my thoughts, exactly.

"I remember lecturing at Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in this country. I..."

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:14:26 -0700

“I remember lecturing at Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in this country. I was minutes away from beginning my lecture, and my host was driving me past a new building called the Wexner Center for the Performing Arts

He said, “This is America’s first postmodern building.”

I was startled for a moment and I said, “What is a postmodern building?”

He said, “Well, the architect said that he designed this building with no design in mind. When the architect was asked, ‘Why?’ he said, ‘If life itself is capricious, why should our buildings have any design and any meaning?’ So he has pillars that have no purpose. He has stairways that go nowhere. He has a senseless building built and somebody has paid for it.”

I said, “So his argument was that if life has no purpose and design, why should the building have any design?”

He said, “That is correct.”

I said, “Did he do the same with the foundation?”

All of a sudden there was silence.

You see, you and I can fool with the infrastructure as much as we would like, but we dare not fool with the foundation because it will call our bluff in a hurry.”

- From an address by Ravi Zacharias (via Justin Taylor) (via sds)

"862. Tonight I introduced him to Luciano Pavarotti and Frank Sinatra. His face was pure joy. I was..."

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:00:04 -0700

“862. Tonight I introduced him to Luciano Pavarotti and Frank Sinatra. His face was pure joy. I was there the very moment he first heard and loved them.”

- 888 Selfish Reasons for Having a Little Boy

KAYAK Search Results: SYD to LAX on 9/22

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:32:14 -0700

KAYAK Search Results: SYD to LAX on 9/22:

hilker:

Lost? Scroll to the bottom for your flight.

if the URL doesn’t work, go to Kayak.com, search for one-way flight, SYD - LAX on 9/22, non-stop, scroll to bottom.

xkcd

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:34:05 -0700

xkcd

personal finance – Mint.com

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:03:00 -0700

personal finance – Mint.com

davidkaneda: Lukas Mathis examines the importance of...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:20:01 -0700

davidkaneda:

Lukas Mathis examines the importance of abstracting ideas in UI design, as opposed to using literal visuals:

When designing user interfaces, we rarely ever want to show a specific entity; typically, we want to convey an idea or a concept. Details can easily distract from that idea or concept.

newsweek: youwillbeassimilated: Via libraryland, via...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:18:29 -0700

newsweek:

youwillbeassimilated:

Via libraryland, via dostoyevsky:

Dostoyevsky’s notes for chapter 5 of The Brothers Karamazov

succeedblog: Flight attendant succeed Southwest it is.

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:16:45 -0700

succeedblog: Flight attendant succeed

Southwest it is.

newsweek: Today in Service Journalism: How to make it out of a...

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:39:23 -0700

newsweek:

Today in Service Journalism: How to make it out of a hostage situation.

My son loves the crocodiles and alligators on Planet Earth.

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:12:26 -0700

"‘But we Yooks, as you know, when we breakfast or sup, spread our bread,’ Grandpa said, ‘with the..."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:04:29 -0700

“‘But we Yooks, as you know, when we breakfast or sup, spread our bread,’ Grandpa said, ‘with the butter side up. That’s the right, honest way!’ Grandpa gritted his teeth. ‘So you can’t trust a Zook who spreads his bread underneath! Every Zook must be watched! He has kinks in his soul! That’s why, as a youth, I made watching my goal, watching Zooks for the Zook-Watching Border Patrol!’”

- Dr. Suess, The Butter Battle Book (via 888 Selfish Reasons for Having a Little Boy)

"That haircut looks like a hazing incident."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:39:04 -0700

““That haircut looks like a hazing incident.””

- JBP

Barney Frank on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:32:49 -0700

New York Times, September 11, 2003: “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

New Yorker, January 12, 2009: “In 2004, it was Bush who started to push Fannie and Freddie into subprime mortgages, because they were boasting about how they were expanding homeownership for low-income people. And I said at the time, ‘Hey—(a) this is going to jeopardize their profitability, but (b) it’s going to put people in homes they can’t afford, and they’re gonna lose them.’ ”

Bloomberg, January 22, 2010: “The committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form and coming up with a whole new system of housing finance.”

hilker: MacBook cover that looks like an old, worn, hardback....

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:21:01 -0700

hilker:

MacBook cover that looks like an old, worn, hardback. This would be pretty cool to pull out at a cafe or library.

Bookbook - Bookbook - Twelve South

Mike Luckovich (comics.com)

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:16:11 -0700

Mike Luckovich (comics.com)

Coakely Lost... Another Thought (submitted by Rob).

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:44:00 -0700

Russ, the Newsweek writer draws the wrong lesson from the 2006 election. In the 2006 the electorate was upset at the Bush administration’s handling of the war. They didn’t like what was happening. But that didn’t mean they wanted to leave Iraq and “lose” (okay, some did, but not the majority). It’s a false choice to think the only options were to leave Iraq or stay.

Instead, the electorate signaled they wanted a new direction. Which the Bush administration smartly delivered with the surge (it’s too bad they didn’t do that 4 years earlier).

The same is true about yesterday’s election and healthcare. The choice isn’t between continuing with the current economy-wrecking health bill or nothing. But the electorate has signaled they want a different approach. A third way, if you will. If the present administration were to back-up and consider different ideas (eliminating restrictions on cross-state insurance purchases, decoupling insurance and employment or at least transferring health care tax benefits to individuals instead of businesses, tort reform, and anti-fraud inforcement) they might actually succeed in reforming health care, like the Bush administration in Iraq.

From the sound of it, they aren’t changing their approach. Which would have been like Bush staying in Iraq without the surge—which would have ended in a catastrophic loss and embarrassment for the U.S.

And let’s be honest. The current bills don’t really reform health care any more than creating the Education Department reformed education.

Obama can still do something about healthcare. But the electorate is saying they want a different approach. And if Obama doesn’t deliver that, next November will be a bloodbath for his party.

"To say this should wreck the Obama Administration’s health care policy is like saying that when..."

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:54:00 -0700

“To say this should wreck the Obama Administration’s health care policy is like saying that when Democrats took over Congress after a landslide victory in the 2006 mid-terms they should have killed the Bush Administration’s Iraq War. Liberals made that argument, but no Republicans bought it. In fact, the opposite happened, as President Bush moved ahead with a surge over the objections of the Democrats and the will of the public as reflected in polls. The surge turned out better than the critics thought, and health care can, too.The week before Obama’s January 27 State of the Union Address will be a hellish time for Democrats but it is also an important test of whether they are willing to become a more muscular—and thus more effective—party.”

- Newsweek: Cokely Lost. So What?

"In general, U.S. presidents see the world through the eyes of four giants: Alexander Hamilton,..."

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:46:00 -0700

“In general, U.S. presidents see the world through the eyes of four giants: Alexander Hamilton, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. Hamiltonians share the first Treasury secretary’s belief that a strong national government and a strong military should pursue a realist global policy and that the government can and should promote economic development and the interests of American business at home and abroad. Wilsonians agree with Hamiltonians on the need for a global foreign policy, but see the promotion of democracy and human rights as the core elements of American grand strategy. Jeffersonians dissent from this globalist consensus; they want the United States to minimize its commitments and, as much as possible, dismantle the national-security state. Jacksonians are today’s Fox News watchers. They are populists suspicious of Hamiltonian business links, Wilsonian do-gooding, and Jeffersonian weakness.

Moderate Republicans tend to be Hamiltonians.”

- Why Obama Must Reconcile His Inner Jefferson with His Inner Wilson - By Walter Russell Mead | Foreign Policy

oats: (via mattlehrer)

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:08:00 -0700

oats: (via mattlehrer)

"A man goes to the Pittsburgh Steelers ticket office and inquires about purchasing play-off tickets...."

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:59:00 -0700

“A man goes to the Pittsburgh Steelers ticket office and inquires about purchasing play-off tickets. The ticket teller replies that there weren’t any tickets for sale because the Steelers did not make it to the play-offs. The following day the same man goes to the Pittsburgh Steeler ticket office and inquires about purchasing Steeler play-off tickets. The ticket teller politely replies that there weren’t any tickets for sale because the Steelers did not make it to the play-offs. This goes on for an entire week. The man goes to the Steeler ticket office inquiring about play-off tickets and the teller says none are for sale because the Steelers did not make it to the play-offs. Another week of this goes by and the man still is asking the ticket teller about Steeler play-off tickets. Finally the ticket teller in a loud voice yells I’VE TOLD YOU FOR THE LAST 2 WEEKS THERE WERE NOT ANY TICKETS AVAILABLE BECAUSE THE STEELERS DID NOT MAKE THE PLAY-OFFS. The man replied, ‘I know. I drive all the way from Baltimore just to hear you say that.’”

- BenjaminSte.in: