The Right Thing to Do? The "Ground Zero Mosque"

Given the interest that the topic of the “Ground Zero Mosque” has sparked on the blog, I figured it was time for me to finally write about it, rather than just responding to comments. But it’s harder for me than usual to find the two sides to this debate equally worth discussing. As I note …

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An update: More technology on vacation

To pick up on a common theme, I’ve blogged several times before about the role of technology on vacation. I had mentioned in my previous post that I was curious to see how MyTracks might change the way we hiked through the national parks. And on the couple of hikes that we did use the …

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Reshaping 2012: Will the election really be different?

Everyone remembers the 2008 election. But although the election of President Barack Obama was undoubtedly a historic moment in U.S. history, the primary campaign may be just as memorable. For the first time in recent memory, the primary campaign, at least for the Democratic nomination, lasted nearly to the conventions. While I found the contest …

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Journalists' role: Taking the amusement out of news

For anyone who’s been a J201 TA, this comic (thanks to Hans for sending me this link) speaks to what we spend the first few weeks of the course discussing – and what our students write their first paper on (or at least they did when I taught the class). I really enjoyed the distilling …

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MTV leads the way

It’s unusual for MTV to get praise for its television programming. But while other outlets and channels are getting criticized for their lack of positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters, MTV has received the first-ever “Excellent” rating for their programming from GLAAD, or the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. And the primary source …

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