PechaKucha: 20 slides x 20 seconds = 8 cool people Want to learn something tonight, and fast? At 6:30 p.m., the Architecture Foundation San Antonio will host PechaKuchaNight Volume XI (more people should use Roman numerals, you know). Eight cool, creative people will show 20 slides, each for 20 seconds. It’s fast, it’s fun, it’s informative. And did I mention it’s fast? That is the main thing, for anyone who has suffered through long PowerPoint presentations. Tonight’s presentations are from artist Nate Cassie, artist and chili queen Ana Fernandez, architect Irby Hightower, design and marketing strategist Beverly Ingle, butterfly evangelist Monika Maeckle, writer Ryan Newberry, artiz Cruz Ortiz and rancher Linda Perez. There’s a $5 donation to get in. Happy hour starts at 6:30 p.m. ... Continue reading →

Simpson Kalisher Syracuse, New York, 1971; detail of a photograph by Simpson Kalisher from his recent book The Alienated Photographer. It is published by Two Penny Press, with an introduction by Luc Sante. In his Pulitzer Prize–winning book, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, Richard Hofstadter characterized writing on education in the United States asa literature of acid criticism and bitter complaint…. The educational jeremiad is as much a feature of our literature as the jeremiad in the Puritan sermons. Anyone longing for the “good old days,” he noted, would have difficulty finding a time when critics were not lamenting the quality of the public schools. From the 1820s to our own time, reformers have complained about low standards, ignorant teachers, and incompetent school boards. Most recently, ... Continue reading →

In December of 2007, amid the low-grade fever of anti-Mormonism that had burdened his Presidential campaign since its inception, Mitt Romney delivered a speech at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library titled “Faith in Politics.” Peppered with democratic niceties (“Freedom and religion endure together or perish alone,” and “During the holiday season nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places”) the speech was memorable largely for how forgettable it was. Four months later, in the midst of his own faith-based campaign crisis, Barack Obama delivered a speech in Philadelphia titled “A More Perfect Union.” Offhandedly referred to as “the race speech,” it was also a lucid, even profound meditation on the role of religion in our national politics. Obama’s speech was ... Continue reading →

Getty ImagesCould this woman be a jerk just because she buys organic?Are these strawberries organic? Is this omelet made with free-range eggs? Can you swap out the rice for quinoa? Is this kale locally sourced? Pesticide-free? Fair trade? Are the hazelnuts local? The onslaught of questions from an enlightened eater can test the patience of even the calmest restaurant server. And a new study shows organic foodies’ humane regard for the well-being of animals makes some rather snobbish. The report, published last week in the Journal of Social Psychological & Personality Science, notes that exposure to organic foods can “harshen moral judgments.” Which to us sounds like a nice way of saying that organic food seekers are arrogant. But that seems rather paradoxical to us: ... Continue reading →

The Centers for Disease Control have released findings of a nearly 10-year study that showed 50 to 60 percent of overweight and obese teens have one or more risk factors for heart disease. Continue reading →

I apologize for the incredibly late posting today. I’m fostering a pug and he demands all of my attention. You can imagine the scene in my house when I found him laying in my preferred afternoon nap spot. I immediately called Pug Rescue and told them to come pick the little asshole up. If any of you are interested, I will drop him off at your house along with the couch cushion that he spit up on and ruined. Today the University of Notre Dame joined other Catholic institutions in suing the administration over its contraception mandate. Thank God. Someone had to step up since Jesus is obviously more worried about feeding the poor and healing the sick. The Notre Dame lawsuit, also filed by ... Continue reading →

The following editorial appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post: According to Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., it is “intrusive,” “an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars,” “unconstitutional,” and “the very picture of what's wrong in D.C.” What manner of predatory government prompted Webster — supported by nearly all House Republicans — to issue such categorical condemnation? That intolerable federal boondoggle known as ... the American Community Survey (ACS). If you are confused, you are not alone. Every year, the Census Bureau asks 3 million American households to answer questions on age, race, housing and health to produce timely information about localities, states and the country at large. This arrangement began as a bipartisan improvement on the decennial census. Yet last week the Republican-led House voted to kill the ... Continue reading →