Culture
What’s going on, who we are, and what the big deal is.
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In the United States we have two politics. Competitive Politics The first, I’ll call “Competitive Politics,” is the two-party system of pugilism, evidenced by our incessant competitive metaphors. We talk about horse races, boxing matches, and football. So outdated is this vision of politics, that we even use war metaphors as evidence of only two…
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Matt’s Safe School Law, otherwise known as Michigan’s “anti-anti-bullying law” is an embarrassment and juvenile. It is the pre-emptive self-defense of bigotry, and just like the nation’s first foray with the Bush Doctrine, this has a profound effect on people’s real lives. It hurts people. Real people. Not mythical, hypothetical, potential people. Real, living people…
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Twenty years ago today, my all-time favorite album was released to the world, obliterating the sonic mold that gave birth to it. It spawned hundreds of copycats, but none that could handle the sonic onslaught, the shimmering vocals, and epic scale. “Only Shallow” by My Bloody Valentine Personally, I love that it feels otherworldly and…
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My reflection on today’s gospel: Matthew 23:1-12.
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Student loan debt recently broke $100 billion for the first time in history. It isn’t like we couldn’t see this coming. Virtually no wage increase for the bottom 95% over the last thirty years. Annual tuition increases above inflation rate. State payment cuts to universities. Decreased scholarship opportunities. The end result is college costs have…
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In the week between when the world discovered Sgt. Shamar Thomas, some dudes went crazy. The viral video of an Iraqi veteran chastising the New York police department for arming up against their own civilians as if it were a war zone was a wake-up call to the sleeping public. These public protesters aren’t impudent…