Which is, of course, true; we don’t much value words – especially written words – anymore, if in fact we ever did. But it does not necessarily follow from that fact that words are themselves valueless. I suspect quite the opposite is true: we devalue words because they are a threat to our comfort, to [...]

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In response to this article by the Intl Herald Tribune (Literacy debate: Online, r u really reading?):
My one issue with printed media is that I don’t like being immersed in the author’s bias for too long when it comes to contentious issues in religion, sexuality, gender/race issues, culture, philosophy, or even some scientific theories. I [...]

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Horatio thinks he saw a ghost.
Hamlet thinks it’s annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies.
The king thinks Hamlet’s annoying.
Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better.
Hamlet’s father is now a zombie.
(continued)
Good stuff.
⇒ Hamlet (Facebook News Feed Edition). (McSweeney’s)

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As such, editorials are a rare voice in our national culture and politics; they are the product of a Socratic enterprise, guided by the idea that debate produces wisdom.
A defense by the LA Times on why papers should keep their editorials. While I do not agree with their specific political leaning, I do appreciate [...]

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As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books.
But others say the Internet has created a new kind of [...]

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A TINY woman with a black braid to her waist used to clean the office before it opened in the mornings. She spoke almost no English, and we passed in the hallway with silent good wishes before other people arrived. She cleaned invisibly. I remember similar invisible cleaners running large humming machines, like Zamboni waxers, [...]

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In his article Explaining the “Magic” of Consciousness, he gives a great analogy of how the use of the word ‘the’ was used in a card trick to make it seem completely mysterious even to fellow professional magicians.
⇒ Dennett on magic and misdirection (Mind Hacks, via Big Contrarian.)

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mouse potato
Someone who spends all their time on the computer surfing the net or playing games. Similar to couch potato.
You spent seven hours on the internet creating meanings for words on urban dictionary? Wow, You’re such a mouse potato
⇒ Urban Dictionary: mouse potato (via .)

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Let’s be honest with ourselves: no war will come to an end because of a poster. We don’t need more posters; we need critics – people who have the skills and persistence to uncover the truth and proclaim it loudly.
⇒ On being a critic / from a working library

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A stimulating article looking into the future of the english language. The author discusses how english has become so prevalent in china, that this may soon affect how english will be spoken in the future. Due to their lack of quality education in regards to the english language, the grammar is horrible, for [...]

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