I carry a little camera with me much of the time, just for moments like this. I was riding a light rail train across the Mississippi River today. The west end of the bridge consisted of a series of heavy metal girders and cables, as well as stone arches. The…
We like to believe, as Americans, that this country is a meritocracy. The idea---Horatio Alger, Thomas Edison, McGuyver, all emblematic of this notion---that the best qualified rise to the top, that those who can display and apply ability, skill, and intelligence are the ones who are selected---either by themselves or…
Conflict: competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action. Pornography: (3): the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction. What else could it be, other than conflict pornography, when a major media source unnecessarily frames a story in such…
Paul Slansky is frustrated that conservatives have captured the American Flag as their symbol. The emblem of the country's highest aspirations was mindlessly ceded to the holier-than-thou zealots who used it as a bludgeon against the less fanatical. Here's Slansky's solution: Progressives should take the American Flag back by displaying…
Today we biked over to see the 2½ hour long gay pride parade. "You're here, you're queer, we're used to it." About 40,000 other people came to see the parade along the edge of my neighborhood today. You can see the crowds looking down Grand Boulevard. Many people were festively…