In case you somehow haven’t heard, on Friday morning, President Trump tweeted that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID. Like everything else at this point, Trump’s COVID diagnosis has been politicized, leaving one big question on everyone’s mind: how might this impact the election? Here are all the angles: Campaigning and Fundraising:Continue reading “Will Trump’s COVID Diagnosis Change the Outcome of the Election?”
Category Archives: Politics
What Happens if a Presidential Nominee Drops Out? No One Knows!
So who thought it was a good idea to have the two oldest nominees running for President while a super infectious virus that disproportionately incapacitates and kills older people rips through society? I think we tend to use the word “unprecendented” too often, and often when it’s unwarranted or hyperbolic, but this is truly unprecedented.Continue reading “What Happens if a Presidential Nominee Drops Out? No One Knows!”
How Congress Lobotomized Itself: 25 Years After the Death of OTA
On September 28, 1995, Amo Houghton stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and delivered what is probably the most heartbreakingly beautiful eulogy ever written about a technical government agency. Amo Houghton was a Republic Representative from New York, a former marine who served in World War II, and a devout Christian. HeContinue reading “How Congress Lobotomized Itself: 25 Years After the Death of OTA”
Size Does Matter: The Case for American Population Explosion
In his new book One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger, Vox co-founder Matthew Yglesias identifies one of the few areas left where there is broad bipartisan agreement: China is challenging the U.S.’s place in the world and “America should aspire to be the greatest nation on Earth.” His solution, however, is not soContinue reading “Size Does Matter: The Case for American Population Explosion”
COVID “Super-Spreader” Events are Ridiculously Expensive
How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated over $12 billion in public health costs: “There are some really good estimates out there that suggest that between 10% and 20% of cases are responsible for about 80% of transmission events,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, at a press conference.Continue reading “COVID “Super-Spreader” Events are Ridiculously Expensive”
Climate Change and Analogs of the Unprecedented
How do we think about combatting climate change? For years, politicians have argued World War II mobilization “provides lessons about how the economy could be transformed,” and “provides a basis for optimism that environmental changes challenges can be met.”[1] 350.org co-founded Bill McKibben similarly argues, “we’re under attack from climate change – and your only hopeContinue reading “Climate Change and Analogs of the Unprecedented”
Race and voting polarization
Earlier this week, Pew Research Center published a report examining the following question: How have Americans’ perceptions of how hard it is to be a black person in this country changed depending on voting choice? After this summer of protests, widely shared imagery of police violence against black Americans, and exhausting debates about the merit’sContinue reading “Race and voting polarization”
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