To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Observercast

Mental Illness

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BY SUSAN ESTRICH When the news rippled out on Monday that Robin Williams had committed suicide, even I thought – for a moment – “but he had everything.” As if suicide is a “choice.” I say “even I” because I know better. My mother was seriously depressed for much of her life. A close friend’s […]

Who Cares What Ideology Drives The High-Speed Train?

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BY FROMA HARROP In Texas, a private company wants to build a bullet train joining Dallas and Houston. In California, the state is raising its own billions to create a very fast ride between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Two very different ways to fund high-speed rail, but they have one thing in common. They […]

Ebola’s Message: Foreign Aid And Science Funding In A Time Of Global Peril

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BY JOE CONASON Most Americans have long believed, in embarrassing ignorance, that the share of the U.S. federal budget spent on foreign aid is an order of magnitude higher than what we actually spend abroad. Years ago, this mistaken view was amplified from the far right by the John Birch Society. Today, it is the […]

Selling To ‘Minimalists’ Is Surprisingly Easy

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BY FROMA HARROP It matters not whether you are sizing up, sizing down or sizing sideways. Merchants have products to help you on your way to the life you think you want. Before L. Frank Baum published his first Wizard of Oz book in 1900, he helped create the modern consumer society by totally redesigning […]

What Bill Clinton Might Have Said …

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BY SUSAN ESTRICH “I’m just saying, you know, if I were Osama Bin Laden – he’s a very smart guy, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about him – and I nearly got him once. I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to destroy a little town […]