Weekly News Wrap-Up
This week I look at a potpourri of stories that caught my eye and illuminate the craziness and wisdom of our evolving world.
Inability to communicate (01:53) Fox news religion reporter Lauren Green (amber altitude) and Jesus scholar Reza Aslan (orange / green altitude) talk past each other for ten minutes on live television.
Raise the minimum wage! (05:00) Is it worth paying a fast food CEO twice per day what a fast food worker makes per year? Economically yes, morally no. This is why the free market needs government counter forces like a livable minimum wage. Kudos to fastfoodforward.org on leading the one-day fastfood walkouts.
Iran’s new president (09:00) Hassan Rouhani’s first press conference reveals traditional goals to assert national pride, as well as modern goals to knit Iran into the international system.
Homophobia in Russia (13:36) The new law in Russia to prohibit “the propaganda of nontraditional relationships to minors” is not as bad as it has been portrayed (and would pass in any conservative US state if not for the 1st Amendment). It makes “the closet” official policy. But the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, which Russia hosts, will give more liberal visitors and athletes a chance to flout it. It promises to be a good show.
The Pandora virus (19:56) The discovery of a new life form, a mega-virus off the coast of Chile, continues to expand our definition of what life is. This news inspires me to leap to a big conclusion: the universe and every atom (and holon) in it is alive.
Introduction of the in-vitro hamburger (23:20) Technology (the lower right quadrant) often leads the way in the evolution of morality, just as industrialization helped end slavery in the nineteenth century. Perhaps test-tube meat, grown in a laboratory without animal suffering or greenhouse gas-passing, will help usher in a new age of more human animal treatment.
Report on the International Enneagram Conference (33:07) I had a great weekend with the folks from International Enneagram Association at their annual conference in Denver. One of the issues they were debating was, “Does our typology obscure our essence or is it an actual vehicle of our essence?” In true integral fashion I respond “both!”
Listen to an excerpt below. The full audio is premium content on integrallife.com.
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS
