Run, don’t walk

November 18, 2005 • by Jordan J. Ballor

Run, don’t walk

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November 17, 2005

Woe un2mnkind!

A British mobile phone company has hired a professor of literature to write up short quotations from various masterpieces. The goal is to help make “great literature more accessible” by offering short, truncated, text messages to students via cell phones. Continue Reading...
November 17, 2005

Lime green trickle down machine

At the the UN net summit in Tunis, MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte has showcased his hundred dollar computer. The small, durable, lime colored, rubber-encased laptop is powered by a hand crank, and is designed to make technology more accessible to poor children in countries around the world. Continue Reading...
November 17, 2005

The priestly voice of science

Thomas Lessl, Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia, talks about the “priestly voice” of science. He argues that “scientific culture has responded to the pressures of patronage by trying to construct a priestly ethos — by suggesting that it is the singular mediator of knowledge, or at least of whatever knowledge has real value, and should therefore enjoy a commensurate authority. Continue Reading...
November 16, 2005

Why not fair-trade beer and cakes?

Economist John Larrivee looks at the logic underlying the fair trade coffee movement and applies it to beer and baked goods. It doesn’t quite make sense. Larrivee points out that “the question is not the difference between what different parties to the production get paid, but rather who adds value, how much, and where.” Continue Reading...
November 16, 2005

It’s called tithing

The church thought of this first, but better late than never, I suppose: 10 over 100 is an effort to encourage people who make over $100,000 per year to donate 10% to charity. Continue Reading...
November 16, 2005

Yes, ICANN (no, you can’t)

The AP reports that a deal has been struck to continue primary management of the Internet by the United States, following weeks and months of controversy. The EU had been pushing for control of the web to be turned over to a supra-national body, such as the UN. Continue Reading...
November 15, 2005

A revival of Christian democracy in Europe?

Well, maybe not exactly. But apparently not every European nation has decided to turn its back on Christianity. The EUObserver reports that Slovaks are voting this week on their national euro coin design – and some notably Christian images are leading. Continue Reading...
November 14, 2005

‘Call on Charles Darwin’

By now most everyone has heard about Pat Robertson’s warning to a Pennsylvania town that voted out their school board. The move seemed to be in response to the board’s attempt to introduce curriculum including “intelligent design” theory. Continue Reading...
November 14, 2005

To counter social ills…

The separation of church and state–that slippery topic–was dealt with recently with simplicity by the Holy Father. In speaking to the US Ambassador to the Vatican regarding ethics in politics, he said: “The disturbing spread of social disorder, war, injustice and violence in our world can ultimately be countered only by renewed appreciation and respect for the universal moral law whose principles derive from the Creator himself.” Continue Reading...