Another Waste of Time

"Rebellion without a rigorous alternative vision is just a feeble spasm. If I could offer advice to a..."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:08:54 -0700

“Rebellion without a rigorous alternative vision is just a feeble spasm. If I could offer advice to a young rebel, it would be to rummage the past for a body of thought that helps you understand and address the shortcomings you see… Effective rebellion isn’t just expressing your personal feelings. It means replacing one set of authorities and institutions with a better set of authorities and institutions. Authorities and institutions don’t repress the passions of the heart, the way some young people now suppose. They give them focus and a means to turn passion into change.”

- David Brooks, “How to Fight the Man,” New York Times, 2/2/2012.

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:29:00 -0700

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.:

Having written both myself, this is totally absurd. The academy exists to teach people how to think critically and express those thoughts in a clear, nuanced way. Blogs exist to persuade and convince through rhetorical force. Clear and nuanced arguments can contribute to this end, but rarely constitute the core of a post. From the article:

Because, say defenders of rigorous writing, the brief, sometimes personally expressive blog post fails sorely to teach key aspects of thinking and writing. They argue that the old format was less about how Sherman got to the sea and more about how the writer organized the points, fashioned an argument, showed grasp of substance and proof of its origin. Its rigidity wasn’t punishment but pedagogy.

Exactly right (aside from the strange reference to Sherman, which doesn’t make sense even in the full context of the article). But there’s no reason blogs and papers can’t coexist. From a professor at Standford:

Professor Lunsford is playing to student passions. Her writing class for second-year students, a requirement at Stanford, used to revolve around a paper constructed over the entire term. Now, the students start by writing a 15-page paper on a particular subject in the first few weeks. Once that’s done, they use the ideas in it to build blogs, Web sites, and PowerPoint and audio and oral presentations. The students often find their ideas much more crystallized after expressing them with new media, she says, and then, most startling, they plead to revise their essays.

I like this approach, which helps to ensure that the arguments being made in those blogs and tweets are well-considered. But, then, I didn’t compose a 5-page paper before writing this post, so I could be wrong…

"The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that..."

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:58:08 -0700

“The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that the crunching sounds I heard were not damaging my brain.”

- Rev. John Helmiere, on his encounter with Seattle Police at an Occupy protest earlier this week. (via jeffbridges)

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner,...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:25:41 -0700

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner, one of the founders of the Occupy movement’s Protest Chaplains:

“What do you think it looked like when Jesus was roaming the Judean countryside with a couple hundred people—a ragtag bunch? Who refused to identify himself, “Who do you say I am?” People are like, “What’s this occupy movement about?” This is exactly the same conversation they were having about Jesus of Nazareth. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to see, but I suppose it is.”

nawasaka:fuckyeahmoleskines:nawasaka.tumblr.com I still don’t...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:54:22 -0600

nawasaka:fuckyeahmoleskines:nawasaka.tumblr.com

I still don’t know how something I scribbled in a hurry at 3am got so many notes in the space of a day? Shakespeare is clearly too awesome. I spelt “bated” wrong, awk :) Someone said this looks like a serial killer’s notebook, which made me laugh a lot. They’re not wrong, I’ve been a sleep deprived zombie lately.

(via NPR)

Isn’t he, though?

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:00:06 -0600

Isn’t he, though?

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:38:55 -0600

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

- Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005. Godspeed. (via jeffbridges)

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying attention. The only...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:03:00 -0600

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying attention. The only thing that should be too big to fail in this country is the middle class. Where’s Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? (Banking Bracket via Michael Bowman)

Photo

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:34:54 -0600

“By 2030 China’s share of global economic power will match...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:47:54 -0600

“By 2030 China’s share of global economic power will match America’s in the 1970s and Britain’s a century before.” —The Economist

Well that’s kinda scary.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican..."

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:06:02 -0600

“The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.”

- American Academy of Pediatrics Press Release (via stfuconservatives)

I have a new slogan for the Tea Party—Certa Ignorantia:...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:02:00 -0600

I have a new slogan for the Tea Party—Certa Ignorantia: “Certitude in Ignorance.”

CNN sit-down with Obama

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:37:34 -0600

BLITZER: “If you're reelected, the last time you were elected, you got Sasha and Malia a cute little puppy. … What are you going to get them the next time, if you're reelected?”

OBAMA: “When I'm reelected, what I'll be getting them is a continuation of Secret Service so that when boys want to start dating them they are going to be surrounded by men with guns. That's their gift.”

Even with a far larger population, it’s interesting that...

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:23:25 -0600

Even with a far larger population, it’s interesting that China’s military employes fewer people than our own.

One very damning infographic on what’s protected—and what’s...

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:19:51 -0600

One very damning infographic on what’s protected—and what’s not—in the upcoming debt negotiations.

Religious leaders protesting budget cuts arrested in...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:06:06 -0600

Religious leaders protesting budget cuts arrested in Capitol

That’s a photo of Christian and Jewish religious leaders—including my boss Jennifer Butler, Executive Director of Faith in Public Life—getting arrested today for praying in the Capitol Rotunda in protest of budget cuts that will harm the poor.

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON — Eleven religious leaders protesting budget cuts affecting the poor were arrested in the Capitol Thursday as the House began debate on a bill to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling.

Before making the arrests, police cleared the Capitol Rotunda where the protesters, organized by the group Common Cause, were kneeling, praying and singing.

Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine said on the House floor that they were praying for those who will be “hurt the hardest” by the bill being considered.

While I’m not the world’s biggest fan of protests, I’m overjoyed to see religious leaders continuing to stand up for the “least of these.”

Is My Friend Nietzsche's Last Man?

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:06 -0600

John: I don't get it. How did the cavemen maintain a sense of self-worth and emotional stability without lawnmowers?
John: Not to mention snow-throwers. . .
David: Two words: Stone Axes
Erich: When you can kill a Sabetooth Tiger with a stone spear, who needs a lawn mower?
John: But a stoned tiger is all messy and chaotic. A freshly mowed lawn, on the other hand. . .

making a list of the hottest people on capitol hill is like making a list of the most lyrically sophisticated limp bizkit songs

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:00:05 -0600

making a list of the hottest people on capitol hill is like making a list of the most lyrically sophisticated limp bizkit songs:

morninggloria:

“DC Hot” is a phrase that I use to describe extremely average looking yet stuck up jerks who may have at one time been “Cambridge hot” (as in Harvard). They’re not even big fish in a small pond; they’re average sized fish in a puddle.

[See also: UChigoggles, the state of being surrounded by UChicago students (who are often so unconcerned with looking physically attractive that they don’t brush their hair or put on clean pants) for so long that non-malformed people start looking extraordinarily attractive. One time when I lived in Hyde Park, I went out in River North and my face almost exploded from the shock.]

Now this I can get behind. While I don’t think we can know how...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:12:15 -0600

Now this I can get behind. While I don’t think we can know how Jesus would restructure Social Security and Medicare, I’m pretty sure he’d choose the poor.

It took me a very long time to learn this. If I’d known it back...

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:20:58 -0600

It took me a very long time to learn this. If I’d known it back when I started working I would have been a much better employee. From a presentation by professional blogger Hugh MacLeod:

Unification of your passion and doing what you love comes with a price. The mundane tasks, like answering emails and courting important people are all part of the process. You may have your art, but even art requires work.