Jonathan Miller's Blog, page 442

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Faith

The Politics of Faith

Studies show that atheists in western society tend to be younger and male, with higher incomes and levels of education. [Guardian.co.uk]

Is a national budget a moral document? More than 36,000 Americans and 28 members of Congress have joined the HungerFast.org movement, which is committed to "fasting, prayer, and personal sacrifice to protect vulnerable people from budget cuts that lack conscience." [HuffingtonPost.com]

If you wear a burqua in France and refuse to remove...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of the Web

The Politics of the Web

An internet sales tax could be introduced in the U.S. Senate soon. [Fox News]

The Silicon Valley 150 post their most profitable year in history. [Mercury News]

Andriod vs. Iphone: who has the fastest web browser? The result are…confusing? [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Cisco to open to data center in Texas for cloud computing and green IT. [eWeek]

The Federal government's war on internet gambling continues. [Big Government]

John Roach: A Full Circle Journey of Politics and Faith

I am writing this while spending spring break with my family driving through North Carolina and Virginia visiting colleges with my sixteen year-old daughter, Catherine.  As we were driving from Lexington, Kentucky, to Charlotte, North Carolina, to begin our college search at Davidson, we began to discuss previous family spring break trips – Hilton Head, California, and skiing in Utah.  I then asked my family what trip was before Utah and my family responded that I was still in politics...

Next Week at The Recovering Politician

Thanks to all of our new readers — and especially our daily return viewers — for helping make this second week such an unexpected success.

Since we've got the "Big Mo" on our side, we've planned another exciting week ahead for you. 

As per our long-standing (two-week) tradition, we will have three new recovering politicians to introduce to you.  Wednesday's will be a household name, at least in political circles:  a former Governor and Senator whose name has twice shown up on short lists to be ...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Wealth

The Politics of Wealth

China's economy is beginning to slow, but inflation is still a problem. [CNN Money]

The competing economic visions of President Obama and Rep. Paul Ryan. [NY Times]

Wealth Managers advise you to rethink that Roth IRA conversion. [Reuters]

What kind of leader does Google need right now? [Forbes]

Japan to compensate victims of evacuation. [MSNBC]

RPTV Friday Flashback: John Y. Brown's Campaign Ads (1995)

In early 1995, one of my best friends, David Hale (now U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky) called me to see if I would help the campaign for Secretary of State of his law school classmate, John Y. Brown, III. I was certainly aware of Brown's dad, the former chicken magnate and Governor, but my parents had opposed Brown Jr.'s last campaign, opting instead to support some guy named Steve Beshear.

Still, I was bored working as an associate for a big Washington law firm; David...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Wellness

The Politics of Wellness

Are our veterans and their families getting the healthcare access they deserve? [Huffington Post]

Do you pride yourself on being able to check your email, take phone calls and keep an eye on the news at the same time? According to experts, multitasking gets harder as we age. [Time]

A new report from the Guttmacher Institute reveals that most sexually active women use contraception, regardless of their religious beliefs. [CNN Belief Blog]

Read this brave story of a couple ...

Jeff Smith: Learning Entrepreneurship in Jail

Our own Contributing RP, Jeff Smith, may have never dreamed that any good would come from his required stay at a federal prison. But the unlikeliest of environments proved to be an unexpected fountain of entrepreneurial spirit.

Jeff writes about what he learned in this week's Inc. magazine:

B.J. was one of many fellow inmates with big plans for the future. He vowed that upon his release, he'd leave the dope game and fly straight. He'd recently purchased a porn website targeted at men with a...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Love

The Politics of Love

When Barrack Obama's parents wed in 1961, interracial marriage was illegal in more than a dozen states. Now, nearly 15% of marriages are "mixed unions." Will the idea of gay marriage being illegal in most parts of the U.S. seem absolutely unbelievable in 50 years? Yes. Is it unbelievable today? Let us know your thoughts. [Marrying Out] 

And speaking of the Mad Men days of familial attitudes and beliefs, new research shows that even some of today's beliefs about family...

Tom Allen: A Blissful Recovery

How does one recover from a passion, a deep abiding interest and engagement?  From a loss, maybe—that can take some work.  But I don't ever want to recover from politics, though I won't run again.

I may have had less trouble than some recovering from a loss, because I chose after 12 years in Congress to take a long-shot chance at a U.S. Senate seat against Sen. Susan Collins, an incumbent with an approval rating over 60 percent.  Those odds, I realize even more today, don't usually work out...