Author Archives: Travis

Echoing rather than informing

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Travis

Much more than a tribute to Daniel Pearl, the journalist murdered in Pakistan six years ago, this article offers profound commentary on journalism today and unscrupulous media’s complicity in fomenting terrorism—particular television: [Media] democratization has [also] led to vulgarization.  Competition … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Media Democratization, Technology, Terrorism | 2 Comments

Mottos and marketing madness now sum and substance of academia

Posted on January 20, 2008 by Travis

Suzanne Fields recently dissected the short shrift that top-tier academic institutions are now giving to their ostensible missions of higher education: The New Criterion, a journal trying to plant the “the groves of ignorance” on firmer soil, looks to the … Continue reading →

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American expectations – political and otherwise

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Travis

Bret Stephens writes today: “There is great virtue in the American way, which expects CEOs to perform on a quarterly basis, presidents and Congresses to reinvent politics in 100 days, generals to wipe out opponents in 100 hours without taking … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, Election, Terrorism | 3 Comments

History is full of men who would be gods…

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Travis

…but only One God who would be Man. In this season of giving, may we treasure the most amazing gift of grace we have ever received. Merry Christmas.

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And now for a brief lesson in debate

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Travis

Keith Burgess-Jackson of the University of Texas at Arlington concludes a brief clinic on reasoning and argumentation this way in a recent piece on the logic of torture: Nothing I have said implies that philosophers can’t argue. But notice what … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, General, Humility in Practice, Resources, War of Ideas | 1 Comment

Blue-gum trees, old bicycle parts, and the wind

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Travis

Read this fantastic story about how a young African man is making the most of what he has to change the world for his family and his country. It is remarkable and provoking how much he has accomplished with so … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, Technology | Leave a comment

Groundbreaking stem cell research reveals fundamental fault lines

Posted on December 9, 2007 by Travis

Researchers have recently reported a number of significant (“potentially Nobel-level“) advances in stem cell research. The most groundbreaking is evidence that pluripotent stem cells—the “master” cells, prized for their capability to produce all the body’s different kinds of cells and … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Technology, Worldview | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Is it really about English vs. Spanish?

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Travis

I almost skipped this WSJ article because of the political context provoking it. But it actually provides some helpful context to the oft-acrimonious English-only/anti-assimilation debate. The author references the “Americanization movement” a hundred years ago as analogous to the assimilation … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The god of Technology

Posted on March 10, 2007 by Travis

Neil Postman writes the following in The End of Education–as applicable today as it was when it was first written in 1966: [It is] far from asinine to speak of the god of Technology — in the sense that people … Continue reading →

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"Sounds of Silencing"

Posted on October 13, 2006 by Travis

Read this classic Peggy Noonan, on the bias and free-speech conundrum self-generated by too many on the left.  Let’s foster–not squelch–the battle of ideas.  Genuine Truth need not be forced down anyone’s throat to assure its truthfulness. 

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