Keith_Indy on Jan 03 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Society, social science
An interesting TED talk on how to many choices are making us miserable. I’ve been seeing more and more people referring to these talks. Everyone I’ve sat through has been interesting in some way.
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MichaelW on Dec 26 2007 | Filed under: Culture, History, MichaelW's Page, Religion and theology, Society
Jon Henke posts an interesting history lesson concerning the origins of the well-known abbreviation for Christmas:
Growing up, I sometimes heard - in church and from various religious scolds - that XMas was a secular attempt to “take Christ out of Christmas”, rather than, say, an attempt to save valuable space on signs.
Jon then links to […]
MichaelW on Dec 20 2007 | Filed under: Media, MichaelW's Page, Society
“Teen pregnancy can happen to everybody.”
Bill Albert, Deputy Director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, commenting on the recent revelation that 16 y.o. Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.
I’m guessing that I don’t need to explain why that’s stupidest thing I’ve heard all week, and probably this month. It’s certainly in […]
Lance on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Culture, History, Lance's Page, Law, Libertarianism, Society
For information on Repeal Day you can visit www.repealday.org:
The turn of the twentieth century was a dark time in America. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which had been promoting Prohibition for many years, believed alcohol was the cause of many, if not all, social ills. Mistruths like this were spread. Lines were drawn. Bars […]
Keith_Indy on Nov 28 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Society
The radicals over at N.O.W. continue to be in a pickle over their support or at least their inaction over a case where one set of values conflicts with another set of values. How can you defend womens rights, and not condemn the treatment some cultures or some people, give towards women.
Why […]
MichaelW on Nov 15 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Humor, MichaelW's Page, Religion and theology, Society
I guess “man bites dog” is just too normal nowadays:
NEW DELHI - A man in southern India married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony as an attempt to atone for stoning two other dogs to death — an act he believes cursed him — a newspaper reported Tuesday.
P. Selvakumar married the […]
Lance on Nov 14 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Humor, Lance's Page, Society
Hat Tip: Tyler
Please run through this list of baffling toys. Please leave responses. People who understand Japan are especially encouraged to leave comments. I need to understand the fascination with poop.
This is a practice stripper poll, that was yanked from toy store shelves in the U.K. last year when some fussy killjoys questioned whether […]
Lance on Nov 12 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Health Care, Lance's Page, Society, social science
The New York Times has a nice piece on the latest health research on the impact of weight on health. Of course, like most nutrition and weight related research we should approach it with some caution as John Tierney has discussed at great length (or breadth?)
I actually enjoy the social history in it the best. […]
Keith_Indy on Nov 07 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Keith's Page, Society
Bono says it is, so it must be so…
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/11/07/2007-11-07_clear_and_present_danger.html
“There is an imminent threat,” says Bono. “It’s real and grave. It is as serious a threat as Stalinism and National Socialism. Let’s not pretend it isn’t.” Exactly. Be afraid.
Well, maybe he’s just playing the politics of fear…
Jonathan Evans, in an extraordinary public appearance, reports his outfit […]
MichaelW on Nov 05 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, MichaelW's Page, Society
Or, at least, that’s what the data says:
In a surprising development, the Financial Times reports that the Democratic Party - traditionally the party of minorities and the lower classes - has become the party of the rich.
More and more Democrats represent areas with a high concentration of wealthy households. Using Internal Revenue Service data, the […]
MichaelW on Nov 01 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Education, Media, MichaelW's Page, Society
I know the left takes its For The ChildrenTM rhetoric seriously. However, I was not aware just how pervasively their anti-capitalism, anti-Bush, anti-war, and anti-military agenda was being pushed on our kids. Nickelodeon is the latest indoctrination arena where a “news” program hosted by Linda Ellerby offers stories such those found at this […]
Keith_Indy on Oct 30 2007 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Media, Society
Now, don’t laugh, there are standards by which they are supposed to conduct themselves, at the least, professionally.
From the Society of Professional Journalists (based here in Indianapolis,) we have these standards:
Seek Truth and Report It
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Minimize Harm
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as […]
Lance on Oct 28 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Lance's Page, Libertarianism, Race, Society
Some things really tend to leave me with my mouth refusing to shut in astonishment. Now read this:
The Little Green Footballs blog decided to condemn MSU-YAF for hosting Nick Griffin. In case you do not read Little Green Footballs, the blog is pro-Muslim, left-wing, politically correct, and basically a front for neoconservative foreign policy (instead […]
Keith_Indy on Oct 26 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Economics, Keith's Page, Law, Society
Who would have thought this kind of thing would happen in this day and age, in America. But, add one part “War on Drugs,” and one part “Illegal Immigration,” and you get volatile results.
A south Los Angeles Latino street gang targeted African-American gang rivals and other blacks in a campaign of neighborhood “cleansing,” federal […]
Keith_Indy on Oct 26 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Keith's Page, Society, Technology
Self - Check
Spouse - Check
Kids - Check
Pets - Check
Important Papers - Checks
Satellite Receiver - WTF
The nerve of some corporations!
When this Azola couple got back from their honeymoon, they had about an hour of matrimonial bliss before being forced to flee as their house was engulfed in flames. So you can understand they had some things […]
MichaelW on Oct 26 2007 | Filed under: Education, Media, MichaelW's Page, Race, Society
I hadn’t ever seen this series before, but I have to admit that I find this stuff pretty damn scary:
That’s just a snippet of what is apparently being taught to our kids of high school age. Not only are white kids being denigrated as being overprivileged and unappreciative of “what they have”, as the […]
Lance on Oct 24 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Lance's Page, Louisiana Politics, Media, Notes on the war, Race, Society
A reporter for the local paper of Jena, LA is pretty disgusted with the coverage of the events surrounding the trials involving the “Jena Six.” We have expressed confusion and frustration over the coverage here, here and here. As I have continued to read about the case his description of events seems more and more […]
Keith_Indy on Oct 23 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Economics, Education, History, Keith's Page, Religion and theology, Society, Technology
Sometimes information like this makes me sit back and think “whoa” (sounding to much like neo in the matrix.) Not only is this a small world (which we often forget,) but it is becoming an exponentially complex and interconnected one.
glumbert - Shift Happens
The Singularity is Near.
Heck, I read sci-fi, and try to keep up […]
MichaelW on Oct 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Society
That voters are increasingly dissatisfied with the two major political parties is undeniable. but does that necessarily translate into more support for libertarians? Michael Kinsley thinks it does:
Many people feel that neither party offers a coherent set of principles that they can agree with. For them, the choice is whether you believe in […]
Lance on Oct 10 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Domestic Politics, Economics, Lance's Page, Society, Urban planning and development, regulation, social science
Virginia Postrel makes a point I will be exploring in more detail over the next few months in her latest essay at The Atlantic, the reasons behind the vast disparities in housing prices in our country. More interestingly she notices something I hadn’t really considered, at least not in the way she does. The cultural […]
Joshua Foust on Oct 06 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war, Society
Cross-posted on The Conjecturer.
Defense & The War
Woops, the U.S. military also seems under the crazy impression Blackwater employees opened fire without provocation last month when they killed (not murdered) 14 Iraqis who were not shooting back. In other words, those lying brown people, the ones some apologists have said lied… well, they probably didn’t, since […]
Lance on Oct 03 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Domestic Politics, Lance's Page, Race, Society
A thoughtful look at the story of the Jena Six and the controversy surrounding the case by Steve Coll. The criticisms of Reed Walters are reasonable. Of more interest to me is his point about problems of incarceration rates in general:
It might be of some comfort to politicians, then, if the Jena case, like the […]
Lance on Oct 03 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Lance's Page, Society
There’s an entire micro-economy based on the pursuit of betterment. The author—58, full-figured, and ferocious in his consumption of cigarettes and scotch—agreed to test its limits, starting with the Executive De-Stress Treatment at a high-end spa.
The heading for Christopher Hitchens’ exploration of the self improvement industry.
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Lance on Sep 29 2007 | Filed under: Lance's Page, Media, Society
I say this not because I think the perpetrators fraud is surprising. My thoughts however are the same as those of Billy Beck:
I marvel at the enormous psychic energy required to maintain such a horrendous fraud for so long. Can you even imagine?
Frankly I can’t imagine it. I would be a wreck within a week. […]
Lance on Sep 26 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Lance's Page, Law, Louisiana Politics, Media, Race, Society
As a Louisiana native I probably should have weighed in on the “Jena Six.” Like Michael, and many others, my initial reluctance has been being unsure of what really happened due to sketchy and conflicting reporting. What I can say at this point is that the decisions from a legal perspective have in each aspect […]
Lance on Sep 16 2007 | Filed under: Books, Culture, Lance's Page, Society, Urban planning and development, regulation, social science
I have not touched on the subject of the often hostile turn our culture has taken towards men, especially when it comes to their relationships with children. It is not that I don’t agree that that is a concern, in fact quite the opposite. I have in deeply personal ways been effected by this cultural […]
Lance on Sep 08 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Lance's Page, Society
As I have said, people have lost their minds. 42% of Democrats believe that the Bush administration either caused 9/11 or allowed it to happen according to a poll commissioned by the loose change truthers. Even sadder, on the ideology section about 30% of libertarians believe it, and have the highest number who believe he […]
Lance on Sep 06 2007 | Filed under: Books, Culture, Lance's Page, Society
My grief knows no bounds, Michael Jackson, aka “The Beer Hunter” has passed away:
“He was simply the best beer writer we’ve ever known,” said Tim Hampson, chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers. “He told wonderful stories about beer, breweries and far away places. He told the story of beer through people, and he […]
Lance on Sep 05 2007 | Filed under: Lance's Page, Society
We have added a lot of interesting places to the blogroll recently, and we will continue to do so. Right now we have been adding to our collection of mill bloggers and today to the Loyal Opposition, specifically the democratic left. Read them, it is worthwhile, and I’ll be adding more, so check back often. […]
Lance on Sep 05 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Notes on the war, Society
In response to my post on the moral crisis of the left, I (and the Eustonite left) got a response from Matt Zeitlin.
To begin with he makes some good points about the Bush administrations lack of support for non-sectarian groups such as labor unions in the aftermath of the invasion with a link to an […]
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