Neil deGrasse Tyson Is a Nice Man
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 17th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Neil deGrasse Tyson Is a Nice Man
Froma Harrop, RealClearPolitics
When I first encountered Neil deGrasse Tyson, I thought, “What a nice man.” He was on the TV screens at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, where he’s director, urging us to behold the wonder of — to use the biblical term — the heavens. That impression only grew on seeing his television show, “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.” Here he bursts with elation over the great scientific breakthroughs, guiding us into the subject with the kindly enthusiasm of the gifted teacher. So imagine my surprise to learn that Tyson has become the object of not just mild disapproval but loathing on the political…
Fair Is Good, but Should a City Decide Which Startups Are OK?
Debra Saunders, RealClearPolitics
I’ve never used Airbnb. I’m not proud of my failure to dive into the sharing economy. I know it’s largely a function of middle age — I don’t want to sleep in a stranger’s spare bedroom, even if it’s cheap — and of years of parlaying hotel rewards programs to my advantage. My first reaction when I heard about ride service startups Uber and Lyft was that they enjoy an unfair advantage over cabbies, who have to jump through hoops and pay huge fees to do what “sharing” kids do on the fly. I mention the above to establish that I understand cities’ impulse to use their clout to instill in startup…
In 1970, We Had a Riot; Ferguson Looks Like War
Scott Rasmussen, RealClearPolitics
The news from Ferguson, Missouri, has brought back unpleasant memories from the long-ago riots in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was the summer of 1970, and I was a young teenager close enough to the action to be appropriately frightened. The riots I remember were also fueled by racial grievances, and there were similar issues with white officers and black rioters. And, just like the sad story unfolding in Missouri, a reporter was arrested in the Asbury Park riots. The claim is that he was “interfering with the police.” There were other similarities as well, especially the confusion…
Ferguson and the Rise of SWAT Armies
Carl M. Cannon, RealClearPolitics
Competing theories on curbing crime and keeping the peace in America’s teeming municipalities have long preoccupied law enforcement. “Community policing” is one approach. The harder-edged “proactive” policing is another. Now a new technique has forged itself into the national consciousness—“Ferguson policing,” let’s call it. If Ferguson policing’s precepts are murky, perhaps that’s because its proponents don’t feel obliged to explain it to the media or community activists—cops just arrest them instead. Who knew the…