Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2616
August 25, 2010
"Everybody Else Is Crazy" Cont'd
by Conor Friedersdorf
Paige knows what makes no sense to her:
The rat race. Society at large glorifies it, most people engage in it. Those who don't are labeled marginal, antisocial and excluded. It permeates everything. And yet, it is the rat race, in its more extreme manifestations, that is probably responsible for the over-consumption that is resulting in the destruction of the planet. It also dehumanizes people and the way they view other people. It removes principle in favor of...
Stabbed For Being Muslim
by Chris Bodenner
Hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Programming - Languages - Chris Bodenner - Business - Business Services
The Anti-Establishment
by Patrick Appel
Ambinder draws some lessons from last night:
When itcomes to the Tea Party factor, remember: about issues it ain't. BillMcCollum was one of the attorneys general who filed a lawsuit againstObama's health care reform bill. He is as conservative as a Blackberryat an Apple convention. But he has ties to the state's now-discreditedRepublican establishment (think of the indictment of the former partychairman) and his avuncular, amiable, comfortable-as-a-leather shoestyle just...
Police, Firefighters, and Their Salaries
by Conor Friedersdorf
Police and firefighter compensation are the subjects of an excellent piece that Dan Foster has published at National Review. The short version of his argument is that they cost way too much, especially when their pensions are factored into the equation.
Early in my career, I served as beat reporter for a city where the firefighters' union wielded more power than any other lobby (with the possible exception of a commercial and residential real estate company -- it was the ...
Can Church Be Hip? Ctd
by Chris Bodenner
A reader writes:
You'll probably get this a thousand times, but anything by the Mountain Goats is pretty hip religious music. And the brain behind the band, John Darnielle, has described himself as a regular churchgoer. They also count Stephen Colbert as a fan, so not really sure how much more hip you can get. That, and on their most recent album, The Life of the World to Come, all the song names are biblical verses.
Darnielle talked about his faith with the Stranger in...
The Algorithm Method
Jessica Belt: "Dear Facebook: I am writing to ask that you stop suggesting I have a baby." It seems that targeted advertising is the new "when are you going to give us some grandkids?"
Facebook - Advertising - Online Communities - Social Networking - Shopping
An Upset In Alaska?
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowsk is trailing Joe Miller, a Palin-endorsed Senate candidate with tea party roots. Weigel is all over the story:
The Palin endorsement got him uncritical national media attention. The
Tea Party Express bought $500,000 in ads for Miller, which was the
largest single buy in the state. Perhaps most importantly, the Measure
2 anti-abortion proposition was bringing out conservative voters.
Bernstein zooms out:
[T:]hese primaries are sending a very strong message...
Points of Departure
by Conor Friedersdorf
Over at National Review, David Pryce-Jones recounts the shameful way that Canadian authorities have treated Mark Steyn, a writer whose right to publish whatever he wants without getting hauled before a tribunal ought to be sacrosanct, full stop. (In fact, I wonder if a defense fund could be set up so that anyone brought up on charges in Canada could draw on it.)
This part of the post jumped out at me:
Mark Steyn is a humorous writer, but he has a serious purpose, namely to...
Millennials and Their Attitudes About War
by Conor Friedersdorf
Dan Drezner writes:
As I think about it, here are the Millennials' foundational foreign policy experiences:
1) An early childhood of peace and prosperity -- a.k.a., the Nineties;
2) The September 11th attacks;
3) Two Very Long Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq;
4) One Financial Panic/Great Recession;
5) The ascent of China under the shadow of U.S. hegemony.From these experiences, I would have to conclude that this generation should be anti-interventionist...
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