Monthly Archives: October 2007

Blank

The color of walls, not the colors of pictures, is where I want to transport myself. Pictures hurt even in joy – the power of moments is also the power of longing, all too real is all too ideal.For a moment, I don’t want to see. I don’t want to know. What I have seen …

October 19, 2007 – 3:34 am | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (1)

Addendum to the "Reconceiving Economics" Post

Some recent articles have asked whether the Internet can save classical music. Classical music is, in fact, saving itself; Internet activity is merely the most immediately visible evidence of its refusal to fade away. Younger musicians, in particular, are using every available means to reach a potential public that is far larger than the one …

October 16, 2007 – 11:36 am | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

On Iconography

Links: Samples of Icons by a Contemporary Iconographer Blog of a Contemporary Iconographer Thoughts: The Cathedral was a place where the illiterate peasants would learn of the Divine not through speech, for Mass was said in Latin, and certainly not through reading, but through the images that surrounded them on all sides. The West overthrew …

October 15, 2007 – 6:02 pm | By ashok | Posted in christianity | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Reconceiving Economics

The word economics comes from the Greek word for “household management,” and I want it to be more about our choices in daily life than about “the wealth of nations.” 1. While arguing over an inheritance tax here and here, it dawned on me that I need to be explicit about what the relation between …

October 14, 2007 – 11:56 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (1)

Seeing

There’s a lot to be done, and in key ways life is already over – there are far too many moments I want back.It was just looking around today, seeing all the big things that were wrong – the decay of entire areas, jobless and lonely people everywhere, a general sense of helplessness permeating what …

October 13, 2007 – 11:48 pm | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (0)

What My Undergrad Spends NJ Taxpayer Money On

I can’t believe this. Except for a number of professors I can count on one hand, I had an awful education at this school, and until junior year, the dorms were terrible. There’s more, since football isn’t the only thing Rutgers spends money on. For those of you interested, if I can get some German …

October 11, 2007 – 7:23 am | By ashok | Posted in education | Tagged | Comments (0)

Mass vs. Local Media: Which Defines Blogging?

Some people think that blogging allows for local news on an unprecedented scale: a local blogger can cover things live and on the scene, invite comments from those who were there or were affected by the event more immediately, and allow for reflection by a community empowered by information – it isn’t hard to put …

October 11, 2007 – 5:31 am | By ashok | Posted in blogging, media | Comments (2)

Was The Iranian President Speaking At Columbia A Good Thing? (Or: Against Free Speech Absolutism)

“Sure, Ahmadinejad is a Fascistic provocateur, and his line on Holocaust scholarship “that he’s only out to encourage intellectual freedom” is monstrously disingenuous. But celebrated bad guys visit New York and speak at American universities all the time. Iran is supplying weapons to men killing American troops in Iraq? In the seventies, when China and …

October 9, 2007 – 4:45 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (3)

Can Rutgers Be Saved?

After the disbanding of Rutgers 1000 – the end of formally organized resistance to “big-time” football and basketball programs at Rutgers – and Rutgers’ winning football season a year ago, one would have thought the controversy about commercialized athletics at Rutgers to be dead. Instead it has a vigor like it never had before, a …

October 8, 2007 – 11:28 am | By ashok | Posted in academia | Tagged | Comments (0)

Links, 10/7

Well, there’s a surprise. US military superiority is slipping in a key way. Yeah, I never liked loans much anyway, and this doesn’t surprise me in the least. Old news – the survey was released in April – but the %’s for those who know anything about the news at all are pathetic for the …

October 7, 2007 – 1:19 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)