On Public Intellectuals

Another index on whether we're getting smarter or stupider:  the public intellectual. 

 

Most compelling assertion:  the language of social sciences, namely economics, has replaced literary criticism as the benchmark for any serious 'public intellectual' discussion.

 

Something I'd long suspected but hadn't yet heard spelled out.

A Poet Who Lives in the Same City As Me

M.L. Liebler, Detroit poet.

More Cantankerous Cross-Atlantic Harrumphing in the WSJ

Whither Western Europe?  (Once known as Christendom)....

Take a Sledgehammer to Higher Education?

More thoughts on reforming academia. 

 

So many voices crying in the wilderness.

Motor City Woes' Silver Lining

Bad news for the Motor City auto industry--but an provocation to a revitalized and positive vision of our Michigan economy.

 

 

The Great Sickness of Our Time

Crackberries and Ipods and disconnected humans-- this guy describes the typical scene I observe going home on the bus all-too-often.

Rock Stars, Hoop Dreams and Lit Profs

Ah, grad school in the humanities:  it brings some perversely sweet sigh of relief when I read reality-based assessments of how idealistically crazy it is to go for that vaunted PhD.  Because I came to the same conclusion myself once upon a time, and restrained myself, and occasionally experience pangs of wonder and regret at the road not taken. 

Israel on the Offensive? (No Pun Intended)

Wow--I've suspected that Israel would get an itchy trigger finger, what with Iran's nuclear dick starting to swell.  But I didn't think the calculus could be laid out so clearly...  I guess we'll see. 

Carrot Cuffing Indian MBAs, Engineers and Doctors

An update on the Indian overseas courting scene, puts the job/marriage/home quest in cultural perspective.  I'd end up cuffing the carrot forever. 

Pity the Poor Bankers

Oh, woe is the banker whose TARP checks cannot be returned to Uncle Obama.  It's all a plot by the nefarious left to controlled that once-vibrant American (anti-)institution--big business and free trade.  So says a Fox crony at WSJ. 

Urban Farming in Detroit

This is a  great idea--I've been driving around the Eastside wasteland for a few years now--it's almost like a jungle in the summer--thinking about how great it would be to see these plots converted back into farmland.  As city's implode, maybe Detroit can lead the way in de-urbanization.  We've still got enough folks with enough memory of the country life down South they came from--who knows?

April Singularity

Thank God, this is only a fun April Fool's joke from Google.  Harbinger of the future, however, IMHO.