Good character can be manufactured

Bryan D. Watson (USAF): A Look Down the Slippery Slope: Domestic Operations, Outsourcing, and the Erosion of Military Culture. From American Arts Quarterly, Robert Proctor on The Fine and the Liberal Arts: A Vision for the Future; and Frederick Turner on Abundance and the Human Imagination. From FT, a review of books on a divisive climate of disillusionment which is casting doubt on the future of the American Dream. From Against the Current, a review of Age Shock: How Finance is Failing Us by Robin Blackburn. From Air & Space, where the sun does shine: Will space solar power ever be practical? From Alternet, an interview with Dian Hanson, editor of The Big Penis Book, on art, censorship, and the mainstreaming of pornography. More on Marc Bousquet’s How the University Works. A review of Partial Faiths: Postsecular Fiction in the Age of Pynchon and Morrison by John McClure. From Colloquy, a special issue on utopia. Turning back the hands of time: An interview with Aubrey de Grey. A look at how fairness is wired in the brain. From Psychology Today, a sense of authenticity is one of our deepest psychological needs, and people are more hungry for it than ever — even so, being true to oneself is not for the faint of heart (and more and more). What shapes our character? The Victorian belief that good character can be manufactured is coming back into fashion.