This week’s weekly must-reads are focused on the pressing political matters of the day: Obama, Osama, the budget “crisis”, etc. I’ve thrown in some fun articles on writing at the end. And for my more “theologically-inclined” friends: don’t worry, I’ll throw you some stuff next week. But in the meantime, check these things out and let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.
As we hit the federal debt-ceiling this week, I wanted to send this article everyone’s way. It is such an enlightening read on how our economic surplus became our deficit–and it’s a reasoned, insightful, factual, calm, and immensely helpful article. (SPOILER ALERT: it was BOTH Bush and Obama’s faults, but mostly Bush’s).
News Desk: Don’t Release the Photos | The New Yorker
This article convinced me that Obama’s decision to not release the photos of dead bin Laden was the right call.
Jon Stewart wants release of bin Laden photos | Salon.com
This video changed my mind back to its opinion that Obama should release the photos of dead bin Laden.
Killing of bin Laden: What are the consequences? – Glenn Greenwald | Salon.com
Another thoughtful Greenwald article (I love this guy!). He shows where the death of Osama bin Laden fits within the neatly packaged national patriotic narrative we’ve been sold by our political system. He talks about what it reveals about us as Americans and how we might not want to trust our initial emotional response to this event. Reminds me a lot of the most recent podcast from my favorite political commentator and historical muser, Dan Carlin.
Osama Bin Laden at the Nexus of God and Man’s Justice | Huffington Post Religion
A beautiful, contemplative, and thoughtful article by Jonathan Fitzgerald of Patrol Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
If we could accomplish God’s justice by killing people, if the death of an evildoer at the hand of another human is what would bring about justice, Jesus would not have come to die, but to kill… But that’s not how God’s justice works. And it’s a good thing, too. If the punishment for evil was physical death, we would all be dead. In fact, death is the consequence of evil, but for the saving grace in the person of Jesus. Death at the hands of another human is not God’s justice… Thus, we don’t exercise God’s justice by issuing out the death we believe evildoers deserve.
Working Best at Coffee Shops – Conor Friedersdorf | The Atlantic
A great post on the rise of the coffee-shop productivity machine and why it is that some of us just seem to get more work done there than any place else.
Joe Weil | Overcoming Writer’s Block | the the poetry blog
Speaking of getting more writing done, this is an amazing article by one my favorite writers (and the utterer of my favorite quote of all-time), Joe Weil about overcoming writer’s block. He doesn’t go easy on the “writer” who can’t seem to write, and his sarcasm, snark and foul language is strangely invigorating and motivating for a person like myself who fancies himself a writer. Maybe you will be “blessed” by it too.
Logical punctuation: Should we start placing commas outside quotation marks? | Slate Magazine
This is our fun article for the week. Amazing. Love it. I will begin using “logical punctuation”, especially on this blog. (Did you catch that?)
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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