Frozen ToothpasteFrozen ToothpasteA blog of ideas. All stripes, colors, and sizes, but ideas. Articles
Ignorance is Dangerous
2007-10-16 19:56:00 I’m tired of it. Just plain tired. Ignorance is not now, nor has it ever been, bliss. Bliss—extreme happiness, perhaps spiritual in nature—is not caused by ignorance of the world around you. If discovering the message of Jesus is bliss, than ignorance clearly is not. For it is only through knowledge—becoming aware that Jesus died for ... More About: Dangerous
Review: American Blackout
2007-10-15 21:05:00 I had an inkling that I was in for trouble when I saw the provocative title of this 2006 film. I decided to give it a look anyway. I was rather certain I wouldn’t like it when I saw that this documentary was made by an outfit which calls itself the Guerrilla News Network, which ... More About: Review , American , Blackout
OPW: John Burns on Iraq
2007-10-12 18:09:00 On today’s “Other People’s Words,” John F. Burn s ’s—former Baghdad Bureau chief for the New York Times—on the way forward in Iraq . This quote is from an absolutely excellent conversation he had Monday with Charlie Rose. If you have the time (and bandwidth), I would recommend that you watch the entire thing. I can understand why there ...
Generation Q?
2007-10-11 21:20:00 Increasingly, I hear something I never thought I would. People are lamenting—yes, lamenting—that this generation of Americans doesn’t engage in enough disorderly and disruptive protests. Something has leached into the cultural zeitgeist that has convinced some of the more liberal powers-that-be that people of my generation are too reserved and too quiet. I first heard about ... More About: Generation
Being Under Attack: War, Genocide, Terrorism & Nuclear Proliferation
2007-10-10 20:17:00 I’m fairly certain that the most dangerous people in the world are those that nihilistically believe that their group—especially one they find essential to their identity—is under attack. Many relatively powerless people with such fears, rational or otherwise, resort to terrorism. Having no ability to defend their group through conventional warfare, they strike anything and ... More About: Terrorism , Nuclear , Genocide , Proliferation , Cide
Good to Know: Maslow?s Hierarchy
2007-10-09 23:36:00 Maslow’s hierarchy is neither incredibly new nor incredibly novel. If Wikipedia’s to be believed, the idea was originally published in 1943 in a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Further, it’s an idea that, once known, seems to have been all but self-evident the whole time. Maslow’s basic idea is that certain needs always take ... More About: Good , Maslow
Review: Ken Burns?s The War
2007-10-08 23:22:00 The latest Ken Burn s ’s epic The War aired on PBS over the last two weeks. The fifteen-hour program tells about America’s involvement in in the Second World War by focusing on four towns: Mobile, Alabama; Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; and Waterbury, Connecticut. In choosing this device, Burns his made a film both richer and narrower ... More About: Review , Ken Burns
OPW: ?To My Yugoslavian In-Laws?
2007-10-05 17:26:00 On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a poem about people, places, and distance. Debra Gingrich’s “To My Yugoslavia n In-Laws ” is about all that we have in common, and a few of the things we don’t. If we could speak, I would tell you that we have trees here too, and rivers. I know how to hammer a nail. Transatlantic phone calls are ...
Learning How To PBS
2007-10-04 20:57:00 Though I believe everything I say in this, I do recognize that the whole thing feels slightly absurd. I decided to keep it that way, either because I have or because I lack good judgment. Which of those two it is, I’m not sure. Fewer Americans know how to PBS than would like to admit it. ... More About: Learning , Earning
The Trouble with Myanmar
2007-10-03 18:48:00 It would be easy to say that the trouble with Myanmar —Burma if you’re a traditionalist, rebel, or new arrival from the 1990s—is that it’s ruled by an exceptionally undemocratic junta, which is willing to its exploit its citizens, even the clergy, and considers force a perfectly reasonable option in the face of dissent. And indeed, Burma’s ...
On Demanding Idealism
2007-10-02 19:18:00 Many a young and idealistic college student has set out to change the world. They’ll end war, eliminate poverty, save the environment, or bring true justice to every race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or age. Many a cynical older person has condemned such idealism as hopeless tomfoolery. You cannot end war, eliminate poverty, save the environment, ... More About: Ideal , Idealism , Demand , On Demand
Review: The Sun is Always Brighter by Joshua James
2007-10-01 19:26:00 Joshua James ’s The Sun is Always Brighter is the artist’s second album, his first released on iTunes, and his zeroth available in stores. But where at some time in the past this would have been proof that he has no talent—or is signed to the world’s worst record company—being independent is now a viable option ... More About: Review , Joshua , Josh
OPW: The Economist on Sputnik?s Legacy
2007-09-28 17:44:00 Rarely are newsmagazines brilliantly written and filled with breathtakingly innovative ideas. For all I know, this excerpt from this week’s The Economist doesn’t break with that rule—I’m not well versed in the philosophy of space. Regardless, something in the magazine’s analysis of the legacy of Sputnik —which was launched on October 4, 1957—really struck a chord, ... More About: Legacy , The Economist
Good to Know: What is microlending?
2007-09-27 19:17:00 Microlending—or microcredit—has gotten more and more press recently, both good and bad. In the simplest terms, microlending is the practice of making small and unconventionally secured loans to those generally outside the banking system. That is: for people without collateral, a credit history, or demonstrable employment, it’s a way that they can get additional money to ... More About: Good , Microlending
Global Warming Pessimists
2007-09-26 16:58:00 In a recent piece, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman identified himself as a global warming skeptic. But before you go away thinking that a liberal-leaning columnist at the Times actually doubts that global warming is occurring, we should clarify. In the column, Mr Friedman discusses his recent visits to Doha and Dalian, mentioning his awe ... More About: Global Warming , Global , Armin
Charting the Blogosphere
2007-09-25 18:05:00 The idea of quantifying or charting writing—or any form of art for that matter—strikes most people as at best odd, probably unreasonable, and likely sterile and academic in the worst ways. To Dead Poets Society fans who remember the—literal—tearing apart of an essay that endeavored to do just this, how presumptuous such an effort can ... More About: Blogosphere , Char , Charting
Review: My Date with Drew
2007-09-24 18:11:00 My Date with Drew was sadly missed by too many people, including myself, when it was released in 2005. Because of its obscurity, I was concerned about its quality. But within the first ten minutes I was sure there was no need to worry. Brain Herzlinger is 27, a rather anonymous young man living in Los ... More About: Review
OPW: David Callahan on Honoring Work
2007-09-21 19:26:00 On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a quote from the book I reviewed Monday, The Moral Center. I do feel the need to apologize for bringing it up again, but I can’t seem to avoid it. In this excerpt, Callahan makes some interesting observations about the how attitudes towards work and collective struggle have shifted over ... More About: Work , David , Alla
Jena, Duke & Justice
2007-09-21 02:54:00 Today, maybe for the first time, a lot of people heard about a little town called Jena , Louisiana. It’s become the newest flash point in America’s notoriously acrimonious black-white race relations. In Jena, Louisiana, these acrimonious relations got violent. In the culminating event, six black students of Jena High School assaulted one white student. For this ... More About: Justice , Duke
Banks, Money, etc.
2007-09-20 19:31:00 “Hello,” said the piggy bank I’ve had since I was two. He was sitting in a box on the floor. “Yes?” I asked, slightly irritated. “We don’t really see much of each other anymore. I was just wondering why.” “Well, it’s because I don’t need you anymore. I keep my money elsewhere. And besides, you look silly. I’m ... More About: Money , Banks
Will the Republican Platform Change?
2007-09-19 20:27:00 In Monday’s review of The Moral Center, I mentioned that David Callahan had offered his moderate platform for changing America to either Democrats of a third party. It wasn’t until after I hit “Publish” that I considered the possibility that the platform could be good for the ailing Republic a n s. But after some consideration, I decided it ... More About: Change , Platform
On Slaying Dragons
2007-09-18 17:24:00 For a while, I was obsessed with the idea of slaying dragons. Perhaps it started when I read Tolkien’s immortal tale of The Hobbit, but it didn’t end there. Whenever low clouds would obscure the tops of the nearby foothills, I’d dream about venturing up there to slay the dragon that surely existed within ... More About: Dragons , Drago
Review: The Moral Center
2007-09-17 17:02:00 David Callahan’s The Mora l Center can be a difficult book. Not because it’s exceptionally intellectual, partisan, or long. It’s difficult primarily because it emphasizes ways in which the American political landscape has subverted actual reason by favoring what is easy and appears straightforward. And by showing the naked irrationality of the policies of both political ... More About: Review
OPW: ?Jabberwocky?
2007-09-14 17:29:00 It’s easy to become a tad too concerned with looking intelligent and serious and forget to have fun. So today on “Other People’s Words,” a heroic journey told using some utter nonsense, Lewis Carrol’s famous “Jabberwocky.” ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And ...
Fossil Fuels are Dangerous
2007-09-13 17:08:00 I thought of writing this piece a number of times, but always decided against it. It always did, and still does, seem like an interesting idea that would never get much traction. But, I rather like sharing outlandish ideas (see last Thursday), so I’ve decided to give this one a go. I think the claim ... More About: Ossi , Fossil , Fuels , Dangerous
Did the World Change on September 11?
2007-09-12 16:23:00 Yesterday, as you’re no doubt aware, was the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that made America notice radical Islam. If our President had been one for rhetorical flourishes, he may have reminded us that it was a day “that will live in infamy.” If there is another day where America’s world changed, the only 20th ... More About: World , Change , The World , September , September 11
Gray Days
2007-09-11 18:37:00 Around here, the last few days have been rather gray. You know the type. Where it doesn’t get much about 58 degrees Fahrenheit and you never actually see the sun, though it’s light shows through with varying degrees of success. And though some may find days when the sky only varies between shades of dull gray ... More About: Days , Gray
Review: Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
2007-09-10 18:55:00 The name Can Mr. Smith Get to Washing ton Anymore? is a rather hollow gimmick, but the story this documentary tells is still compelling. Raising a question based on Frank Capra’s seminal Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the film follows a different Jeff Smith, a young 29-year-old with no experience in public office, running for United ... More About: Review
OPW: ?The Book of A?
2007-09-07 16:26:00 Today on “Other People’s Words,” Wesley McNair’s “The Book of A.” The poem reminds me of all the pack rats I’ve known, as well as the important truth that, sometimes, hoping is enough. Raised during the Depression, my stepfather responded to the economic opportunity of the 1950s by buying more and more cheap, secondhand things meant to transform his life. I ...
Coalition Against Animal Racism
More articles from this author:2007-09-06 17:18:00 This week, our intrepid reporter Steve Finch brings us news of a rather novel animal rights group. Steve asked that we file this story in the “wouldn’t it be interesting if…” category. PENSACOLA, FL — The Coalition Against Animal Racism (CAAR, pronounced “care”) held their first public meeting today. The group was formed earlier this year ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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