A Thinking Reed

  • Not very millenial

    I scored a measly 24 on this Pew Research “How Millenial Are You?” quiz (via Clint Schnekloth). Can’t say I’m too upset by that.

  • Needed: better political symbolism

    I’m all for an alternative to the “Tea Party” phenomenon that believes in “promot[ing] civility and inclusiveness in political discourse, engag[ing] the government not as an enemy but as the collective will of the people, [and] push[ing] leaders to enact the progressive change for which 52.9 percent of the country voted in 2008.” But “Coffee…

  • Why I don’t watch cable news

    Well, not the only reason. But this article on the frequency with which “independent analysts” on cable news double as lobbyists or PR flacks is pretty damning.

  • Denis Edwards’ theology of divine action

    In his new book How God Acts, Australian Catholic theologian Denis Edwards offers an account of divine action that is conscious of the picture of the world offered by modern science, but takes its lead both from the Christian revelation of God in Christ, the insights of Karl Rahner, and a modified Thomist metaphysics. The…

  • Carnival of the animals

    Jean Kazez is hosting a philosophy “blog-carnival” (i.e., a collection of posts) focusing on philosophy and animals. Lots of interesting-looking entries (most of which, alas, I haven’t had time to dig into).

  • Health care reform can still pass

    So argues Jonathan Chait. Seems persuasive to me, but what do I know?

  • Friday Metal: The Red Chord, “Demoralizer”

    Pretty freaky video:

  • Tilting at locavorist windmills

    This NYT article scores some easy points against a rigorous or simplistic locavorism (e.g., there are areas of the country where pickings are pretty slim this time of year), but skims along at what turns out to be a pretty superficial level. “Food miles” is just one consideration when it comes to eating sustainably, and…

  • Fallows on American declinism

    I just yesterday got around to reading the big Atlantic cover story. Well worth your time–Fallows seems to be buddies with just about every interesting public intellectual in the country and canvasses a wide range of views on what ails us. His overall narrative (American culture–in better shape than you thought; American politics–not so much)…

  • Factory Planet

    I’m both sympathetic to and skeptical of the ethos on display at Front Porch Republic. On the one hand, an ethics of limits is precisely one of the things we desperately need. On the other, FPRers evince a sometimes-disturbing nostalgia for an agrarian arcadia that never was and to which we wouldn’t want to return…