These things are not mutually exclusive. I want to show you two pictures – ones you may have seen recently – and ask you a simple question: what is being communicated? What are the subject, the photographer and the publisher saying to you?
Read moreSara Robinson, who has spent years thinking and writing in places like Orcinus, Our Future, Group News Blog, Salon, Grist, the New Republic and New York Magazine (as well as S&R, now that I think about it), has finally struck out on her on her own and debuted Future Imperfect. And just in time. Sara has devoted a great deal of energy
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Al Jazeera should never have gone public with the Manning/HGH story. Its only responsible option now is to fire everyone associated with it and apologize. A breaking report from Al Jazeera accuses Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning (and others) of using the banned substance HGH. FULL DISCLOSURE: a) I’m a Broncos fan, b) I usually find Al Jazeera to be one
Read moreWhen “political correctness” and bad journalism collide… I appreciate the fact that we live in an age where finally – finally – we have grown more sensitive on issues like race, gender, sexual orientation and privilege. (I wish I could add class to that list, but so far I can’t.) I’m sincere about this. The language we use can do more
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We all love freedom and the Constitution. But is it really that simple? I’m a huge fan of a good debate. And by “debate” I don’t mean the sort of ginned-up scream-lie-and-spinfests we have come to associate with the term in the past few decades. No, I mean spirited, intelligent, thoughtful exchanges between parties with honest, good-faith disagreements. Lucky me, I tripped across
Read moreA prominent political “news” site has gotten its hands on a year’s worth of archives of a “top secret” Google Group of liberal activists called the Gamechanger Salon.* According to the emails, the group reportedly includes prominent members of the Occupy movement, “Democrats, Sierra Club officials, journalists who work for The Huffington Post and The Nation magazine, senior union representatives,
Read moreI’m not sure what to make of this latest development. I’m perfectly capable of believing that Roger Goodell saw the infamous video of Ray Rice KOing his then-fiancee Janay – in fact, I may be leaning that way – but that doesn’t mean that I automatically buy any claim that supports the opinion. In this case: Go in fear of
Read moreTwo decades ago the WaPo condemned the use of “Redskins.” A generation later, by god they’re doing something about it. Sorta. Way back in 1992 the Washington Post concluded that “the time-hallowed name bestowed upon the local National Football League champions — the Redskins — is really pretty offensive.” (Emphasis mine.) A rough estimate based on occurrences of “redskin” in a WaPo
Read moreThe public interest is what the public is interested in, bitches. Thanks to Facebook, we all see new memes every day. Some of them are funny, some insightful, and a lot are of the preaching to the choir variety, which even though they’re right as rain, they occasionally get tiresome. Like a lot of us, frustrated as hell with the
Read moreThe best way to honor our fallen heroes is to make sure there aren’t any more of them. Today I honor our war dead, but I’m mad as hell that our leaders, corrupt and sociopathic as they so often are, have killed so many without cause. I’m enraged that some of these deaths are regarded by our society as less worthy of
Read moreIt may seem like a small thing, but if you write for one of America’s premier tech magazines, you have a responsibility to understand how probability works. Earlier today Wired published an article on how a new Quantum theory could explain the flow of time. Great stuff, and really interesting. Definitely give it a read. But in the course of
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Snowden, Assange, Greenwald, and anyone else who believes that NSA spying on American citizens is wrong is a tool for Mother Russia. Makes sense. I just read Edward Lucas’s Wall Street Journal piece entitled “A Press Corps Full of Snowdenistas.” I can’t honestly say if Mr. Lucas is a liar, an idiot, or simply a guy who’s a little too
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The nation gives thanks … for what? I was never a William Burroughs fan, but I nonetheless find myself thinking about his 1986 “Thanksgiving Prayer,” surely one of the most caustic (and insightful) takes on our great American holiday. I’m in this sort of mood for a reason. Or two, or three. First off, you may have noticed all the
Read moreAt WashPo, the narrative is more important than the facts… Earlier today a friend forwarded me, via e-mail, the text of an opinion piece that was ostensibly about the “new reality” on the right. It began well enough. Following the recent tea party Tet Offensive — tactically disastrous but symbolically important — the Republican establishment has commenced counterinsurgency operations. Sens. Mitch McConnell of
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Adapted from a piece that originally ran in December 2011. _____ When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal. -Richard Nixon to David Frost British television journalist David Frost is dead at 74. While it isn’t necessarily clear that a man who spent time as a comedian and game show host ought to have his visage
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lullaby pit 