The Measure of Manhood, Pt. 2: Crisis

In Part 1, I mentioned that the current election cycle is bringing the meaning of manhood into the national conversation, and discussed the biological roots of the differences between males and females. This is basic knowledge, but why is it important now? For most of our history, the collective was more important than the individual.


The Measure of Manhood, Pt. 1: Roots

Donald Trump’s media-circus candidacy has been bringing plenty of cultural taboos to the fore for all to see. This being the USA, any contest between a man and woman for the highest office in the land was doomed to draw trolls and patriarchs out of the woodwork, but the Trump vs Clinton contest has been


Malheur vs Standing Rock: A Scary Future

Today is Hallowe’en, a traditional time to scare each other and scry into the future. And what a perfect time to do so, with a frightening verdict to report, and mischief that is sure to follow!  Unless you’ve been stuck in a dungeon for the last several days, you’ve probably heard that Ryan Bundy and


Special Education is Failing in Texas

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) was signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1975. Renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, with amendments added in 1997, this law included provisions that required schools to provide appropriate, individually tailored special education programs for children with disabilities at no (direct)


Crowdfunding for Civility

It’s been a particularly vicious election season, and it’s not over yet. Dangerous rhetoric, including Trump goading his supporters to violence, has produced an environment of rancor that seems designed to bring out the worst in people. Yet among each day’s new stories of political grandstanding and admissions of sexual assault, two stories of people


We’ll Never Count All the Externalities

Externalities are everywhere, once you start looking for them. These are the costs (or, sometimes, the benefits) that accrue to those outside of an economic transaction who likely didn’t consent to pay for them. I’ve written about them before, such as how WalMart profits by not having to pay for security services that are provided


Sandy Hook Lawsuit Dismissed by Judge

On Friday, October 14, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara N. Bellis dismissed a lawsuit brought by nine surviving family members of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre against the gun company who manufactured the gun used by Adam Lanza to carry out the shooting. The lawsuit alleged both the manufacturers of the


Sexism Likely to Increase if Clinton Wins Election

There’s no denying the upcoming presidential election has exposed a dark, sick, seedy side of our society in which sexual assault, harassment, and abuse targeted toward women has become a staple of our day-to-day conversations, and how seemingly desensitized we’ve become to it. I can’t think of another point in history when we have had