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Thorstein Veblen, Economist and Social Commentator, who contributed to the common tongue the phrase conspicuous consumption.

Who was Thorstein Veblen--and why should anyone care?

I should like him for his writing style alone:

The appreciation of those evidences of honorific crudeness to which hand-wrought goods owe their superior worth and charm in the eyes of well-bred people is a matter of nice discrimination. It requires training and the formation of right habits of thought with respect to what may be called the physiognomy of goods. Machine-made goods of daily use are often admired and preferred precisely on account of their excessive perfection by the vulgar and the underbred who have not given due thought to the punctilios of elegant consumption. The ceremonial inferiority of machine products goes to show that the perfection of skill and workmanship embodied in any costly innovations in the finish of goods is not sufficient of itself to secure them acceptance and permanent favor. The innovation must have the support of the canon of conspicuous waste. Any feature in the physiognomy of goods, however pleasing in itself, and however well it may approve itself to the taste for effective work, will not be tolerated if it proves obnoxious to this norm of pecuniary reputability.

From Chapter Six - Pecuniary Canons of Taste of the work entire, The Theory of The Leisure Class. Feel free to consume conspicuously.
posted by y2karl at 11:27 PM PST - 7 comments

Stop making excuses for Muslim Extremists Still licking my mefi wounds that I received last week when I posted a NY Times article discussing the recent rise of crime in France, in which the author states that a recent immigrant was murdered solely for his North African heritage, and also reports that the mayor of Paris was also attacked in the same week - yet the author does not bother to mention that the attacker was a Muslim who 'didn't like homosexuals'. Has anyone else noticed how the media is downplaying the role of Muslim extremism since 911 ?
posted by Kaslo at 10:52 PM PST - 68 comments

What do you think of when I say United States? Probably not this.
posted by humbe at 10:08 PM PST - 62 comments

Lofoten Photogalerie - armchair travel through this breathtaking gallery of photos from Norwegian Islands located within the Arctic Circle. The region offers awesome vistas in every season. Links courtesy of Mefioso Kogiak who has an interesting story on his site about how he found this gem.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:52 PM PST - 18 comments

Hunting for a wife? I want a foreign one, please. With nice Christian values. Can you make that happen?
posted by dopamine at 9:32 PM PST - 18 comments

France surrenders
posted by damn yankee at 7:58 PM PST - 14 comments

The Vatican vs. the laity - NPR's All Things Considered had a report today about Catholic laity groups pushing for more say in how the Church is run, especially in light of the scandals of the past year. The Vatican claims that giving too much power to laypersons, which make up 99% of the body of the Church, is in violation of Canon law. Laity groups claim that when there are laypersons serving in administrative bodies, they are mere rubberstamps appointed by the bishops. Can the church be more responsive to the its membership without unmaking its fundamentally hierarchical character? (The audio stream may not be available yet, but when it is you'll need RealAudio, Windows Media, or Quicktime to hear it.)
posted by RylandDotNet at 5:02 PM PST - 17 comments

Inarguably, I think, using contact lenses solely to change the way you look (for halloween, perhaps) is a wonders-of-technology experience, one that reached critical mass some time ago. There have been cases of permanent injury, though, and the NY Times reports that the F.D.A. is cracking down. How great is the risk, and can it be mitigated? (Other than, you know, by actaully getting them via perscription.)
posted by Tlogmer at 4:42 PM PST - 21 comments

Recently, the armed forces announced that it would seek the approval of congress to begin recruiting non-citizens, specifically arabs, into the special forces. Seems reasonable enough, we all know the army is lacking native Arab speakers. Meanwhile, the Federal government is firing every non-citizen from their job as airport bag checkers (1200 in San Francisco alone - mostly Filipino). An interesting paradox in our war against terrorism? An unfortunate cost to enure security? A cruel injustice to working men and women? Who could do more damage, a Delta Force member, armed to the teeth and trained to kill acting as forward observer for air and artillery strikes? Or the guy checking your shaving kit?
posted by pejamo at 2:29 PM PST - 20 comments

The scariest costumes this year represent those that crushed the dreams of many, bilked millions from strangers, and got away. Psycho Killers? Crazed Snipers? No, Forbes gives you: CEO Halloween masks. I know the kids will love going as Martha. It's a good thing.
posted by mathowie at 2:07 PM PST - 14 comments

ATTENTION: brothers and sisters. Does the thought of your siblings naked send a shiver up your spine? Well, according to psychologists and people who study adoption, siblings and other close kin who reunite after being separated at birth often experience 'Genetic Sexual Attraction', a potent and embarrassing lust for the estranged relative. You may have heard that 'opposites attract', but scientists have long known that people are, as a basic rule, attracted to physically similar people. Now let the chorus of 'ewww' commence...
posted by dgaicun at 2:03 PM PST - 42 comments

Each year in the US, nearly two and a half million high school seniors enroll in college. Nearly one million do not. They are overwhelmingly poor, rural, and white. The Washington Post has profiled one such young man.
posted by ewagoner at 1:37 PM PST - 28 comments

The Quest for the Three Year Sandwich "This bad boy will last a minimum of three years at 80 degrees, six months at 100 degrees. They will travel to the swampiest swamp, the highest mountain, the most arid desert." Great. So glad my tax dollars are getting put to good use. If they want prepackaged food that's been around for ages, there's a corner store near my house that can fix them right up. Is this sort of thing really needed?
posted by slackdog at 1:11 PM PST - 22 comments

Religion! What Is It Good For? Absolutely nothing? Perhaps not. Michael Prowse, a lifelong atheist (and Financial Times columnist even!) had this to say in an article for Prospect:
"Having accepted that meanings are always contestable, I have found myself more able to focus on what religious people do, and less on what they say. Are they "better" people than the irreligious? Of course not. Are they better people than they would be were they not religious? Probably, and this is what counts for me.".
Meanwhile, another atheist, Jared Diamond, writing (brilliantly, as the author of Guns, Germs and Steel always does) in the current New York Review of Books, addresses religion in a (let us say) more scientific way and, though more sceptical, leaves a similar question mark hanging. So, in a nutshell: can there be something in (or about) religion for atheists too?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:32 PM PST - 142 comments

For this installment of Oissubke's trip around the world, I bring you not tourism, not language, not culture, for this location is fascinating simply by virtue of its bold architecture. The buildings here are not quite New York, but not quite Las Vegas either. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dubai.
posted by oissubke at 10:48 AM PST - 20 comments

ICQ Snobs, Sorry: You now must communicate with the AIM Hoy Paloy. Another defeat for Cyber-Elitism!
posted by ParisParamus at 10:47 AM PST - 78 comments

"Hitler must have committed suicide after he found a skinny Jewish kid from Brooklyn stomped on his top hat." The story of a Jewish G.I. that stole a tophat from Hitler's Munich apartment is the latest documentary vehicle by noted independent filmmaker, Jeff Krulik. Famous for "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", Krulik will be viewing "Hitler's Hat" at the MOMA in December. You can read current interviews with the artist here and here, or view his movies in quicktime and realplayer format here. Unfamiliar with his work? Start with these two shorts.
posted by machaus at 10:45 AM PST - 5 comments

RealNetworks opens up. RealNetworks today launched the Helix Community which provides the source code to its RealPlayer client (the server and encoding components are coming later). This will present the first end-to-end open source media delivery system- Apple has open sourced its streaming server, but not its clients or codecs; Microsoft's Windows Media platform is totally closed. Marketing ploy or real step forward for the software industry?
posted by mkultra at 10:36 AM PST - 22 comments

Family Asks Cheney Not To Attend Wellstone Service. "Upset by Republican activities", the Wellstone family has uninvited Cheney to Sen. Wellstone's funeral. This article suggests that it's as much an issue of the awkwardness of Cheney being at what might amount to a Democrat rally, as it is about the family not wanting him there.
posted by badstone at 10:28 AM PST - 62 comments

In college, I had an Turkish Electrical Engineering professor who used to open every class period with a story about Hoja (or Hoca, spelled the Turkish way), the bumbling yet clever 'folk philosopher'. He is known throughout the middle east also as Mulla Nasrudin and people from Azerbaijan to North Africa claim him as their own. Here are a few collections of stories about this 'comic sage': The definitive Hoja resource, a geocities site, Turkish Trickster, This reminds me of a story..., turkish humor. Enjoy!
posted by jnthnjng at 8:28 AM PST - 5 comments

With all due respect to the Classic Scary Movies discussed below, nothing says "Halloween" like Cheese! From the marketing schtick of William Castle to the liberal use of gore by George Romero, horror movie directors have done their best to give us their worst. As a child I was scarred for life so that to this day I cannot look at mist-covered snow-capped mountains without thinking of The Crawling Eye. Anybody else want to confess to having the poop scared out of them by movie crap?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:08 AM PST - 84 comments

What is Bagotronics? "At Bagotronics we are IN business FOR business. Our scientists, engineers and designers work to develop the innovations that fuel the e-business engine that drives America's economy."

Entertained by an (unfortunately not reproduced on the website) full page ad in the SJ Mercury News, promising a time machine and including an apology to old H.G., I wondered what was up. The ads, the website, all say to stay tuned until Thursday for details, but I'm not really that patient. But quick searches of MeFi, /., and Google turned up nothing, so I swerved over to my favorite lookup service and found that this is simply an advertising comeon, with the site owned by humongous advertising agency Ogilvy & Mathers.
posted by billsaysthis at 8:06 AM PST - 9 comments

Which is more scary: that this girl is 20 stone at the age of 11 or that the reporter thinks her friends are an ideal weight at 1/4 of her weight? Take her to 5 stone and a BMI of 11 would put her well below the anorexia threshold BMI of 16.

But would her friends accept they could have a problem? Probably not. What causes Anorexia? Strep? Genetics? Models? Something else?
posted by twine42 at 7:46 AM PST - 29 comments

War of the Worlds (this is not about Bush) Don't own a television? Want an alternative? Live performance, live orchestra, no net. October 30, 2002 8-9 PM Eastern. Glenn Beck recreates Orson Welles chilling performance that captivated a nation along with full orchestrations and foley effects. this is a radio broadcast
posted by RunsWithBandageScissors at 7:39 AM PST - 6 comments

Are Ernie and Bert gay? What is Gonzo? Find out the answers (question 19 and 10, respectively) and more at the Muppet FAQ. Read the profiles of your favorite Muppets like Zoot or Animal. Or maybe you'd be interested in one of the Henson feature creatures and its background. Read about it. Explore the fascinating world of Jim Henson and muppets in general.
posted by ashbury at 7:28 AM PST - 14 comments

Rumplestiltskin gets torn in half, Cinderella's stepsisters get their eyes pecked out, and Snow White's stepmother dances in red hot iron shoes until she dies from exhaustion. These are the original endings to the non-sweetened, and sometimes unsavory, fairy tales collected or written by by reclusive librarians Jacob and Wilhelm, better know as The Brothers Grimm. Their first book, Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Childrens' and Household Tales) was published in 1812. Several more books, mostly of folk tales collected from willing relatives and friends, followed, some containing bizarre and disturbing stories with less than happy endings. As the National Geographic Grimm site puts it, "Looking for a sweet, soothing tale to waft you toward dreamland? Look somewhere else. The stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s serve up life as generations of central Europeans knew it—capricious and often cruel." Check out the strange 1960 Mp3s and RealAudio files of some Grimm tales.
posted by iconomy at 6:42 AM PST - 26 comments

The first trans-Atlantic handshake will be attempted today via the Internet. Apparently, this day could one day rival the significance of March 10, 1876. And of course, we all know where this is headed.
posted by Fofer at 6:19 AM PST - 19 comments

Linking to hate. Do links to hate-filled websites help to promote hatred or do they help to combat hate by exposing these sites to broader scrutiny? How does Google fit into the picture? (No direct links to hate groups)
posted by joemaller at 6:05 AM PST - 13 comments

"Sometimes I question the wisdom of continuing on in a profession that is under siege and under valued. I am aging, I am tired and some days I don’t know how I can continue to teach the newest and brightest of our profession." Part of an essay written last year by Cheryl McGaffic, one of the nursing professors killed by a disgruntled student at the University of Arizona yesterday.
posted by rcade at 6:02 AM PST - 13 comments

"Cops of the World": remembering Phil Ochs -------------------------------------------- Ochs lyrics: “We're hairy and horny and ready to shack. We don't care if you're yellow or black. Just take off your clothes and lie down on your back.'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys. We're the Cops of the World.”------------ LISTEN to his songs (realplayer/quicktime) Amidst the unilateralist talk of invading Iraq, and the (mostly media ignored) “biggest anti-war protests since the Vietnam War” [quote-Wash.Post,Oct. 27] last saturday, I thought of Phil Ochs......some of his songs [see Ochs lyrics index] haven't aged well, but some are still as searingly acidic as the day he wrote them, as above or in ”Love me, I’m a liberal”:“Once I was young and impulsive, I wore every conceivable pin...But I've grown older and wiser, and that's why I'm turning you in. So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal.” ------- Phil Ochs ------- (born 1940, suicide 1976)
posted by troutfishing at 5:42 AM PST - 22 comments

A speculative bubble is created when objectivity, reasoning, and valuation give way to greed and an insatiable desire for profits. On this date in history... October 29, 1929: The date of the stock market crash that marked the start of the Great Depression in the United States. Could it have been averted by the reading of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay?
posted by puddsharp at 2:08 AM PST - 21 comments

The Owl House. The Owl House and the Camel Yard were home to the reclusive South African artist Helen Martins. A place of archetypal, almost mythic outsider art, Miss Helen transformed her home with the help of her collaborator Koos Malgas.
' That simple decision, to embellish her environment, was to grow into an obsessive urge to express her deepest feelings, her dreams and her desires. ' Here are some pictures.
posted by plep at 1:10 AM PST - 5 comments