Education board backs controversial history guidelines https://floridapolitics.com/archives/434777-crt-desantis/
The Florida state governor, our own mini-Trump, has another “red-meat for the base” bit of legislation. No surprise here at all. These people feed on the… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/arts/design/pritzker-prize-anne-lacaton-jean-philippe-vassal.html
The Pritzker (architecture’s most prestigious prize) goes to Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal. They “believe that every structure can be repurposed, reinvented, reinvigorated.”
“There are too many demolitions of existing buildings… Continue reading…
In another edition of My Stupid State, Florida now has a bill before the legislature that will change the state support for students going to universities. It is the Bright Futures program, which has been… Continue reading…
Yet another attempt by far right Florida Republicans to not let the market speak for itself, but try to predetermine what people should take in university based on a BS idea of what… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/business/economy/economics-women-gender-bias.html
Economics is, of course, far from the only discipline like this. Philosophy has often been like economics in that its public meetings can be gladiatorial, but I think it has started to recognize… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/world/europe/france-universities-culture-wars.html
Oh France, look at you, thinking that you are condemning ideas from the US when in fact you are just replicating the culture wars of the US. Ok, not France in general, but… Continue reading…
So I was poking around on the Open Syllabus Explorer site https://opensyllabus.org/ which is pretty cool, I must say. They have about 7.3 million syllabi there, and you can search elements… Continue reading…
New developments in the case of a former student of mine. His son was killed on a night he was drunk and confused, and tried to get into what he thought was his… Continue reading…
Florida, at the forefront of being backward. There’s so much wrong with the position taken in the quote below, but for starters, the assumption that public universities must have politicians involved in surveilling… Continue reading…
https://psyche.co/ideas/rise-up-fellow-complainers-lets-be-vulnerable-together
Kate Norlock is in favor of complaining. She makes a pretty good case that it is a social skill, that it can be done better or worse, and that like any skill it… Continue reading…
A Position at the University: A Report to an Academy https://profession.mla.org/a-position-at-the-university-a-report-to-an-academy/
Long, but a good reflection on incentives or their lack in the university, getting stuck at associate professor level, and other related… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/17/technology/qanon-meme-queen.html
Things said by the person profiled in this article:
“The world opened up in Technicolor for me,” she said.
“It was like the Matrix — everything just started to download.”
“The… Continue reading…
Your morning anniversary.
No, not of my wedding (that’s at the end of May), but of 366 days (one leap year) of walking, without missing a single day. The last day I have a record… Continue reading…
Citizens as consumers. This guy says that that’s the reality, it’s not going to change, and so we should just make the best of it. Stop trying to call people to a higher… Continue reading…
So many movies and show seem hopelessly quaint and naïve at this point in history. I happen to have the end of The Day After Tomorrow on at the moment, you know, the disaster movie… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/opinion/trump-social-status-resentment.html
This article annoyed me to no end. Some people seem enthusiastic about it, like a new toy called “social status” has been discovered and it’s really fun to play with, and… Continue reading…
Rebecca Solnit: On Not Meeting Nazis Halfway https://lithub.com/rebecca-solnit-on-not-meeting-nazis-halfway/
Rebecca Solnit, as usual, talks sense. Our ability to have a public conversation about anything significant is so corrupted and compromised at this… Continue reading…
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/11/andy-stanley-evangelicals-trump/617103/
The reckoning is long overdue. But you know, it won’t really happen. As Trump’s star fades, and it will, these people will find their ways of rewriting history, claiming victim status, saying that… Continue reading…
Well, some “philosophers say” this. Others say other things. Solitude is really a lot more complicated than this basically religious view. It suggests that if someone struggles with being alone, they aren’t yet… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/19/t-magazine/sigourney-weaver.html
“[A]ctors’ brands are now so much more narrowly defined and so much more painstakingly maintained, their presence on social media absorbing as much strategic thought as their actual professional development. [Sigourney] Weaver —… Continue reading…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/2020-nobel-peace-prize.html
This is a worthy recipient. I’ve seen them work up close, when I was in Kenya and later in Rwanda. Food insecurity is a huge issue that can drive violence, topple… Continue reading…
I haven’t read the book reviewed by Daniel Dennett in the link here. Pretty sure I’d hate it with a passion. Also pretty sure (from the last paragraph of the review) that my hatred… Continue reading…
Well, it’s nice to see Scientific American doing a little philosophy of science for a change, even if it’s really old philosophy of science. As Stephen Turner said in another post, nice… Continue reading…
A thousand attempts have been made to try to explain our political moment, from the left (or even from the center). Many of these end up in frustration – “well, they’re just crazy on the… Continue reading…
As I’ve said before, Facebook presents itself to us as a single person. I guess Twitter does too, but all the messages from all the people and corporations and Russian trolls and everyone else out… Continue reading…
One thing I’ve been doing on these walks has been to introduce myself to some of the other regulars and get their names. “By the way, my name’s Bruce.” They have to be regulars (i.e.,… Continue reading…
I’m thinking a lot about death these days. I guess being a philosopher it comes with the territory. Not my own death, particularly, although these days I suspect that that question has crossed anyone’s mind… Continue reading…
Well, I have many thoughts about this article, most of which I won’t record here. Just a couple.
First, there’s an uptick in Western history, dating back at least a couple of thousand years,… Continue reading…
Armed protesters in Michigan storm the legislature. All in the name of freedom, no doubt. What a misunderstanding of what freedom is.
This is something we talk about in my classes. I sometimes give… Continue reading…
Well, I’m on track to break 250 miles of walking in April (don’t worry, it is all done staying well away from anyone else – one of the perks of where I live). That’s what… Continue reading…