The Internet and the Web have provided everyone with an opportunity to be heard, and an opportunity to hear almost everyone for free. Has so much free access made everyone a loser and no one a winner?
Prejudice, Prehistory and the Puzzle of Pictographs
It’s a truism that those that write history get to invent it. It’s less often appreciated that those who define when history begins can eliminate what came before entirely.
PDF: Inauguration Day — January 20, 2009
Inaugural speeches are very fine things to behold, full of high ideals and glowing promises — but then the hard work begins. Most presidents can deliver a fine speech, but only a few deliver on their promises. Here’s hoping.
PDF: John McCain’s Elephant Man Moment
It’s easy to get carried away in the heat of the moment of a closely contested campaign, whether you’re the candidate or only one of the crowd. Now that the dust of the election has settled, it’s time for us all to take a good look in the mirror and see if we like what we see.
PDF: Introducing: “The Monday Witness”
With the explosion of cable and Web-based media channels of all sorts, there are news feeds to suit every political belief and bias. The result is less neutrality in reporting, more pandering to viewer tastes, greater polarization between those on the left and right, and an increasing feeling of helplessness. What can one person do?
PDF: Words, Standards and Torture: What’s in a Name?
Perhaps the oldest standards of all are words — abstract sounds to which we assign specific meanings. Laws rely on words retaining their meanings over time, or laws lose.