Not much going on except philosophy, and I don't have anything I want to share as of yet on that front, but I did happen across a couple of interesting articles. This one from Slate argues that we should stop routinely calling firefighters "heroes", with which I agree. The point is reminiscent of the the classic Onion article entitled, "Man Loses Cowardly Battle with Cancer" or something. The use of honorifics in the media is absurd and unreflective, and I think it contributes to moral skepticism, i.e. what's a young person to conclude about ethics when the society around her uses moral language in a mawkish, cloying and ultimately cynical attempt to make up for the detachment between those who serve and those who are served?

Then there's this little interview with Noam Chomsky, from the NYT magazine, wherein he reveals that he's never thought of leaving the U.S., because "it's the best country in the world." I found this surprising, but I've never actually read his political writings, which I gather are not terribly interesting.

  ¶ 1:15 PM