Newsflash: Finland is Awesome!

Fellows,

Before Jordan steps in with his usual letter, I wanted to write a short note.

Earlier this year, when we first launched the site, we had a much smaller readership than we have now. And even though a lot of people weren’t paying attention, we did have some of our best articles. I want to encourage those of you who are new to Burnside to check out the Social Justice archives (well, ALL the archives, for that matter), and particularly the profile of Gerard Straub. Straub is an incredibly inspiring man, and everyone who cares about social justice should know about him. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Penny Carothers
BWC Social Justice Editor

BWC Patrons,

Welcome back, or welcome for the first time.

Things are going well here at the Collective. Our last issue of BWC blew past previous visitor records, largely due to Chad Gibbs’ article “Mi Space, Su Space”. If you haven’t read this piece, check it out, and then make MySpace friends with Chad.

The verdict is in, and The Economist agrees: Finland is awesome. I’ve long been a Finn-ophile, rooting for Finnish hockey players like Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne, reading up on Finnish history (with special emphasis on the fascinating Winter War) and I even made a Finnish-American friend. His name is Brad Hakala.

With the best education system in the world, a booming tech-based economy and Scandinavian ideals toward foreign assistance, I’ve had a sneaking suspicion Finland might be a rising star on the world stage, a nation to look up to. I think even the U.S. could learn a thing or two. It was nice to be vindicated by such an outstanding magazine.

Another reason Finland is awesome is their President looks just like Conan O’Brien.

This site is based solely on open submissions. While many of our writers send us repeat articles, I want to remind readers: we depend on your writings.

Not everything works, of course. If you’re considering submitting, your best bet is to read the articles we’ve already published for a sense of what we look for. If you want to review an album or book or feel you have an essay ready for posting, send it to reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com.

Along those lines, we were ecstatic this week to hear Bob Ham, one of our regular contributors, was offered some work at The Oregonian based in part on the reviews he has written here. Bob is an extremely talented writer, and it made us proud to have been a part of furthering his career. You can read some of Bob’s reviews here and here.

We have a fanstatic issue for you. Seriously. Plenty to look at this time around.

Chad Gibbs returns with an article on cloning. Brent Bourgeois has some tough words for the church, but he is right on. In a rare BWC film review, Stephanie Nikolopolous reviews A Scanner Darkly. I list some of my favorite music videos. John Pattison passionately discusses The Tango Singer. Emery Clark offers some thoughts on motherhood. Just some quality work from everyone involved. It’s a veritable All-Star issue for us…the only guy missing is Donald Miller, who has been super-busy with his latest book. He’ll be getting some stuff to us soon.

In our Social Justice section, Penny has outdone herself yet again. Her article on the Israeli-Lebanese conflict is outstanding…I think it’s the best piece she’s ever written: thought-provoking, blistering, painstakingly researched and brilliant. Our comment boards for her article are open, and we want to hear your feedback. If you read one article on this site, make it Penny’s. You won’t regret it.

Also, our Letter to the Editor section explains some of what has been happening with The Ankeny Briefcase, so if you’re interested in that side of our house, if you were wondering if it would ever happen, we’ve got some overdue answers for you.

I want to mention again that audio files of Donald Miller’s talks are now available at our store. You can also see a sneak preview of the bumperstickers we’ll be offering at that site, thanks to a killer photo taken by David Allen. (Happy Birthday, Dave!) None of the money from our store goes to Donald…it helps support the myriad of projects we’re working on, including this site and The Belmont Foundation.

One more thing: The Dallas Morning News ran an article on Don Miller the other day. The highlight, in my eyes, are quotes from the lovable Mark Coppenger. What a guy!

Thank you so much for reading, everyone, and thanks for the comments and support we receive every day. We hope you enjoy this edition.

Sincerely,
Jordan Green
BWC