News for October 1

A Learnable Moment

As the U.S. waits for the Senate vote on the $700 billion financial bailout package, bloggers and educators are taking the opportunity to make the crisis a teachable moment on various issues. The American Prospect looks back at the Great Depression at lessons present-day Americans can utilize, and Politico offers an examination of the rise and fall of the word “deregulator.” Links include:

The American Prospect |  “There is still time to prevent a crash from turning into a full-blown depression. Although the economy is on the edge of an abyss, there is one key political difference that bodes well for the timing. The crash of 1929 began in the first year of the Hoover Administration, and for three years Hoover dithered. The crash of 2008 occurred at the tail end of an exhausted Bush administration (and an exhausted free-market ideology.”

Salon |  “Both campaigns are basing their TV ads on non sequiturs, presumably because they believe that most voters cannot handle a serious discussion of the liquidity crisis on Wall Street. Sadly, this cynicism may be justified. A Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday found that 43 percent of all voters admitted that they feel “confused” by the proposed plan to stabilize the financial markets.”

Politico |  “After a decades-long battle in Washington, the word “deregulator” passed away last week, succumbing to the political complications of an economic meltdown. Although its precise age was not known, it was thought to be in its mid-40s. The word and its close associates (“deregulate,” “deregulation”) gained prominence and popularity in the mid-1970s and had been embraced by Republicans since the Reagan Revolution. Nevertheless, the term’s life was fraught with discord, misuse and misunderstanding.”

Journal Record |  “College students had a keenly focused perspective on economic news Tuesday as the nation’s congressional leaders argued through a proposed $700 billion financial bailout and potential adjustments to federal deposit insurance. Many students have business or investment dreams of their own after school, business school Dean Vincent Orza said. But they also have direct daily access to experienced academic minds in the field to help them understand what’s happening in real time.”

Who’s to Blame for the Subprime Mortgage Mess?  |  Center for American Progress

Ideological bedfellows of the Bush administration are now desperately trying to direct attention away from the failure of their hands-off approach to the economy as it sinks into recession alongside deeply stressed financial markets. One particularly strained attempt at misdirection is to blame the Community Reinvestment Act, a law passed in 1977 intended to eradicate discrimination in lending.

• Related link: Blaming Poor People  |  The Wonk Room @Think Progress
• Related link: More on the CRA  |  dotCommonweal

Does Congress Always Take Off for Rosh Hashanah?  |  Slate

The holiday schedule can vary from year to year. Leaders from both parties set up a tentative list of days off every January, before Congress convenes. Lawmakers can adjust the schedule as needed and suspend holidays in case of an emergency. The tentative 2008 schedule for the Senate, for example, listed two days off for Rosh Hashanah.

• Related link: Repent, the End is Near  |  God’s Politics

Let the Qur’an Define Itself  |  altMuslim

Tolerance begins in the classroom. Tolerance begins when we are allowed to read any text from any source, in any translation, and offer our opinions. Tolerance is born when there are as many opinions as there are people and when the power of reason is what separates a good grade from a bad one. In an Arab education, the power of memory and repetition are too often rewarded, while the power of reason is reprimanded. In our schools, we get an “A” if we can memorise someone else’s teachings but an “F” if we dare to analyse it.

Questioning the Candidates  |  Nature News

Barack Obama accepted Nature’s invitation to answer 18 science-related questions in writing; John McCain’s campaign declined. Obama’s answers to many of the questions are printed here.