David Walter at the Deadspin website tells how baseball has dominated the cultural and sporting life of Palau since the 1920’s. (link … Continue reading →

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SOME OF THE RANKINGS BY WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT FOR GENERALS.

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Philip

SOME OF THE RANKINGS FOR WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT FOR GENERALS. First place in the WAR rankings for generals goes to Napoleon with a WAR of 16.679. Julius Caesar comes in second with a WAR of 7.445. Arsht points out that … Continue reading →

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MONEYBALL COMES TO RANKING GENERALS.

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Philip

MONEYBALL COMES TO RANKING GENERALS. Ethan Arsht has used sabermetric methods from baseball to rank almost every general in history. His article is here on the Towards Data Science site (link via Tyler Cowen at the Marginal Revolution site). Specifically … Continue reading →

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RULES FOR MAILING LIVE ANIMALS.

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Philip

RULES FOR MAILING LIVE ANIMALS. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Annupreeta Das has a front page article about the US Postal Service regulations that govern the mailing of live animals. It would never have occurred to me that you can … Continue reading →

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CHURCHILL’S UNUSUAL ARGUMENT.

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Philip

CHURCHILL’S UNUSUAL ARGUMENT. Speeches by war leaders (and football coaches) are optimistic. They rally the troops. Think of Henry V at Agincourt. Churchill presented to the 25 member Outer Cabinet the harshest possible description of continuing to fight and losing: … Continue reading →

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HISTORY WITH THE HERO AND VILLAIN OFFSTAGE.

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Philip

HISTORY WITH THE HERO AND VILLAIN OFFSTAGE. We went to the IMAX theater last summer to watch “Dunkirk”, a major summer movie about the rescue of the thousands of soldiers pinned down and vulnerable to German soldiers. It was a … Continue reading →

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“WHAT DO ECONOMISTS ACTUALLY KNOW?”

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Philip

“WHAT DO ECONOMISTS ACTUALLY KNOW?” Professor Russ Roberts began his article entitled “What Do Economists Actually Know?” as follows: “A journalist once asked me how many jobs NAFTA had created or destroyed. I told him I had no reliable idea.” … Continue reading →

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