News for October 27
October 27, 2008 by Barbara
Filed under News and Analysis
Syria Accuses U.S. in Deadly Helicopter Attack | Syria Comment
The Bush administration seems to be ratcheting up action against Syria during its last days in power. The cross border raid undertaken on Sunday, which killed eight people, seems to fit into a broader pattern of the Bush administration initiating cross boarder attacks into countries that it is not officially at war with. The recent attacks in Northwest Pakistan are a case in point.
- Related link: More on Syria Raid | Informed Consent
- Related link: U.S. Helicopter Raid inside Syria | BBC News
The Irrational Electorate | The Wilson Quarterly
Does it really matter whether voters can name the secretary of defense or know how long a senate term is? The political consequences of “public ignorance” must be demonstrated, not assumed. And that requires focusing not just on what voters don’t know, but on how what they don’t know actually affects how they vote. Do they manage to make sensible choices despite being hazy about the details of politics and government? (Okay, really hazy.) If they do, that’s not stupid—it’s efficient.
New Ideas in Fighting Violence, Finding Forgiveness | csmonitor.com
The world needs innovative ways to combat violence. Two of the speakers at PopTech, the conference that aims to present world-changing ideas, shared hopeful news from both the United States and Africa that cycles of violence can be broken.
Can the Public Sue the Media for Incredibly Awful Investment Advice? | Beat the Press
If the public took the investment advice that they receive through the media seriously, they have lost a huge amount of money in the last year as a result.
The Sad, Sordid Case of Ashley Todd | Tapped
Individuals who invent stories of victimization are often mentally ill, and deserve some modicum of compassion. But there’s no question that in both of these cases, the lies were manufactured to whip up racial hatred. Equally bad, people who fabricate tales of violence do a real disservice to women and men who are actually victims of violent crimes. Our culture is already filled with insinuations that women in particular make-up or “exaggerate” accusations of assault, sexual harassment, and rape.
- Related link: Open Thread: Ashley Todd | Racialicious
Barbara Schwartz is the editorial director at the Xenia Institute. She lives in Oklahoma City, Okla., and currently is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa.
