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| There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. |
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Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. |
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| Topic: Science |
2:27 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
All across the country, "The Day After Tomorrow" has started debates the movie itself cannot resolve -- debates, all too often, between the prejudiced and the ill informed. As it happens, several significant new books ... could settle the debate right now -- if people take the trouble to read them. Most public debates in the US seem to fall into this category. Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. |
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| Topic: Society |
2:11 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
One would think "makeover" shows like this would be as boring as watching paint dry since they sometimes consist of watching paint dry. But viewers are enthralled! So the shows proliferate. These shows began in a fit of BBC/PBS high-mindedness. But, of course, all entertainment concepts must be run through the Vulgarizer. Den of Dreams |
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What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace |
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| Topic: Society |
2:06 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
Thanks to e-mail, online chat rooms and instant messages, adolescents have at last succeeded in shielding their social lives from adult scrutiny. But this comes at a cost: teenagers nowadays are both more connected to the world at large than ever, and more cut off from the social encounters that have historically prepared young people for the move into adulthood. People allow low-quality relationships developed in virtual reality to replace higher-quality relationships in the real world. This essay doesn't have much to say about the promise of social software. MemeStreams should think about how it could be part of the solution. What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
1:59 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
Ashcroft and Mueller created unease with their vague warning, but it wasn't so much the grimly familiar warning. It was the absence of Tom Ridge. Ashcroft failed to bring Ridge with him -- and Mr. Ridge had been on television that very morning assuring viewers that there was no new intelligence requiring an increase in the threat level. Obviously he didn't get the memo. The administration needs to be far more competent and consistent -- and apolitical -- when it talks about threats. That goes for everyone -- Gore and Kerry included. No Director Left Behind |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:54 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
The media, having ignored Chalabi's Iranian connections for so long, went to the other extreme -- substantially overstating its significance. The United States had a known policy of using fault lines among potential enemies to split them apart, allying with the weaker against the stronger. Following US grand strategy, logic held that the solution to the problem was entering into an alliance of sorts with the Shia. Overdoing Chalabi |
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A Hollow Sovereignty for Iraq |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:51 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
The climb-down in Najaf seems like a repeat of the cynical deal American commanders cut four weeks ago with Sunni rebels in Falluja, effectively turning the city over to former Baathist commanders acceptable to the insurgents. If America's military role is now reduced to partnering with the best-armed insurgents, it is doing nothing to make Iraq more governable by its future elected leaders. The New York Times oversimplifies a bit, but this is consistent with the analysis of Stratfor. A Hollow Sovereignty for Iraq |
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The Other Side of Outsourcing |
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| Topic: Business |
1:49 pm EDT, May 29, 2004 |
A documentary with Thomas Friedman about the outsourcing of jobs to India. The program premieres Thursday, June 3, at 10 p.m. ET on the Discovery Channel. (The program is rebroadcast on Friday, June 4, at 1 a.m. ET on the Discovery Channel and on Monday, June 7, at 9 p.m. ET on the Discovery Times Channel.) The Other Side of Outsourcing |
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