Steve Ersinghaus

My thoughts on borders come from my experience growing up in the US/Mexico region. The facts are that neither Ciudad Juarez nor El Paso could flourish without each other; they’re linked territory where the idea of “country” and “state” has always been blurred. This doesn’t mean that people aren’t aware of difference, boundary, and [...]

The title of this writing is the alternative title of the recent FISA update, which redraws the terms of surveillance to fit the needs of the curent “administration.” Definitions, rather than logic, form the bricks of rhetoric. Logic isn’t necessarily required to convince a reader or listener that an action is or is not sound, [...]

It seems to me that a meeting like this could happen any time. We should also call a meeting everyday about the likelihood of being creamed by a galaxy within the next 10 billion years or so, or a meteor for that matter. My gut tells me this is going to happen.
Hypothetically, you could gather [...]

I found these two strange articles in the paper and had a sense that certain words were repeated, either for emphasis or because of the nature and contexts of the subjects. I decided to use Daniel Steinbock’s TagCrowd application to test what I sensed from the reading. Here’s a link to the article on [...]

Joshua at Thoughts from Kansas writes a little about Drew Ryan’s comment on the Mormon religion. (follow links back at the original)
Drew Ryun, Jim Ryun’s baby boy and former Evangelical Outreach director for the RNC, thinks Mormonism is weird. He defends that claim by encouraging people bothered by that statement to read up on Mormon [...]

Well placed and well put by Susan Gibb.

One of the problems with this commentary by Leslie Wolfgang is that it insults fathers. Another problem with it is that it misinterprets the state’s influence on the lives of people “in specific.”
Let’s first start with the strawman:
But now that I have children and realize the importance of Daddy in the lives of families, [...]

Jesse Ives adds to a post with this comment
The “Game” of life is a serious one, and goals can be important. Of course that’s one of the problems people are facing; a lack of goals. I’m guilty of it myself, but that’s neither here nor there. If a person chooses a path often they can’t [...]

Matthew Polly is kind enough to leave a note on this post. He is the author of American Shaolin.
I’ve always been a fan of the literature of the hero’s journey and Mr. Polly’s book falls into this category. But it reminds me of a conversation I had a few weeks back with my fiction [...]

From Reuters
Students in England could be banned from wearing full-face Muslim veils for security or educational reasons under government guidelines to be published on Tuesday, officials said.
The guidance paper from the Department for Education and Skills (DFES) would leave it up to individual head teachers to decide what pupils should and should not be allowed [...]

Matthew Polly’s American Shaolin is thus far filled with wonderful conversation. Polly has spoken with a Beijing cabdriver and a Zheng Zhou key girl named Moon. The talk is very similar which, in many ways, diversifies and develops the narrative. The dialogue is planted with irony.
“What country are you from?”
“America.”
“America is a great country. Very [...]

Katharine Nowakowski has a weblog up where she will examine Shakespeare and other literature round the clock.
Follow the link here or in the sidebar.
In addition, and present tensely, I’m watching a little television and see a fairly inane commercial for community service. The music is deep and aptly profound and the enjoining famous people appear [...]

The lastest on weblogging from Colin McEnro in the Hartford Courant makes this often made case
. . . the blogosphere does not merely resemble the American frontier. It is the frontier. The blogosphere is Deadwood, where you earn your rep by what you can do, not by your class and family connections that mattered so [...]

Why the Department of Homeland Security is a bad idea. Do we want reason or not?

Chats
Had a nice chat with Spazeboy about weblogging, the recent elections in CT, and new media and look forward to his participation in the Perspectives course in the spring. He’s a nice guy and will add interesting perspective to the business of things. Tonight we discussed the future of new media, which is a major [...]