http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/ A soapbox dedicated to exploring the issues of the 21st Century. en-us A big German drug company is betting that women will buy a pill that will make them want to have more sex. The logic is twisted: trying to get people to want to want. The company says it has collected evidence that many women are unhappy with their libido. Whether or not this is true, the safety trials are under way. http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/womenwant.html Tue, 2 Mar 2010 09:03:16 EST Anonymity on the World Wide Web is both a boon to free expression and a bonanza for boors, who abuse their freedom. Personal blogs are easy to set up, and almost all issues-oriented web sites allow readers to post comments freely under phony names. Is all the shouting and name-calling helping to destroy what rational debate we have left? http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/dark_of_night.html Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:56:27 EST Is it possible that the teabaggers are something more than a mixed bag of established far-right groups, offered up under a catchy name? Is it possible that they are a spontaneous outcry against big government? Although the national news media is taking them very seriously, I don't think so. http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/teabags.html Tue, 08 Feb 2010 13:15:17 EST At first, it amusing that Pat Robertson said that the earthquake in Haiti last month was god's wrath for a pact with the devil. But considering that Robertson has a huge following, and that disasters always prompt an outpouring of prophets warning about the price of sin, one has to wonder why naïve beliefs persist despite all evidence to the contrary. http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/god_devil_you.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:10:22 EST The justices of the nation's top court expanded an election-law case over the financing of a movie pillorying Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign into a sweeping rewrite of the laws that restricted the political activity of corporations large and small. http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/election_law.html Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST Judgment Day is coming to the newspaper industry. The New York Times has decided to make online readers pay, according to New York Magazine. The paper, deeply in hock, is trying desperately to find its way in a world that in quick succession was turned upside down by television, and now by the Internet. Will the readers buy it? http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/nytfate.html Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST Something was bothering me when I read the stories about Harry Reid's faux pas in race relations. Weren't the Republicans just blowing smoke to confuse the public on an issue they are losing: health care? http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/harry_reid_comment.html Mon, 11 January 2010 00:00:00 EST Was it necessary for Oprah to batter down the walls of individual privacy for Google to charge in and classify and categorize all of us for the sake of more efficient advertising? http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/google_oprah_etc.html Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST A sense of déjà vu surrounds the health care debate. For the 15 years since the Clinton health care reform flopped, the problem has grown worse, but lobbyists and conservatives of both parties are out for blood again http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/healthcare_blues.html Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST A former insider, now outside, looks at the trouble in the news business with a fresh, unbiased perspective. http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/newsfuture.html Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST