May 2010
61 posts
2 tags
2 tags
The "Free Gaza Flotilla"
It would be difficult to avoid writing anything about the “Free Gaza Flotilla,” especially given the overnight Israeli attack, but it would also be irresponsible to write too much without more information and assessment.
Here, then, are a few things I know for sure:
The Israeli government has a legitimate desire and need to prevent weapons from entering Gaza and thus to check what...
2 tags
Reflections on Daddydom: The First Two Weeks
A few months ago, my friend Mike Wagner bought a copy of Michael Lewis’ book on fatherhood, Home Game, for me. It was, at turns, charming, weird, witty, and disturbing. When Mike and I discussed it, shortly after I’d finished reading it, we both agreed it would be difficult to be the kind of father that Lewis describes himself to have been, especially with regard to the distance he...
2 tags
Anonymous asked: What is your take on the North Korean situation?
2 tags
2 tags
Summer Reading
I got my first anonymous questions today — three of them — and I’ll start working my way through them as time allows. The first one is probably the easiest to answer in the shortest amount of time … so here goes:
Any reading recommendations for Running Chicken Readers experiencing summer anti-intellectualism? (Or, as they say in English, “What do you read for...
1 tag
It's That Time Again
“What time is it?,” you ask.
Time to ask me questions again.
OK. Go!
3 tags
4 tags
3 tags
4 tags
“I’m tired of pop stars who say, ‘Give peace a chance.’ I’d rather say, ‘Give war...”
– The New York Times had a quirky and impossibly long article on M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam) yesterday. If you’re a fan of her music or if you’re interested in international human rights, it’s well worth a read.
Stuck between descriptions of her clothing and accessories, information...
3 tags
The Moral Life of Babies →
Earlier today, my friend Michael Tofias sent me an email with a link to a very interesting article (published at the beginning of the month in the New York Times) and a recommendation that I change the name of this blog to “Morality and Babies.”
Here’s a compelling quote from the relevant article:
Not long ago, a team of researchers watched a 1-year-old boy take justice into his...
2 tags
2 tags
andmatt asked: Human rights vs. State sovereignty, which is more important? For example, should we be allowed to violate a state's sovereignty in order to protect human rights?
Can human rights exist outside of sovereign states?
Can human rights exist outside of sovereign states?
3 tags
squashed asked: Thailand. Is there a moral to this story?
My revolutionary inner-child would love to condemn government brutality ... but I find it incredibly hard to sympathize not-uniformly-peaceful protestors who were actually offered the elections they demanded and couldn't bring themselves to call it quits.
My revolutionary inner-child would love to condemn government brutality ... but I find it incredibly hard to sympathize not-uniformly-peaceful protestors who were actually offered the elections they demanded and couldn't bring themselves to call it quits.
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
andmatt asked: Peanut butter, chunky or smooth?
2 tags
“I’ve never used an ATM, so I don’t know what the fees are....”
– My U.S. Senator, Ben Nelson, is completely baffled by the concept of an ATM.
He clarified that he’s not completely without skills when it comes to new-fangled technology, however.
“But I could learn how to do it just like I’ve … I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know...
2 tags
Landis, Admitting Doping, Accuses Top U.S.... →
I’m sure I say this all the time — about lots of people — but, really, is there anyone worse than Floyd Landis?!
After waging a seemingly-endless and impossibly-futile legal battle to prove to the world that he wasn’t using performance enhancing drugs (which everyone knew he was using), he now comes forward with a mea culpa to admit what we all knew.
But, of course, he...
4 tags
2 tags
4 tags
Own Your Data →
More thoughts on using the internet correctly, from my good friend Michael Tofias (via John Gruber at Daring Fireball, it seems).
He’s absolutely right about Tumblr being a much cleaner, more user-friendly place to put information (and to share with others and to preserve for yourself).
For me, Facebook serves a different function (as I discussed earlier). I’ve been using it to keep...
2 tags
Wowza!
As loyal — and even occasional — readers will know, my wife and I just had a baby.
So far, it’s been tiring (though not nearly as bad as I’d been led to believe, especially now that we’re home from the hospital) but unbelievably fun.
Unsurprisingly, I don’t find myself with a lot of time to read the news or write about human rights or political theory at the...
2 tags
2 tags
1 tag
“Heard the latest? The swine flu pandemic was a hoax: scientists, governments and...”
– This is the beginning of a very interesting article from the New Scientist.
Check it out here:
Living in denial: Why sensible people reject the truth (HT: Brendan Nyhan).
4 tags
andmatt asked: How do you feel about representative democracy?
4 tags
2 tags
Much Ado About Facebook
I’ve been watching the hubbub about privacy on Facebook in stunned silence for the past week or so, just as I did several months ago when there were some changes made to the way my information was made available to Facebook friends and non-friends, and just as I did several months before that when there were some changes made to the way my information was made available to Facebook friends...
2 tags
4 tags
For sale: 'Field of Dreams' farm for $5.4 million... →
Up for sale is the diamond, a two-bedroom house, six outbuildings that include a concession stand, and a 193-acre parcel. The land includes the mystical cornfield where the ghosts of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, “Moonlight” Graham and others emerge to play ball.
So … who wants to be my sort-of neighbor (insofar as Nebraska borders Iowa)?
If you’re seriously...
4 tags
You're Doing The Internet Wrong
I’ve noticed, over the past few months, that most of the people I know don’t use the internet the way that I do. Since I’m not someone who believes that anything is as good as anything else, I’ve gone from amusement to befuddlement about this.
In particular, here are some thoughts about RSS feeds, Tumblr, Twitter and, Facebook:
I’ll begin by noting that about half...
2 tags
DNA test clears American musician after 28 years... →
In an extraordinary scene, barely noticed in America this week amid coverage of the enormous oil spill and the New York bomb plot, Mr Towler, a 52-year-old musician, walked free from a Cleveland court after spending more than half his life in prison for a crime of which he always maintained his innocence and which DNA analysis proved he did not commit. His case is not unique, but the way it...
3 tags
Yes, You Have Been Wasting Your Life
Earlier today, in response to my call for questions, andmatt asked:
What’s up with Lost? I feel like 6 years of my life are gone, and they owe me an explanation as to why.
Basically, yes, you have wasted six years of your life.
When people talk to me about “Lost” or talk about “Lost” in my vicinity, it sounds like they’re talking about “Dungeons and...
2 tags
Solving Human Rights Problems
Earlier today, in response to my call for questions, squashed asked:
Are human rights problems and social justice problems something that can be solved by increasing funding for whatever we need to fund, or is a more complex, sociological approach necessary? And, if it’s the latter, what do we need to do? And, for those of us who aren’t sociologists, what can we do as individuals?
...
2 tags
1 tag
What's Up? →
It’s a rainy, cold, generally unpleasant day here in Lincoln. The semester is over, but I’m trying to finish a book chapter. Basically, I’ve decided to turn the reigns over to all of you for the afternoon. I’ve never done this before, but today feels like a good day to try out possible recurring feature.
Here’s how it works:
You ask a question and, if I know...
2 tags
1 tag
A Name for Newborns Thanks to the Undead →
This is why there should be a test before you’re allowed to reproduce.
Cullen, the surname of one handsome bloodsucker, Edward, in the frighteningly popular vampire series “Twilight,” based on the best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer.
Cullen materialized at 485, leaping almost 300 spots from 2008 for the biggest increase of any boy’s name; it wedged firmly between Braiden and Kason.
Just...
2 tags
1 tag
2 tags
2 tags
3 tags
4 tags
1 tag
Tell Sarah Palin: Donate your millions in "Drill,... →
I like this; it’s amusing.
Petition here.
3 tags
