The Campaign of Magical Thinking

We've been having this argument for 30 years, and the evidence was in long ago: tax cuts do not by themselves spur economic growth. This really is magical thinking. That we are still discussing this is appalling.

No, Not Trump, Not Ever

So, David Brooks is on about Trump again. This time he's admitting to errors in his past approaches to Trumpism, which is all to the good. The issues that have gotten under the skin of Trump supporters are all too real; but it has been all too easy to dismiss these concerns while focussing on the train wreck that is Donald Trump. The hope lies not in Trump but in Hillary Clinton assimilating much of the Bernie Sanders critique and following through after the election. Even so, HRC would probably govern as her husband did: as what would be considered historically a moderate Republican. Despite what the right-wing fever swamp would have you believe, we have lived in a supply-side, tax-cutting Republican world for decades now, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

FA Cup vs NCAA Tournament

Yesterday's incredible day of upsets in the NCAA Basketball Tournament reminds me of the FA Cup in English football, where it's always possible that a Watford can take out a defending champion (Arsenal) in the quarterfinals. This year we have Crystal Palace, tanking in the Premier League yet in the FA Cup semis. Middle Tennessee State, anyone?

Odd goal in seven

I heard this wonderful construction again just now: "....by which Stoke won by the odd goal in seven." Ah, the English.

What Went Wrong In Flint

As you would expect from FiveThirtyEight, lots of data.

Friday cat blogging

Max and Purdy are snoozing their way through the blizzard of 2016. 

Elisa Pegreffi has died

She was the last surviving member of the Quartetto Italiano, one of the greatest chamber music ensembles of the mid to late 20th century. I learned my Mozart quartets listening to their recordings. No ensemble has captured the merry-go-round flavor of the K499's second movement as they did. As I listen again to their recordings, not only of Mozart but Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms, I'm impressed once again by how their chosen tempos allow the music to breathe in such a natural manner. RIP.



Last member of a legendary quartet has died – Slipped Disc:

Voting for a dictatorship

There's this story that when Kurt Gödel, the logician, was studying for his US citizenship exam, he explained excitedly to friend Albert Einstein that he had found a flaw in the US Constitution, to wit, that it was possible for the electorate to vote for a dictatorship, thus negating itself.



Now, we have this news that a South Carolina lawmaker wants to "register" journalists. Hey, just like the Kremlin! All ahead flank!

The New Politics of Frustration

This is a fascinating and sobering appraisal of where we stand by Elizabeth Drew.

More about America's hollow core

Continuing the depressing theme of the hollowing out of America, we have this piece in The Atlantic. Read this alongside the article in the Times about increasing death rates among non-hispanic whites and the long, important piece by Scott Atran about ISIS and its world-historical importance. Each in its own way points to a moral crisis in western culture, particularly in the US. However, the American religious right has no solution to this problem, as much as it would like to think so.

What's happening with death rates?

There's a startling and worrying piece in the New York Times about an increase in death rates since 1990 for non-hispanic whites that everyone should read. This should be a wake-up call in the public policy arena, a canary in the coal mine about the increasing hollowness at the core of Anerican life. As economist Anne Case says, "there's a real rumbling that bad things are coming down the pike." Kudos to the Times for this important and original research.

On An Overgrown Path: CDs that should be in every medicine cabinet

On An Overgrown Path: CDs that should be in every medicine cabinet:

Kertesz's Dvořák is a wonderful memory from my teenage years. I knew the "New World" Symphony, of course; but Kertesz introduced me to the wonders of the other symphonies, which became constant companions over the years. Over time I gravitated towards Colin Davis for Nos. 7 and 8 and Ancerl for Nos. 6 and 9; but Kertesz will always have a special place in my musical life. His tragic death at such a young age deprived us of a great musician.