Last week I saw a short video that demonstrated an amazing new fabric. Controlled by a small “smartphone” application, this fabric changes color. It is very expensive, so the only people who will have garments made from it are teenagers.
I watch Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote every year like people watch the Superbowl — snacks, celebratory anticipation, the works. The greatest ones over the years remain memorable long after, conveying master showmanship and a clarity of vision for technology that makes life better. Ironically, while introducing a device called Vision Pro, this year’s conference felt like an aimless stumble towards dystopia.
If you’re of a certain age, when you hear the phrase “the silent majority” you probably think of Richard Nixon. He used the phrase in the sense that while the loudest and weirdest voices make up the majority of the news broadcasts, they do not make up the majority of the people, who go quietly about their business, saving their opinions for when they matter.
We’ve gotten weird as each successive round of the Culture Wars seems further proof. In this week’s edition, we learn that mocking someone else’s religion is apparently inclusive while defending other people’s beliefs is far-right. Got that?
When I was a WOR Radio in the early 1980s everyone smiled when Bruce Eliot came into the newsroom to get a cup of our superior coffee. He was an amiable guy, always with a good joke.
I’m from St. Louis, so I have thoughts on baseball. It’s the duty of every St. Louisian. Some of those opinions have been on the rollercoaster of a St. Louis Cardinals team we have this year, which has been historically depressing until suddenly it became exciting a couple of weeks ago. Today, though, my thoughts are on the game itself.
It’s a little mortifying to learn that the Temptations’ hit song, “Ball of Confusion” was a hit 53 years ago. The worrying part is how long ago it was released. And how it came a half century too early.
The boys return to talk about the current St. Louis Cardinals situation, some disturbing denominational trends (including with the Southern Baptist Convention), upcoming presidential primaries and a return to the Gospel of John.
Tucker Carlson says he’s “back.” His three minute long Twitter video return is a tour de force argument on what’s terribly wrong in the media and the need for free speech. How desperately we need the whole truth and not just controlled bits of it. He’s right, but I’m hardly celebrating, because the setting is so ironic.