Today’s Teens Rediscover the Same Techniques I Used to Talk on the Phone in the Kitchen

May 23, 2013 By

Progress in history! Over the last few years, I've watched as teens have given up on controlling access to content. It's too hard, too frustrating, and technology simply can't fix the power issues. Instead, what they've been doing is focusing on controlling access to meaning. A comment might look like it means one thing, when in fact it means something quite different. By cloaking their accessible content, teens reclaim power over those who they know who are surveilling them. This practice is … [Read More...]

“With Government Abuses, The Problem Is the Power, Not the Person”: JD Tuccille

May 23, 2013 By

at Reason: ...Bovard sketches how "President Franklin Roosevelt used the IRS to harass newspaper publishers who were opposed to the New Deal" and "Kennedy ... used the IRS to strong-arm companies into complying with "voluntary" price controls. Steel executives who defied the administration were singled out for audits." He points out that the "IRS was ... given Nixon's enemies list to, in the words of White House counsel John Dean, 'use the available federal machinery to screw our political … [Read More...]

From George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

May 23, 2013 By

This was not the first time that Mr. Bulstrode had begun by admonishing Mr. Vincy, and had ended by seeing a very unsatisfactory reflection of himself in the coarse unflattering mirror which that manufacturer's mind presented to the subtler lights and shadows of his fellow-men; and perhaps his experience ought to have warned him how the scene would end. But a full-fed fountain will be generous with its waters even in the rain, when they are worse than useless; and a fine fount of admonition is … [Read More...]

“The Jobs of the Future Don’t Require a College Degree”: Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

May 21, 2013 By

at Forbes: We’re all talking about the “jobs of the future” and “winning the future” and transitioning to a “knowledge economy.” Since predictions are hard, especially about the future, it’s a good idea to look at some data. And it looks like we have some of it.... more (and see also: "Avg student loan debt of Class of 2013 is $30K") … [Read More...]

“All-Weather Friends”: me on Wallace Stegner

May 21, 2013 By

at Acculturated: All three novels of marriage I’ve looked at so far have a certain sense of the privacy of marriage, which can become isolation. In fact, the focus has narrowed with each novel: Extended family and community are essential parts of Kristin Lavransdatter, but its heart remains with Kristin’s marriage and home; the isolation of the married couple is part of the point of How to Be Good; and Gilead gains much of its force from the sense that the dying narrator is increasingly … [Read More...]

Speaking of Endurance

May 21, 2013 By

His-and-hers perspectives on chronic relapse. Strong stuff. She: I met my husband, Jimmy, at my very first AA meeting. I stumbled into the 14th Street Workshop, bloated and reeking of booze from the night before, in my pajamas. I hadn't showered in days, and I was wary of the people in the room. I didn't trust anyone. Jimmy recognized that I was new (it wasn't hard to spot), and he put out his hand to shake mine, welcoming me and giving me a meeting list. I don't remember much about that … [Read More...]

So Many Steps to Death: Revisiting “Brideshead Revisited”

May 21, 2013 By

Hey, so I read Brideshead Revisited again. I was in college the first time. Probably read the entire book drunk. Can't think of a better introduction to it! Anyway, here are some scattered thoughts on re-reading it, all of which are ridiculously spoilerous. Seriously, if you haven't read it, SKIP THIS POST and just go read it. It's short! It's phenomenal. I loved it even more the second time. You'll like it more if you don't know what's coming. * The contrast between the "heavy," plodding … [Read More...]

Nun Is the Loneliest Number: “Black Narcissus”

May 20, 2013 By

Last week I saw 1947's Powell & Pressburger convent fever dream Black Narcissus. It's set in the high, windswept mountain peaks of India (with requisite "half devil and half child" native caricatures, so just know that going in--I really liked the blunt old lady though), where an iron-spined young Anglican nun played by Deborah Kerr tries to run a convent in a former house of concubines. It's stunning to look at, of course, and I am not kidding about the "fever" aspect of this dream: It … [Read More...]

Interview on Theology & Practice of Funerals, At Eastern Christian Books

May 20, 2013 By

probably via TKB: Earlier I drew attention to a new book about the ars moriendi: Mark and Elizabeth Barna, A Christian Ending: a Handbook for Burial in the Ancient Christian Tradition (Divine Ascent Press, 2011), xii+169pp. I asked both authors for an interview, and here are their thoughts: more … [Read More...]

“Sharp Edges”: 1989 Documentary on Tonya Harding

May 19, 2013 By

Startlingly raw in its discussion of her family problems. Lots of fascinating backstage/practice footage. … [Read More...]

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