Author: John Horner
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HORNER: America, once dominant in science, faces new challenges
My favorite sports movie is Hoosiers. It stars Gene Hackman as the coach of a small, rural high school basketball team that goes on to win the state championship. The movie is filled with enough Hollywood clichés to choke a small horse, but I love it for two reasons. First, it showcases a thoughtful style…
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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Why our economy is bad, left v. right (poll)
LEFT: Fiscal irresponsibility By John Horner These days, when an airliner crashes, it is almost never due to a single cause. Because the airline industry follows so many rules and regulations, accidents that once resulted from simple mechanical failure are rare, and instead most accidents today are the result of an unlikely confluence of multiple…
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HORNER: Trend toward economic disparity surprises many Americans
What country are we most like in terms of the distribution of income? Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran or Norway. If you said, “Iran,” you’re right. Statistics from the Central Intelligence Agency’s 2008 World Factbook show that the economic disparity among Americans put us in the same league with Uganda, Argentina, Cameroon, Bulgaria and Iran. Of…
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HORNER: Just trust the ‘consensus’; don’t question the scientists
Scientific discoveries often meet with opposition when they challenge conventional beliefs. Probably the first example of this was Anaxagoras, who was exiled from Athens in 450 BC for proposing that the sun was not Apollo riding his chariot across the sky, but instead a flaming ball. Of course, the most famous example is the Catholic…
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HORNER: Stimulus money doesn’t really fix the economy
Can government spending stimulate the economy? You bet it can. The difficulty is in demonstrating the effect of stimulus spending during an economic crisis when spending in massive amounts is generally employed to staunch a recession. How many jobs did the 2009 Stimulus Bill save? Well, to figure that you have to make assumptions about…
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HORNER: Quality education requires a costly, well-trained labor force
Public education began almost two hundred years ago amid concerns that an educated citizenry was necessary for maintaining a democracy. Back then, a public education consisted of little more than learning to read, write and do basic arithmetic. Today, our increasingly complex society and ever-expanding knowledge base demands much more from our citizens, and consequently…
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HORNER: A complex society needs regulations to function
We live in an incredibly complex society. If you measure complexity by the number and kinds of interactions that we have with others, then the extent of that complexity quickly become apparent. Not long ago, say 10,000 years, all human societies were relatively simple. The average functioning group was anywhere from 30 to about 120…
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HORNER: America’s odd love-hate connection to our working lives
Sigmund Freud said that “love and work” are the cornerstones of our humanity. I doubt that many people would disagree with Freud on the first. After all, who would turn down the opportunity to love and to be loved? Whether it is the love of your family, your partner, of your child, love is inarguably…
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HORNER: Global warming changes the chemistry of our world
Coral reefs, those beautiful underwater structures that hug the shores of many continents and islands around the world, are remarkable for a number of reasons. First and perhaps foremost those magnificent structures are literally made by the excretions from tiny organisms—the coral from which they take their name. But, and more importantly for us, coral…
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HORNER: Always trust what the experts say
Matt Meister does my laundry. That’s right, the KRDO weatherman can put a mean crease on a cotton shirt. For my weather forecast I rely on my mechanic. And, when I need my car worked on — you guessed it — the woman who runs the local laundry works wonders with a wrench. These statements…