Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2611

Hallowed Ground, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

A parallel to Stephen Budiansky quoted here is the response of WWIIveterans in the US.  There was no memorial in DC until somebody thoughtit a good idea in the 1990's.   Small towns had memorials to all oftheir war dead typically a remnant of the Civil War memorials. Universities have a notable memorial to the WWII vets.  Almost to acampus Student Unions after WWII were built as Memorials to the deadcomrades that soldiers had left behind.  Until remodeled...

Can Church Be Hip? Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

Black Sabbath, "After Forever"

No, really.

You will need the lyrics in text form (this is Ozzy, after all):

Have you ever thought about your soul - can it be saved?

When you think about death do you lose your breath or do you keep your cool?
Would you like to...

Let Them Swim in Deep Water

by Conor Friedersdorf

Over at Democracy in America, another liberal speaks up for part of the liberty agenda:

My colleague the discussion Matthew Yglesias has been having with his readers over whether liberals and libertarians can agree on some regulations they both hate. So, here's a regulation I hate: you're not allowed to swim across the lake anymore in Massachusetts state parks. You have to stay inside the dinky little waist-deep swimming areas, with their bobbing lines...

"I'm Sorry" Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

I'm a little put off by the oddly petty criticism of a Christian who is at least taking one step towards a rational point of view. My only question to those who make issue of t-shirts being sold, or some vague sense of hubris coming from Marin, is this: would you prefer him to shut up? Would you prefer to be left with Pat Robertson? Positive steps are positive steps.

No one is suggesting that by supporting Marin's gesture of apology, you therefore support...

The Annals Of Long-Form Journalism, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

Josh Green gives props to Conor:

I first became acquainted with this effort when he posted
his "Best Pieces of 2009"
at the sadly departed True/Slant. But I'm glad he's kept it up on an a
la carte basis over at the Daily Dish, where he's flagged a number of
great pieces, including this one and this one. Google reveals that he also did a "best" list for 2008, which you can find here, and to which I will be devoting a good part of my weekend.

My two cents: Kurt Eichenwald's...

After The Bubble

by Patrick Appel

Wilkinson :

If you ask me, the ultimate culprit in the financial crisiswas the American cult of homeownership. There are many ways to helppoorer Americans accumulate wealth, such as channeling payroll taxesinto personal retirement accounts. But we don't do that.Instead, because we consider it a humiliating indignity not to have aroom or ten of our own, we subsidise home-buying six ways to Sunday andtell banks they won't have to suffer the downside of loans...

Campaign Ad Of The Day

Reid goes negative:

Sargent analyzes:

What's interesting is that even though Angle did say all these things,
and even though Reid has widely disseminated her comments throughout
the state, the race is still very close. It's a measure of how stiff a
headwind Reid faces.

Meanwhile, Ed Kilgore looks at Joe Miller's platform:

I'd say the abolition of Medicaid and the total privatization ofMedicare and Social Security qualify as positions that remaincontroversial in much of the GOP, though a lot...

Jest vs Joyce

by Conor Friedersdorf

Alan Jacobs compares Infinite Jest to Ulysses, and writes that "I am coming more and more to suspect that Infinite Jest would be a great book at half its current length." I agree with that judgment, though I very much enjoyed Infinite Jest.

I also enjoyed A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but Ulysses is the single novel that I've started and been unable to finish. Even as I came across delightful turns of phrase, I hated the it, despite usually loving long...

Libertarian Utopia Meets Reality

by Patrick Appel

Timothy B Lee tackles seasteading, "a program for political reform based on a proliferation of self-governing ocean colonies":

If all you care about is avoiding the long arm of the law, that'sactually pretty easy to do. Buy a cabin in the woods in Wyoming and thegovernment will pretty much leave you alone. Pick a job that allows youto deal in cash and you can probably get away without filing a taxreturn. In reality, hardly anyone does this. To the contrary, peoplehave been...

Housing Tanks, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Jonah Lehrer thinks our collective cognitive bias is part of the problem:

Between 1989 and 1992, Boston condo prices fell by nearly 40 percent. This meant that, for the vast majority of condo owners, they could only sell their home at a steep loss.

Classical economics assumes that people will adjust to the new reality. They'll realize that the market has changed, and that they made a costly mistake. But that's not what happened. In their paper, "Loss Aversion and Seller...