Category Archives: Uncategorized

Check out Paul Krugman’s recent Times column on debt: Nobody Understands Debt. In the article, he makes the point that debt is misunderstood, that while excessive debt is a problem, it’s not nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be.

Deficit-worriers portray a future in which we’re impoverished by the need to pay back money we’ve been borrowing. They see America as being like a family that took out too large a mortgage, and will have a hard time making the monthly payments.

This is, however, a really bad analogy in at least two ways.

I’ve made a decision after thinking about it last night. I’ve asked Asian of Reason not to post here. It’s a strange thing to do something for personal reasons, but this is a personal blog, and to a certain extent, people have to have the same values. He has not violated any rules, but he simply has different values. Attacking a guy’s family because you’re losing a debate or a fight or any other contest is a no-no in my culture. I don’t begrudge him that, but hey, as he mentioned, it’s my blog and I make the rules. As I hold myself to the same rules, I will not be going after him in his absence. I don’t mind if he reads, but I requested he not post here anymore. I truly have no anger towards him; I just find him disruptive based on a difference in values.

Need to update. Asian of Reason has apologized here. We cross posted. I accept his apology. But I stand by the post below. Y’all know I’m an emotional person, and there are certain behaviors that I just have trouble reconciling. Maybe things’ll change in the future, but for now, this is where I stand.

I saw this article in the Times today: The Playground Gets Even Tougher.  It’s about how kids are getting nastier and nastier at younger ages.  Girls in particular can be very mean.  In light of the Tyler Clementi incident and other suicides, the entire news media has been focusing intently on bullying and how to prevent it.  With the power that comes from new technology–blogs, social networking, and cellphones–the bullying issue is only getting worse.  Little kids are learning to hate themselves when victimized by bullies.  And what’s worse, as mentioned in the article, is that many parents encourage this kind of behavior.   I think this statement is probably accurate: