Archive for October, 2010

“Come see Tribes of Genuine Ubangi Savages: From Africa’s Darkest Depths!” and how National Geographic is like the circus

The boobies in National Geographic have always bothered me. The magazine’s founding creed is based on “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge,” and has certainly aimed to share the world with its readers since the National Geographic Society was founded in 1888. (Its more recognized creed is to share “the world and all that [...]

Atlanta needs a song.

No, the one by Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris (“Welcome to Atlanta“) just won’t cut it; there is much beyond the parties “’til 8 in the morning.” The remix version is also not quite good enough to fully represent us. (But, they are crunk, I suppose.) This crossed my mind as I was driving home from [...]

“If men were angels, we would need no government”

So spoke James Madison, on that every pressing question of what to do with governance; how much is good and how much is too much? How much is too little? Because men aren’t angels, they lie to each other, sell each other faulty or unsafe products to make a buck for themselves, or any number [...]

Historian Sean Wilentz on Glenn Beck: “Confounding Fathers”

Historian Sean Wilentz, a professor at Princeton University, was on Fresh Air talking with Terry Gross about the roots of the Tea Party in 1950s Cold War politics. He has an article on it, “The Confounding Fathers: The Tea Party’s Cold War Roots,”  in The New Yorker this week as well, on the same subject. [...]

Modern-day “Peril”? Chinese language in American classrooms, and that long-standing friend-or-enemy dilemma

China has the second-largest economy in the world, a fact that looms ominously over the shoulder of El Numero Uno: the United States. And when you are as connected economically as China and the U.S., it behooves each side to attempt friendliness; it also means it would be nearly impossible for either side to start [...]

To combat a recession: retail tactics and the mall wake-up call

For most large retailers, the last thirty years has been about stretching as far across mid-land America as possible, opening stores in malls on the fringes of big cities and in mid-size towns and communities, homogenizing the landscapes and centralizing decisions so that in most of the country, men, women, teenagers, and children could enjoy [...]

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