One of the most notable but mostly uncovered political developments in recent years has been how enthusiastically many Religious Right leaders have embraced Russia’s anti-democratic president, former KGB official Vladimir Putin. It seems even more remarkable that the Republican Party’s presidential nominee has been lavishing praise on Putin even as Russia maneuvers to diminish America’s influence in the world. As president, Putin has consolidated his power through attacks on the independent media, the persecution of political opponents, and restrictions on civil society. He has annexed…
Three Ways Welfare Reform Failed on Conservative Grounds
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of welfare reform, a law that profoundly changed the nature of public assistance in America. While its liberal critics worst predictions may not have come true, the reform’s legacy has nonetheless diminished after decades of careful study. There are even good reasons for conservatives to feel ambivalent. On the one hand, welfare reform eliminated an entitlement (AFDC) and replaced it with TANF, a block grant to states that added work requirements to cash welfare and caused caseloads to plummet. It…
Potentially Inhabitable Planet Discovered Orbiting Star Closest to Earth
The hunt for exoplanets has been heating up in recent years. Since it began its mission in 2009, over four thousand exoplanet candidates have been discovered by the Kepler mission, several hundred of which have been confirmed to be “Earth-like” (i.e. terrestrial). And of these, some 216 planets have been shown to be both terrestrial and located within their parent star’s habitable zone (aka. “Goldilocks zone”). But in what may prove to be the most exciting find to date, the German weekly Der Spiegel announced…
Liberal Clinton Critics Facing Ludicrous Accusations of Hidden Trump Support
With the looming general election face-off between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, there has been a relentless push to dull any criticism of Clinton, for the sake of sparing the country a Trump presidency. The notion that any reproval—thorough or otherwise—of Democratic candidates leads to a Republican outcome has long been a typically unarticulated condition, one that leads to less accountability, more capitulation, and the unequivocal silencing of left detractors who are arguably necessary elements in the pursuit of much needed political reformation. The coddling of…
The New York Times Discovers Media Bias, Elsewhere
The New York Times considered it news the other day that Sean Hannity gives advice to Donald Trump, whom he has publicly and repeatedly endorsed. The tut-tutting tone of the piece, coming from a newspaper as baldly biased as the Times, is comic. […] It is a newspaper of, by, and for liberals, yet the author of the column, Jim Rutenberg, acts like he is speaking from Olympian heights of neutrality. He writes: “Mr. Hannity told me his support for Mr. Trump makes him ‘more…
Google to Penalize Websites Using Popovers
Starting next year, Google could begin sending less traffic to mobile websites if they make use of interstitials—the pop-ups that can take up users’ screens, often with advertising. The change is a blow for some online publishers and website operators who rely on interstitials to generate advertising revenue as users enter their websites via Google searches. In a post published Tuesday on the Google Webmasters blog, Google product manager Doantam Phan wrote, “Pages that show intrusive interstitials provide a poorer experience to users than other…
More Religions in a Region Might Make People Less Religious
In the United States, diversity has generally been considered an asset. It is frequently cited by public figures as both a source of national pride and a worthy ambition. It is an oft-stated goal of Fortune 500 companies, private colleges and entire sectors of the U.S. economy. And even if Americans don’t claim much diversity in their own social networks, few believe that our differences are not something to be celebrated. At one point it was even argued that America’s religious vitality hinged on its…
Donald Trump Is Seemingly Boycotting TV News Operations That Aren’t Fox News
Donald Trump, who never seemed to meet a camera he didn’t like, became a constant TV presence throughout the Republican primary, a bonafide celebrity crowding out a field of more conventional senators and governors. He understood the power of the medium, knocking out one TV interview after another before most politicians finished their morning coffee. As Republican standard-bearer, however, Trump has mostly retreated to the relatively cozy confines of Fox News. And it seems to be in response to having badly damaged his own candidacy…
Democrats and Republicans Both Think Opposing Party Is Dominated by Extremists
Political parties’ ideological stances are in the eye of the beholder: Republicans and Democrats see the opposite party as more ideologically extreme than their own, which they tend to consider more moderate. In a recent Pew Research Center study of political animosity, respondents were asked to rate themselves and both political parties on an 11-point ideological scale, ranging from very liberal to very conservative. Members of both parties most commonly place the other party on the extreme end of the scale. Among Democrats, 34% placed…
The Complicated History of the Humble GIF Image
Already more than a decade old and with roots reaching back half a decade before the World Wide Web itself, the GIF was showing its age. It offered support for a paltry 256 colors. Its animation capabilities were easily rivaled by a flipbook. It was markedly inferior to virtually every file format that had followed it. On top of that, there were the threats of litigation from parent companies and patent-holders which had been looming over GIF users for five long years before the fiery…
Mike Rowe: Encouraging Everyone to Vote Is Like Telling Everyone to Buy a Gun
Jeremy Schneider writes… Hey Mike, I have nothing but respect for you. Your no-nonsense outlook and incredible eloquence have really had a profound impact in my life. Can you please encourage your huge following to go out and vote this election? I would never impose on you by asking you to advocate one politician over another, but I do feel this election could really use your help. I know that there are many people out there who feel like there is nothing they can do….