George Orwell once wrote that politics was closely related to social identity. 'One sometimes gets the impression,' he wrote in The Road To Wigan Pier, 'that the mere words socialism and communism draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, nature-cure quack, pacifist and feminist in England'.

Orwell was making an observation. But today a whole body of academic research shows he was correct: your politics influence the manner in which you live your life. And the news is not so good for those on the political Left.

There is plenty of data that shows that Right-wingers are happier, more generous to charities, less likely to commit suicide - and even hug their children more than those on the Left.

Labels: conservative, liberal, values

The headline may seem like a trick question -- even a dangerous one -- to ask during an election year. And notice, please, that I didn't ask whether certain politicians are more honest than others. (Politicians are a different species altogether.) Yet there is a striking gap between the manner in which liberals and conservatives address the issue of honesty.

Consider these results:

Is it OK to cheat on your taxes? A total of 57 percent of those who described themselves as "very liberal" said yes in response to the World Values Survey, compared with only 20 percent of those who are "very conservative." When Pew Research asked whether it was "morally wrong" to cheat Uncle Sam, 86 percent of conservatives agreed, compared with only 68 percent of liberals.

Ponder this scenario, offered by the National Cultural Values Survey: "You lose your job. Your friend's company is looking for someone to do temporary work. They are willing to pay the person in cash to avoid taxes and allow the person to still collect unemployment. What would you do?"

Almost half, or 49 percent, of self-described progressives would go along with the scheme, but only 21 percent of conservatives said they would.

Labels: conservative, honesty, liberal

Labels: liberal, Republican primary

John Seery Bio

01.10.2007

Predict the Number of Troops Killed in the Next Year! (13 comments )

READ MORE: United States, Iraq

How many U.S. troops will be killed in Iraq in the next year?

Submit your best estimate here.

The Bush administration won't dare go public with such hard and somber calculations about expected casualties--which would help weigh the costs of this renewed war effort. So I figure conscientious HuffPo readers will step into that breach.

I'll keep track--our memories are long--and we'll notify the "winner" one year from today.

I'm not sure, however, what you'll win, or even if you could call it a victory. But Americans like to play to win, we've been told. And it doesn't take much of a sacrifice to ponder the possibility of someone else's death.

Labels: liberal

10 things I love about America

17 Dec 2006 12:08 pm

[Daniel]

Over the next few days, alongside all the other stuff, I hope to introduce you to some of the best things on the British blogging and journalism scene. But if I'm going to do that it seems only fair if I start with 10 things I love about America:

1. Loaded potato skins

2. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

3. Walt Disney

4. The fact that almost everyone you meet in America is incredibly polite

5. The fact that almost everyone you meet in New York isn't

6. The West Wing

7. Martin Luther King

8. The steaks at Morton's

9. The Manhattan Institute

10. The fact that you send your children across the world to risk their lives for liberty and spend billions of your dollars on it, even though the people whose liberty you are saving, including my fellow Europeans, don't say thank you properly

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Labels: liberal, Top Ten

Lohan Says She's Attending AA Meetings

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lindsay Lohan says she's been going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a year, but hasn't talked about it because "it's no one's business." "I just left an AA meeting," the 20-year-old actress tells People magazine in a story posted Tuesday on its Web site. "I haven't had a drink in seven days. Or anything," she says. "I'm not even legal to, so why would I? I don't drink when I go to clubs. I drink with my friends at home, but there's no need to. I feel better not drinking. It's more fun. I have Red Bull."

AP Photo/MARK J. TERRILL

"I've been going to AA for a year by the way," Lohan adds. When asked why didn't she say so until recently, she replies: "Well it's no one's business. That's why it's anonymous!"

Her publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, didn't immediately respond Tuesday to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment. (link)

Dems to Wipe Out Pet Projects in Bills Dec 11 8:08 PM US/Eastern
By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON

Democrats tidying up a cluster of unfinished spending bills dumped on them by departing Republican leaders in Congress will start by removing billions of dollars in lawmakers' pet projects next month.

The move, orchestrated by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, could prove politically savvy even as it proves unpopular with other members of Congress, who as a group will lose thousands of so-called earmarks.

"There will be no congressional earmarks," Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Monday in a statement announcing their plans, which were quickly endorsed by incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev. (via AP wire, no link)

Muslim Charity Wants Charges Dismissed

By DAVID KOENIG
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) -- A Muslim charity accused of ties to terrorists has asked a federal judge to dismiss many of the charges the U.S. government filed against it after the 2001 terror attacks.

Lawyers for the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development based the request on a ruling last month by a federal judge in Los Angeles, who struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists.

Holy Land's lawyers argued in their motion, filed Monday in federal district court in Dallas, that a similar order by President Clinton, banning transactions with the militant group Hamas, was also unconstitutional.(link)

Labels: AA, liberal, Lindsay Lohan, muslim, politics, terrorists