Links We’re Reading – October 18 – 23, 2010

Posted on by |

Remember Art Linkletter?

The Tea Partiers belong to a different tradition-a tradition of divisive fundamentalism. Like other fundamentalists, they seek refuge from the complexity and confusion of modern life in the comforting embrace of an authoritarian scripture and the imagined past it supposedly represents. Like other fundamentalists, they see in their good book only what they want to see: confirmation of their preexisting beliefs. Like other fundamentalists, they don’t sweat the details, and they ignore all ambiguities. And like other fundamentalists, they make enemies or evildoers of those who disagree with their doctrine.

  • How Tea Partiers Get The Constitution Wrong – A great fisking of Tea Party principles, such as they are.
  • The Sistine Chapel – A pretty cool site by the Vatican that allows a 360 degree, zoomable view of this masterpiece. Okay, not political, but cool nonetheless.
  • Closeted Discoverers: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Scientists – When even members of the academic research community are fearful of revealing their sexual orientation, we as a society are not close to achieving equality. Fixing things like this is what achieving a “more perfect union” is all about.
  • Persistence: Being Too Dumb To Quit Is Helpful – From a dad blogger I know, this is a nice reminder that sticking with things yields benefits and results. I thought it useful to link to given the frustration experienced by many Democrats this year.
  • Republican Blogger Reaction To Racist Emails – If you haven’t been following the saga of racist emails sent by the (now former) Virginia Beach Republican Chair, head over to Blue Virginia and check it out. It’s fascinating.
  • DARPA Funded Hundred-Year Starship Program – The US Government is investing in a long-range plan to create the capacity to colonize other planets. I love it.
  • Fox News Viewership Plunges 21% While MSNBC Grows – “The cable news ratings for the third quarter of 2010 were released today, and Fox News is showing signs of decline as their viewership has decreased by 21%, and their top shows all posted double digit losses, while MSNBC’s shows grew and the network attracted more younger viewers.” Is the tide finally turning? Are people finally realizing that Fox is nothing more than an arm of the GOP, spewing false information?
  • Raul Grijalvas Office Hit By Terror Attack – It’s funny, but I don’t see a lot of Democrats sending death threats to and shooting into Republican campaign offices.
  • Loudoun County Moon Tree – Did you know that there’s a tree in Hamilton that was grown from sees that orbited the moon in 1971? How cool is that! (with a tip-o-the-hat to my friend Keith.)
  • Muslims Wearing Things – “Former NPR analyst Juan Williams, among other ignorant people, has an irrational fear of Muslims, and thinks you can identify them based on what they look like. Here I will post pictures of Muslims wearing all sorts of things in an attempt to refute that there is such a thing as “Muslim garb” or a Muslim look.” Awesome.
  • Bank of America’s Foreclosure Mess Won’t Disappear Quickly – “Having convinced millions of Americans to buy homes they couldn’t afford, Bank of America is now revving up its foreclosure efforts on these same homeowners. At the same time, having sold tens of thousands of these same terrible loans to investors, it is going to spend tens of millions of dollars on lawyers to keep from having to buy back their junky loans.” There. Are. No. Words.