Time Magazine: 10,000 Ideas for the Next 10 Minutes @9:55 AM
For some reason, I'm getting the Time magazines at my door? I had no idea! I can't stop playing mash-up with their 10 Ideas for the Next 10 Years "cover" "package." (It is a "thinker's guide" to ideas?) It is the least-specific package ever. Bandwidth Will Save the World! Our Boring White Anxiety Crisis! Remapping the Next American Century! In Defense of the Dropout Economy! The Twilight of the New Black Gold! Bandwidth is the New TV! Hey, some of these sound wayyyy more plausible than what is actually on the magazine. 8
"If masculinity, in Freudian terms, is a heavily fortified citadel, gay men are inside that fortress, undermining its foundations from within by being male yet violating the official (read: heteronormative) rules of what it means to be a man in America. It’s as if you got into the batsuit, only to find that the Joker was in there with you, naked and way too close for comfort."
—A perspective on American sports, high school gym class, Batman, the Super Bowl and the anxiety of those who can't stand to have those institutions questioned. @10:20 AM 11
Chris Anderson's Third Big Idea: "Atoms & Bits" @10:30 AM
Perhaps you were wondering what Wired editor Chris Anderson is up to, after putting forward ideas called "The Long Tail" and "Free"? Well, now we know! His new idea is called "Atoms & Bits." He will be giving it away… for free. (Oh and a book deal. And some speaking gigs. Whatever.) But what is "Atoms & Bits," besides a good name for a futuristic dog food brand? You can find out at a breakfast coming soon! READ MORE 10
Is Contrarianism Dead? @2:28 PM
Nobody tell the folks at Slate: "Here's the thing: as history progresses, things change. And societies try to adapt to those changes. Experts come up with solutions to the problems the societies face. Those solutions often entail discomfiting established interest groups. And the solutions the experts come up with almost always entail some degree of perverse counterreaction, some kinds of problems or inefficiencies or whatever. It can be very interesting to focus on those counterreactions; it can generate fascinating, eye-grabbing journalism. But in the overwhelming majority of cases, the counterreactions aren't as big as the first-order effects of the solutions. …as journalism has come increasingly to focus on contrarianism, it has become less and less adept at actually describing the world." 11
Come On People, Your Halloween Costume isn't Going to Make Itself @4:30 PM
Is there a better holiday than Halloween? Of course not. It has no tedious religious requirements. It has no family get-together component. It has no bummer moral underpinning (I'm looking at you, Memorial Day). It can be enjoyed at all age levels, being just as fun to do in your 40s with your daughter as it was in your freewheeling 20s. And, as holidays go, it runs neck and neck with New Year for getting you laid. It's also the only holiday that favors—celebrates!— a creative smartass. Indeed, I may be a humorless grump who too often sees the bad in everything, especially human nature. But for at least one day a year I am a fucking delight. And that day is Halloween. READ MORE 106
GOP illustrates cartoon ideas with actual cartoons @12:36 PM
Politico, under the headline "GOP scrambles to show it has ideas," reports that:
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor—the man Democrats dubbed "Dr. No"—is taking great pains these days to prove he has a raft of ideas of his own. Stung by the Democratic barbs, the House's No. 2 Republican is unveiling a "Solutions Center" on the Web to address simple questions Americans are asking themselves in the face of economic calamity: "How will I keep my job?" … "How will I keep my house?" … "How will I grow my savings?"
