http://blog.joshallan.com amplify the divine poetry Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:32:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Photo by djwhelan. Essay by Bob Lefsetz: July 3, 2008 They said life would never be the same after 9/11. But somehow it was. Sure, the government kept telling us to be aware of terrorist attacks, but despite some anthrax being mailed around in the weeks after the Twin Towers fell, nothing ever ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/07/22/the-end-of-the-innocence/ While I Swim at Home, Our Combatants Fight On by Ben Stein (from NewsMax Magazine June 2008, Pg. 34) THERE IS A MAGNIFICENT SCENE IN BLADE RUNNER, MY FAVORITE postwar movie, in which Rutger Hauer, who plays a replicant, a human-looking robot, prepares to die. He tells his possibly human pursuer, Harrison ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/07/21/ben-stein-on-the-military/ Hey everyone! Thanks for hangin' with me while I tried out a new blog delivery service, Feedblitz. As of this posting, though, I'm going to ask you for permission to continue sending you emails (read: this is the last one you'll receive, unless you subscribe). I have no intention of keeping you ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/07/15/feedblitzn/ When in a position of leadership, how much does a leader's lack of faith in a subordinate actually create their downfall? Is there some kind of derivative of a self-fulfilling prophecy that happens here? Or, to put it another way, will I, as a leader, only ever get as much ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/07/02/lite-brites-sisyphus-and-expecting-the-best/ By Tim Ferriss (excerpt from The 4-Hour Work Week) I had to bribe them. What other choice did I have? My lecture at Princeton had just ended with smiles and enthusiastic questions. At the same time, I knew that most students would go out and promptly do the opposite of what I preached. ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/27/why-unrealistic-goals-are-easier/ When did the American political process become a popularity contest? I realize that the phrase "popularity contest" is fairly cliché at this point, so, along with me, let's try to think about what it actually means. Remember high school? Remember the endless posturing for attention? The constant feeling of never being quite ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/17/a-presidential-campaign-fit-for-a-prom-king/ Absolutely brilliant. I think you get my point. // http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/16/the-roofs-not-leaking/ It's not really a big secret that I had a pretty hard time with LA when we first moved here, over two years ago. Now that I'm older and obviously so much wiser (well, older at least... 27 on Thursday! Eek.) I know there's good and bad in pretty much ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/10/adventures-in-hollywoodland/ Nothing incredibly long or insightful today, but I thought I'd share a couple things. I came across an article yesterday that actually gave me some hope amidst our current energy crisis/meltdown and wanted to share it: IT'S SOLAR POWER'S TIME TO SHINE by Jon Markman Sounds great to me! Here's hoping some short-sighted idiot ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/06/sunshine-juice/ It's easy to discount all the things that are happening behind the scenes. In our entertainment-based culture, we tend to only respect the final, glowing, sparkling, gleaming product, free from all blemishes and glitches. We airbrush our photos, we put 7 second time-delays on our "live" radio and television feeds, ... http://blog.joshallan.com/2008/06/03/tipping-behind-the-scenes/