August 2017 – AmericanDelusions

Recently Noted – 1930s Redlining and Segregation Today

August 29, 2017

Segregation Didn’t Just Happen More evidence that today’s segregated America didn’t just happen out of individual choices and preferences. The 8/24/2017 NYTimes article, “How Redlining’s Racist Effects Lasted for Decades” by Emily Badger reviewed research by economists from the Chicago Federal Reserve that demonstrate the impact of the 1930s redlining --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – More White Affirmative Action

August 24, 2017

The 8/24/2017 New York Times featured a lengthy well researched study, “Even With Affirmative Action, Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago” demonstrates that affirmative action for whites that began during the Jim Crow era and continued during the post-WWII boom in education persists to --->> read more -->>

Trump and the Big Muddy – Afghanistan

August 22, 2017

Pete Seeger wrote a song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” in 1967 that became closely associated with President Johnson and the Vietnam War. Does Trump remember it? Maybe Afghanistan will bring it to his mind? It included a series of refrains: “We were — knee deep in the Big --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – maternal mortality in America

August 18, 2017

Maternal Mortality Is Rising in the US as It Declines Everywhere Else PBS Newshour has broadcast several reports on this topic: “What’s behind America’s rising maternal mortality rate?” (May 14, 2017) and “Why are more American women dying after childbirth?” (August 17, 2017) To provide context see the chart below that displays --->> read more -->>

Trump, Charlottesville, and Presidential Blinders to White Terrorism

August 15, 2017

Trump has been widely criticized for his reaction to the white terrorism in Charlottesville last week. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – “Making Affirmative Action White Again”

August 13, 2017

Ira Katznelson (see my earlier post “Affirmative Action for Whites – began in the 1930s“) wrote a brief opinion piece in the 8/13/2017 NYTimes, “Making Affirmative Action White Again” (“Who Really Got Hand Outs” in the paper edition) that encapsulates the real history of affirmative action for whites. It reminds --->> read more -->>

An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal – book review/critique

August 2, 2017

An American Sickness: how healthcare became big business and how you can take it back by Elisabeth Rosenthal (Penguin Press, 2017) is both important and disappointing. Part I: History of the Present Illness and Review of Systems The first 238 pages are a comprehensive review of the machinery of our --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – about racism

August 2, 2017

The New York Times reported today (8/2/2017) that the Trump regime has decided to “redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants,….” (see link below for the full article) NPR and others are --->> read more -->>