Tag Archives: Enlightenment

An important life lesson, courtesy of Facebook and Amendment One

Facebook reminded me of an important lesson this morning. When I was young, I was an idiot. A well-intentioned idiot, to be sure. And in my defense, it must be said that I was probably less of an idiot than most kids my age. But still, I look back on the things I did, the things I believed, the insecurities

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Tiller assassinated: anybody want to make a bet on who did it? – UPDATED

Note: Relevant updates will posted to the bottom. By all means, read all the way to the end, where it gets interestinger and interestinger. ______________ Dr. George Tiller was murdered at his church this morning. According to the New York Times: Dr. Tiller, who had performed abortions since the 1970s, had long been a lightning rod for controversy over the

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Still not ready to make nice: what does the Dixie Chicks saga tell us about freedom in America?

We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas. – Natalie Maines I don’t even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats

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LIFE and the long view: ideologies of science and technology since the Enlightenment

Part two in a series. As I suggested in Part One, the messianic/utopian view of science and technology attributed to LIFE Magazine is consistent with an ideological bent that traces its lineage to the dawn of the Enlightenment in Europe. Francis Bacon’s highly influential New Atlantis, first published in 1626, recounts the narrator’s fictional shipwreck on the shores of Bensalem,

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ArtSunday: “…to see and be amazed”: The LIFE and times of technology in America, 11/23/36-12/29/72

Part one in a series. During its 36-year run, LIFE Magazine traversed a period of technological innovation and peril unsurpassed in the recorded history of humanity. As the first issue was released in November of 1936, a resurgent Germany was constructing the most awesome war machine the world had yet seen, a development that literally threatened the very future of

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