If you’re in the spheres of my online social networks, you may have noticed that I’ve had a certain fixation on the more insane or upsetting aspects of the Ron Paul candidacy. Call it schadenfreude if you like, or malicious cherry-picking, but I’ve felt compelled to highlight things about Paul that show his more hard-right …
Monthly Archive: December 2011
Dec 28 2011
Then Vonnegut Asked Caro, “Are We in the Same Trade?”
I’ve not yet read any of Robert Caro’s enormous Lyndon Johnson biographical series, even as he readies to release the latest volume that takes the subject up to his ascension to the presidency. I intend to read them, and the political world has a minor buzz to it because of this imminent release. In another …
Dec 26 2011
Unnecessary Nostalgia for the Idiot Box
Almost a year ago, the New Yorker published a piece by Adam Gropnik digesting various tomes about what the Internet was doing to us as a culture, ranging from the folks who saw it as the coming of paradise to the coming of the end times. One recurring theme with those who saw the Internet as a net negative, …
Dec 26 2011
Constructive versus Destructive Atheist Activism
Chris Stedman gives voice to a concern I’ve had of late (and unfortunately does so in the Huffington Post, but we’ll let that go): I maintain significant disagreement with many religious beliefs, but I do not wish to be associated with narrow-minded, dehumanizing generalizations about religious people. I am disappointed that such positions represent atheist …
Dec 26 2011
Unsubscribed
Just as I don’t actually have meaningful relationships or friendships with my 700+ “friends” on Facebook, I also don’t need to feel obliged to give equal value to each of their postings, nor to I need to seek their approval of my own. One’s time and capacity of attention are short, and in regards to Twitter, …
Dec 07 2011
Serenaded for My 34th
For my 34th birthday (December 1), my lovely wife commissioned a song about me from our friend Joe Langham. Just…just…don’t even ask me to express how many emotions this song evokes. It’s a beautiful thing. Even the blog got a shout-out. Wondrous. Thanks, Joe. (And you too, honey.)
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