Culture
What’s going on, who we are, and what the big deal is.
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Oscar the Grouch and The Pursuit of Happiness
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4 min read
Among the most famous sentences in the English language is found in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This came to mind…
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Pussy Riot Reveals Russian Morality Police
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2 min read
Or I (heart) Pussy Riot I’ve only just come across this story as I catch up on my podcasts and as Christian Piatt covered a few days ago. Christian covers the discomfort we have in the prophetic action and the challenge of protest in an admirably personal way. You should really check out his post.…
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“Legitimate Rape”: a Watershed Moment
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2 min read
Growing up in the 1980s and 90’s, I was inundated with the PC backlash. As in, the public frustration on the part of conservatives toward 1970s era political correctness. Many spent the 1990s screaming about rampant political correctness as if it were some plague on humanity that people ask other people to be respectful. Heaven forbid we champion generosity,…
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No Difference? Really? You Don’t See It? Seriously?
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1 min read
You know I don’t like the easy trap of Left vs. Right. I’m not a Platonist. I don’t dig on dualism. Nor do I take the easy escape hatch of declaring liberals and conservatives are all the same. Lame! But I really can’t help but wonder why people can’t see the difference between these two: It…
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Impatience Killed The Killing
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4 min read
This week’s news that AMC did not renew The Killing came as a shock to no one, but I’m really disappointed. Good shows are hard to come by; particularly ones that draw such emotional responses from their viewers as this one did. If you’ve never watched the show, here’s the one thing you need to know about…
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Banned by TED
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4 min read
It is interesting how easy it is to get banned. In big language, we would say one only needs to question the dominant paradigm. In plain language, we’d say you just need to upset the apple cart. Another way to get banned is by speaking as if you are taking a “side” in a popular “debate” about a…