“A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.”
Bert Leston Taylor (1866-1921)
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“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
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03/26
With the health care reform battle behind them, Democrats turn to the next beast: regulatory reform… with less resistance than expected
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March 26, 2010 Technology, The Internet
Despite the intriguing new models for hyper-local journalism manifesting in the Czech Republic, pointed to briefly here, The Urbanophile thinks there’s more to it. They take a “keep your eye on the ball” approach,
‘If you want to “think global, act local”, you first need to figure out what the global means to the local. What’s the implication? That mission isn’t being carried out in Chicago or most other cities – by either the old or the new media.’
If Internet sites are tied with invisible hawsers to the geography of our world, then anyone with a voice who appears to be floating in cyberspace is missing their megaphone, present party not excluded.
I guess I’ll have to do something about that. Suggestions for a rootless vagabond?
03/25
The X-Woman’s Fingerbone – possible undiscovered species by Carl Zimmer
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March 25, 2010 Learning
In a welcome break from the political spectacle, I bring you a personal narrative. Consider yourself warned.
I used to get the strangest ideas in my head when I was a kid. For instance, I worried that human beings would soon overpopulate the world. Where would we live? Sure, there was enough space now, but what happens when we build on all of it? When people call dibs on every piece of land available? And when there’s ten times as many people?
I could have sworn there wasn’t enough room for all of us. I asked a trusted grown-up and he told me that there was, in fact, plenty of space, more than I could possibly realize. The world is bigger than you think, he said. Some reassurance that was. How can he know how big I think the world is? Read on »
March 23, 2010 Political Slant
This idea transcends party lines, so even though I start with Rush Limbaugh, don’t go jumping to any conclusions.
Limbaugh is angry (obviously) about the health care vote. Here is yesterday’s transcript from his radio program, which I found my way to reading via Roger Ebert’s liberal twitter stream. I think Ebert posted it because he is laughing at Rush, which is to be expected. In the days leading up to the health care reform vote in the House, Ebert posted plenty of pro- health care reform one-liners. And on that side of the debate, if you don’t slander Limbaugh, you laugh at him.
His comedic value aside, however, there was one point Rush made in that transcript which struck me as significant no matter what side one takes in any debate. It can be about health care reform, stem cell research, or the effects your morning cereal choice has on your daily fiber intake. He said,
“[...T]he urging to fight on must have some substance to it and not just be rhetoric and language and lingo.”
No matter what the argument is, it has to have substance or it is nothing more than empty words. People can rally behind instigative signs and slogans, but they have no power when the real debate calls for facts and sustainable solutions. This is a common indictment of the Republican party today. The real reason Republicans lost the debate on Sunday was not because they were outnumbered, but because they didn’t bring substance to the fight:
“Republicans offered nothing about preventing insurers from denying patients coverage based on pre-existing conditions and offered little about expanding access to health insurance. Rep. Ryan and others have put forth serious counterproposals, but Republican leadership and activists kept them at arm’s length.”
The irony in Limbaugh’s speech, of course, is that he subsists on “rhetoric and language and lingo.” It’s the wellspring of his popularity, and yesterday’s transcript proves it. He argues for substance and yet supplies none.
You may be right, Rush, at least in this context, but if your guys on the Hill keep following your example instead of listening to your advice, they’ve already lost the fight.