Another way of seeing
There is another way of seeing, but it never
occurs to us to remove our glasses.
-- Ben Wolfson.
April 12, 2008
September 24, 2007
Meritorious Meritocracy
In a meritocracy, it is those who are without merit who will
be left behind. Do the meritless(*) merit assistance ?
Despite their image as meritocratic beacons of opportunity,
the selective colleges serve less as vehicles of upward mobility
than as transmitters of privilege from generation to generation.
(*) Also including those with a paucity of merit.
September 15, 2007
Two types of people
There are basically two types of people - those who create glib
dichotomies as a cheap rhetorical device, and those who reject
oversimple two-valued logic as a tool of social inquiry.
August 11, 2007
Meat deficiency?
Before reading this I would have never drawn the line between
being a lesbian and a vegetarian. But now, whew, it's like an
epiphany !
June 27, 2007
Life after 30
After the age of 30 if you're still drinking beer out of plastic cups
that should tell you something about the caliber of person you are.
-- Deal Breaker
June 10, 2007
Dancing with a bear, Dr. Joycelyn Elders
"It's like dancing with a bear. When you're dancing with a bear,
you can't get tired and sit down. You have to wait for the bear
to get tired."
May 28, 2007
Slope: slippery or greasy ?
Slippery slope arguments should be avoided unless
there is proof that the slope is greased.
April 22, 2007
The best American understands America
The best American is not the American who has been here
the longest or the one who just arrived, it is the one who
understands the principles of America the best because
we are a country held together by ideas.
April 19, 2007
Hard to be consistent
“It’s hard to be consistent when you are making it up every day.”
Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp (the Internet conglomerate)
Today, IAC has 64 companies, including LendingTree, TicketMaster,
HSN (formerly the Home Shopping Network), Ask.com, Match.com,
Evite, Citysearch and CollegeHumor. Although it generates more than
$6 billion in revenue, it is not particularly profitable and its assets,
with some notable exceptions like TicketMaster, tend to be second-tier.
March 20, 2007
Long range, short rtange
You must have long range goals to keep you from
being frustrated by short range failures
-Charles C. Noble
September 11, 2006
Right track is an insufficient condition
Even if you’re on the right track,
you’ll get run over if you just
sit there.
-- Will Rogers
August 26, 2006
Enterprises require new clothes
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
-- Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden
May 20, 2006
Two types of people dominate technology
Two types of people dominate technology:
- Those who understand what they do not manage; and
- those who manage what they do not understand.
-- Putt's Law.
April 8, 2006
On being afraid
War on terror is not about stopping you
from being afraid, it's about making you afraid.
-- George Lakoff.
April 1, 2006
Slippery slope
This isn't just a slippery slope.
It's a toboggan into chaos.
-- FRANK RICH (NYT), January 22, 2006.