Apr. 5th, 2011

bcholmes: I was just a brain in a jar (brain thoughts)

Americans are in deep denial about our wealth inequality. In the US, the richest fifth have 84 percent of the wealth – and most of us don’t consider this to be a problem. In fact, we don’t even guess at the distribution close to correctly. In a recent poll by Duke’s Dan Ariely and Harvard’s Michael Norton, respondents thought that lucky fifth has more like 59 percent of all US wealth and favor them owning just 32 percent of it.

But our blindness to the amount of inequality and its effects on our society isn’t pure ignorance or apathy. It’s at least partly a function of how we talk about the issue. We say things like “the wealth gap” and “bridge the gulf” – phrases that obscure some basic truths about inequality.

"Do you think the poor are lazy?"

Hat tip to [personal profile] maevele

bcholmes: (haiti)

Musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly is the winner of Haiti's presidential run-off, according to official preliminary results.

Figures indicate he secured more than two-thirds of the vote, beating former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

If the results are confirmed on 16 April, Mr Martelly, 50, will succeed President Rene Preval, who has been in office for five years.

"Haiti: Michel Martelly 'defeats' Mirlande Manigat", BBC

I don't know much about Martelly. He's been characterized as a neo-Duvalierist. Certainly he's a bit of an outsider to the political arena, and he's been critical of Aristide in the past.

bcholmes: (politics)

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has long been known for martial discipline, but his campaign may have crossed the line when someone frog-marched a young woman out of a rally in London, Ont., Sunday.

The first-time voter’s crime, apparently, was to have posed for a picture with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and posted it for all to see on her Facebook page.

About half an hour before Harper arrived at the crowded hotel rally, one organizer asked to speak with Awish Aslam and a friend outside the room. There, he ripped up their nametags and ordered them to leave.

“We know you guys have ties to the Liberal party through Facebook,” the University of Western Ontario student recalled being told. “You are no longer welcome here.”

[...]

The incidents highlight the different campaign styles, particularly of the Tory and Grit leaders. Harper’s morning announcements are held at secure locations with adoring local partisans. To attend his evening rallies, people must pre-register with the local candidate’s campaign headquarters. As Aslam’s experience proves, those names are investigated to ensure opposition trickery does not obscure Harper’s message of stability and security for the nation.

“I just think when you get to a situation where people can’t come to a public meeting in Canada ... because they have a Facebook friend from another party, you’re in a bad place,” Ignatieff said Tuesday. “You’re in a very bad place, you’re in a very un-Canadian place.”

"Harper’s closed-door campaign marches woman out of rally in London", The Toronto Star

I'm under no illusions that The Toronto Star is completely neutral in the way that it chooses to report on the election, but still.

Boo, Harper.

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BC Holmes

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