Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Be The Change II (03:49 PM) - In this post, I reported and commented on the rule enshrined in a proposed overhaul to Dartmouth’s alumni constitution that certain groups—black, Native American, Asian, Latino, and gay—would have extra representatives in the alumni assembly. I took several tacks, notably…
As Long As We’re Talking Literature… (10:07 AM) - It is time once again for the Guardian’s ‘Bad Sex Writing’ awards, in which Britons tell us which of recent literature’s carnal passages is worst. Last year, the judges having failed to understand the writing, Tom Wolfe won. He declined…
Grace Go With You, Sir (08:39 AM) - The home page at Dartmouth.edu today honors Professor Peter Saccio, a wonderful Shakespearian whose final class I am sitting in. There is also a nice retrospective by Laurel Stavis. Saccio added much to his field and more to Dartmouth. He’ll…
Moveon.org Doesn’t Recognize U.S. Soldiers (06:31 AM) - Volumes could be written on why MoveOn’s latest television spot is indecent and base, but is there any need to pay attention to them, when their advertisement takes video of ‘sad on Thanksgiving’ British soldiers and passes them off as…
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
A New Biography Roils The Conventional Wisdom (07:07 PM) - There is something elementally wrong with the phrase ‘Debunk Mao.’ You can debunk pyramid schemes or 1-800-FAST-CASH advertisements on television. You can debunk whatever is in People magazine, or you can debunk some dubious article in a scholarly journal. But…
No One Cares About International Law (11:35 AM) - I am thinking about starting a blog series called, if you haven’t already divined it, “No One Cares About International Law.” The only exception that I know of is, temporarily, myself, because I’ve a test on it in a few…
Blogging Update (08:14 AM) - Finals day (Yes, I have them all on the same day.) fast approaches here in hiemal Hanover, and much too much of my time has been given over to the understanding of not-very-understandable United Nations legal corpora, the analysis of…
Monday, November 28, 2005
The Politics of Merrie Melodies (11:22 AM) - She may have served honorably on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that to some deserved acclaim, but by the admission of virtually all mankind—including those sympathetic to her sundry causes—Whoopi Goldberg is not a funny person….
Seasonal Photography (06:37 AM) - Rick Lee, per usual, has some wonderful images up, with this week’s running theme being Christmas trinkets….
Unify Korea? (06:32 AM) - Dartmouth government professor David Kang writes in today’s Washington Post that, instead of a headstrong stance toward Kim Jong-il and his loony tune government, the United States should be pushing for re-unification of North and South Korea. Why that wouldn’t…
First Hussein, Now al-Bashir (06:19 AM) - The good folks over at Davids Medienkritik are doing what they do best: exposing double standards in the media. This time they are tackling the German government’s dealings with the deadly Sudanese government; dealings which evidently include Berlin-sponsored pavilions at…
Is This Really Going To Help Anyone? (06:15 AM) - Flyer found in New York:…
Sunday, November 27, 2005
When a Linux user buys a Macintosh Computer (01:05 PM) - In the world of technology, there are two flavors of computer users. There are those who consider Apple computers to be the playthings of the toddler down the street and the screenwriter/Starbucks barista. And there are those who are certain…
Saturday, November 26, 2005
I Don’t Get This ‘Organic Food’ Craze, and I Have Occasionally Been Called ‘Closed Minded’ For That (02:57 PM) - That isn’t true, because I just ate two organic apples. And from an outdoor farmer’s market circa New York University, no less. Actually, that isn’t entirely honest. I ate two organic apples from an outdoor farmer’s market circa New York…
Friday, November 25, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving (05:21 PM) - Well, I have made it to Manhattan for Thanksgiving. At—horrors!—a restaurant. Posting will be light, as I have many dinners, trips to friends, and a radio shift over the next few days. But Happy Thanksgiving to all. And thank you…
Every Once In A While, You Have To… (06:11 AM) - A letter to the editor at USA Today: “Why hasn’t this country been attacked since 9/11? Think about it: It has been four years.”…
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Short Manhattan Story (10:05 PM) - I was at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my parents this morning. After a bit we parted ways so that I could get a train to visit my friend elsewhere in the city. Wading through the throngs of thousands,…
The Difference Between Religion and Science (09:12 PM) - The Catholic church brass recently elected to ban homosexual priests. Paul at Right Side of the Rainbow makes sense on the issue. Asking himself if the church can survive without such priests, he writes:I’m not a Catholic; it’s not for…
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (09:01 PM) - Strange film. Thought you might like to know….
John Kerry Serves on Jury; No Decision Reached (06:11 PM) - It is, perhaps, cruel and unusual to slight the also-ran from Boston. At the same time, it appears to be a nearly-universal rule that anyone famous who serves on a jury instantly enters the mockable realm, should any judicial hilarity…
Bolting Against Terrorism and its Excusers (09:34 AM) - There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about President Bush admitting mistakes. Perhaps Democrats ought to lead by example—they advocate the same for ‘democracy’, after all—and admit that they were woefully wrong on John Bolton,…
Civilizations, Unite! (08:55 AM) - Kofi Annan and his United Nations have proposed something ostensibly new but which sounds curiously like every other thing the United Nations has tried to do over the past sixty years: the “Alliance of Civilizations.” Sounds like an eye-roller. But…
Time To Consume The Donuts (07:58 AM) - There is good old fuddy duddyism and there’s bad. As much as I love the English language, it must always evolve. I think the spelling ‘doughnut’, which is beloved by fogies and unknown to younger generations, has run its course….
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
They Don’t Fear The ‘Collective Security’ Whip (05:43 AM) - I hope Jeff Harrell never works in a White House communications office, because he is far too honest. Jeff relays the comic-seeming but in point of fact horrifyingly-sober pronouncement of Pascal Riche, French journo. Riche’s enlightened incredulity: “I’m surprised that…
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Mirror: BUSH PLOT TO BOMB HIS ARAB ALLY (10:03 PM) - The Daily Mirror in the United Kingdom, citing another top-secret Downing Street Memo, reports that President Bush—evidently now a front-line strategist—was ‘plotting’ to bomb an ally. That ally: al Jazeera television….
The Swiss Army Knife Blog Post (12:20 PM) - It was a computer bug. They’re checking DNA. But he’s still firm. And indicted. It hasn’t Blue Screened yet. Though they do want it dropped. Because it was just a dumb idea. They aren’t actually feminists. They are Pajamas. And…
Michael Yon and the Kids (01:06 AM) - Children in Iraq have something to be thankful for, as Michael Yon shows us….
Monday, November 21, 2005
In A World Beyond Imagination (11:40 PM) - The five most famous voices in the English language… in one car. The first fellow you’ll see in the video is the inimitable Don LaFontaine, copy writer-cum-voice of God, and inventor of the trailer world’s best three words: In a…
GOOD NIGHT, GOOD LUCK, GOOD GRIEF (11:21 PM) - Peter Robinson sees the latest McCarthy dredging and comes away unimpressed….
More on the 2006 Rhodes Scholars (09:49 PM) - The New York Sun’s Jacob Gershman reports: “Rhodes Scholars Named, None From Harvard.” Jacob tell us that it was only the second crimsonless coterie in seventy-six years, and that the big winner this year was the United States Naval Academy,…
Never Question The Flag (09:44 PM) - Distribution of a student publication at Stetson University has been halted and recalled because the editors placed a question mark over a photo of the rainbow gay pride flag. The puncuation mark has reportedly been declared ‘hate speech.’…
New York Times Takes A [Front] Page From Left-Wing (11:19 AM) - This Chinese door incident just baffles. No, not that President Bush picked the wrong door while in Beijing yesterday afternoon; compare the leviathan, red-leathered, futuristic, monolithic walldoor (complete with one-ton gold lionhead doorknob in the center) to the comparatively modest…
Is There A Double Standard? (07:59 AM) - Submitted for your consideration. A Contra Costa County public school was educating seventh-graders about Christianity, not indoctrinating them, in role-playing sessions in which students used Biblical names and recited language from prayers, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The Ninth…
Abortion Presumed; Don’t Tell Father (07:37 AM) - In an article titled, “Few choose parenthood as undergrads,” The Dartmouth leads by saying that the piece is the first in a two-part series on “students who continue their pregnancies.” Those foolish continuers of pregnancies. The article relates the story…
College Philanthropy Run Amok (06:23 AM) - I was until recently under the mistaken impression that most big-time collegiate donors crafted binding stipulatory agreements as to how the target institution could use their money. Mostly, I presumed, it involved ensuring that one’s name becomes etched into a…
The Stories Behind The Egg-Shaped Engineer (06:12 AM) - Did you see that Dilbert cartoon? Were you confused as to why the cop was firing bullets with his donut? Scott Adams has the interesting and very funny backstory to the strip on his blog, which I’ve just added to…
“unique and innovative ways” (06:08 AM) - Porter Goss says that the CIA does not torture….
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Very Hush-Hush and On the Q.T. (11:25 PM) - TigerHawk says “the President should ‘manipulate’ intelligence.”…
Patterns of Giving (03:16 PM) - PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - New Englanders remain among the most tightfisted in the country when it comes to charitable giving while Bible Belt residents are among the most generous, according to an annual index. MORE: Professor Samwick: “I think it’s…
Elaph Arab Website: Z-Man Eliminated (03:03 PM) - It is, according to our print overlords, the thankless and unending duty of we unedited and not-fact-checked bloggers to pass on and amplify misinformation, so I am thereby obligated to publish this rumor: Zarqawi may be dead and cavorting with…
In Japan, “Abnormal fruits reported everywhere” (11:26 AM) - Japan Today reports that abnormal fruits are being found everywhere. But if they are everywhere, don’t they cease to be abnormal?…
The Politically Correct English Prickings (09:33 AM) - The Global Language Monitor has released its end-of-year report on the most outrageous examples of English adulteration and oversensitivity. In our little news sphere, ‘terrorist’ versus ‘insurgent’ is clearly the hottest topic, but the jury seems to be out on…
Congratulations to Alison Crocker (09:28 AM) - Ms. Crocker, Dartmouth Class of 2006, has been named a 2006 Rhodes Scholar among 31 other Americans. UPDATE: Her biography, from the Rhodes release:Alison Crocker, Poughkeepsie, New York, is a Dartmouth double major in physics and mathematics. An All-American cross-country…
It’s Behind The Wall… (09:26 AM) - But a reader commends this David Brooks column as the balanced word on Iraq and the prospect of retreat….
Confessions of a Discerning Admissions Officer (06:10 AM) - Toby Stock, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Harvard Law School, has a blog. And he has a policy on communicating his disapproval of ugly babies to their mothers….
From ‘Immediate’ to ‘Swift’ (05:55 AM) - The New York Times has fun with adjectives when it comes time to spin the GOP’s intentionally-failed House resolution on surrender. UPDATE: David Adesnick notices the substantive difference between Murtha’s proposal and the surrender proposal as codified by GOP leadership:…
Blogger Alert (05:50 AM) - If you are one of those WordPress people, your CMS has now been upgraded to version 2.0, beta 1. MovableType 3.0 is also out, of course….
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Showdown Under The Capitol Thunderdome (08:41 AM) - In reporting on last night’s 403-3 vote against surrender, Charles Babington at the Washington Post writes:But the maneuvering exposed the chamber’s raw partisan divisions and prompted a tumultuous scene, which Capitol Hill veterans called among the wildest and most emotional…
Asian Boy Finishes WarCraft, Kills Self; Parents Sue (08:28 AM) - The drama of our time, with +12,000HP….
CNN Very Concerned About Tom Cruise’s Integrity (08:10 AM) - Yesterday the Cable News Network ran a three minute piece asking, “Did South Park go too far in mocking Tom Cruise?” Clearly, they just don’t get it. For one thing, no one is concerned about mocking Tom Cruise. And, despite…
Friday, November 18, 2005
If You Aren’t Watching C-SPAN Right Now… (08:56 PM) - You just aren’t with it. UPDATE: Lauren is over and so I can’t safely keep C-SPAN on the television for very long. But Representative Murtha is talking right now. You may remember him—he is the fellow who yesterday called for…
Radio Open Source versus Open Source Media (08:50 PM) - I’m afraid I’m going to have to declare quagmire….
Headline of the Day (06:14 PM) - This is the headline of yesterday, actually. But I found it suitably terrible to raise from hier. The normal disclaimers for critiques of The Dartmouth apply: Nice folks, try hard, know people there, they aren’t the dumb ones, etc. I…
The Confused History of John Murtha (D-PA) (09:09 AM) - The mainstream media has been utterly ruthless in promulgating without apology Democrat lies—English provides no more diplomatic noun for their acrid rhetoric: not ‘canard’, not ‘inveracity’, not ‘equivocation’, not ‘misrepresentation’ but out-and-out lies—to the point of re-writing Vice President Cheney’s…
“Like a dull boxer punching blind in all directions.” (08:05 AM) - Patrick Belton reviews Freeh’s FBI memoirs. And comes out with a dim view of the Clinton doctrine on terrorism….
Open Source Media and the Sycophants (07:56 AM) - I’ve not joined Open Source Media, and frankly I think the blogosphere is too young to be organized and cultivated in the fashion envisaged by Roger L. Simon and Charles Johnson. But I do not understand its open opponents—especially those…
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Out Riding Fences (11:24 PM) - India wants a wall, Arizona wants a wall, Israel wants a wall….
“Hawkish Democrat Calls for Iraq Pullout” (03:15 PM) - The Associated Press is running this report full-bore, having just minutes ago changed the headline to read “Hawkish Democrat” rather than “House Democrat”. But is it news that a Democrat who voted for the Iraq War resolution is now anti-war?…
The Pushback Continues (12:30 PM) - NBC’s ‘First Read’ e-mail this morning:President Bush is in Gyeongju, Korea. Back home, Team Cheney launched something of a two-pronged counteroffensive to Democratic attacks on the Administration’s case for war. The Vice President stepped into the carefully managed spotlight with…
Blogging Update (07:45 AM) - Posting will be light today, as I have two papers to write before turkey time and a busy weekend ahead of me….
Cheese Powder, Just for the Sake of it (12:41 AM) - A pan on the revamped and rehucked Dorito chip, inter alia, at McSweeney’s: “With new Doritos Nacho Cheesier, they are clearly servicing their own pathology and not the cheese-satiated market they pretend to serve.”…
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
“This is what Scientologists Actually Believe.” (10:20 PM) - Add Scientology, with its thetans, e-meters, evil Xenu aliens, and mysteriously DC-10 lookalike spacecraft, to the list of cults debunked by South Park. This is a wonderful episode. During the scene that retells the science fiction story bought into (literally)…
The Doolittle Resolution Passes (06:56 PM) - Last evening I wrote about Rep. John Doolittle’s House resolution that would re-affirm Congress’ intention to keep control of the Internet inside the United States. The vote was delayed yesterday, presumably because of eleventh hour negotiations in Tunis to end,…
Love That Olde Tyme Power Grid (06:52 PM) - It recently rained a bit, so most of Dartmouth has been blacked out for an hour or so. Some academic buildings and a quarter of campus footpath lights are back on at this point. And judging by the yelling and…
Dissent Begins When You Leave The Country (06:37 PM) - Former president Bill Clinton has followed Al Gore’s footsteps in unprecedently slaying an centuries-old code of honor among American presidents: When a president enters office, he honors his predecessor. When a president leaves office, he respects his successor. And when…
Back To Politics… (01:36 PM) - For those interested, the deal that avoided an internet governance dispute in Tunis can be read in PDF here. No mention of ICANN is made, but the proposed ‘forum’ is given no power, either….
The Most Annoying Person In The World (12:54 PM) - I am sitting in the library, next to a fellow who I’ve just learned is The Most Annoying Person In The World. Do you know the small but perennial annoyance of people who go ‘ahhh’ while drinking coffee? This guy…
“every photographer in Charleston, W.V. has taken a version of this picture at one time or another.” (12:34 PM) - Rick Lee tells the story of a famous scene, both in word and photo form….
The More Things Change… (11:00 AM) - Reuters, yesterday: “Bush Prods China on Freedom” Associated Press, today: “Bush Hails Taiwan As Democratic Model” The best we can hope for is to be prodding China and hailing Taiwan ten years from now, isn’t it?…
Blogospheric Doings (08:47 AM) - Open Source Media (the new Pajamas Media) and the 2005 Weblog Awards open today….
Peremptory Norm (07:58 AM) - CNN is reporting that an agreement among more than 100 nations will be accepted when the UN Internet Conference opens in Tunisia today; a deal that will avert an EU/US showdown. It accepts the oversight and governance of the United…
Evening of the Late Romantics (07:49 AM) - In The Dartmouth, Lucy Randall previews the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra’s saturday evening performance, which will include Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival Overture,” Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat and Sibelius’ second. Lauren and I have tickets and are planning to go,…
In Addition To That Quaint Notion of Sovereignty… (07:20 AM) - Claudia Rosett says that the United Nations is hosting its conference on international institutionalist governance of the internet in internet-censoring Tunisia, something that should be ringing bells all over the place….
Iraqi Women More Oppressed Without Saddam (06:58 AM) - This one is almost as ridiculous—and equally informing of the anti-war crowd—as the Willy Pete story. It takes a special kind of zealot to believe that women are in worse ways post-deposition than they were with Saddam Hussein and his…
Able Danger Criminal Investigation (06:41 AM) - Curt Weldon is by the skin of his teeth keeping the Able Danger story from the memory hole, and has now called for a criminal investigation into the behavior of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA—that’s the Amex Black Card…
Unnecessary Post With Photo of Adorable Critter (06:28 AM) - Image Courtesy: Nitn Garg.It was inevitable: we finally know what the squirrels are saying. According to researchers at University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, the little guys are a vociferous bunch, with whistles, chirps and chucks being selectively comingled to form…
Marshall McLuhan Never Had It So Good (06:04 AM) - The high-profile debate over file transfer media continues, the latest sally being the collapse of i2hub over legal threats. That network ran on the essentially closed intercollege Internet2 network. InsideHigherEd.com reports on the current state of things, with a nod…
Bob Woodward: Not Getting Too Old For This S--t (12:41 AM) - The Washington Post in early editions is revealing that Bob Woodward, keeper of things secret and dramatic, has been involved—if only tangentially—in the Plame game for more than two years. The story seems to indicate two things. First, the fellow…
Whither The Net? (12:07 AM) - Although we’ve yet to see a vote, this seemingly minor story has me growing new grays in anticipation of what might occur when the House of Representatives is polled on whether the internet ought to be ceded to the United…
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
No Longer On the Fence (11:56 PM) - Hillary Clinton, in Israel, declares her support for the West Bank security barrier and says that the Palestinian Authority must fight terrorism….
Is This Not A Paragon Of American Cooperation? (11:40 PM) - Boeing announces a new bird in the 747 line. No details are forthcoming on the presidential soiree to fete the fledgling. But perhaps that is because it is an aluminum machine, and three state presidents, retinue, and flowing champagne to…
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way (06:28 PM) - The House of Representatives reconvenes at 6:30p and will consider a resolution that would reaffirm the intention of the United States to keep ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, under the auspices of the United States Department…
Watching America, With A New Look (05:54 PM) - The ever-useful Watching America, which translates foreign news stories about the United States from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, into English has undergone a redesign….
It’s Probably A Good Thing (05:44 PM) - The fellow has held (as far as some basic internet research will reveal) exactly two political jobs, both for Democratic politicians (Moynihan and Cuomo). But poor old Tim Russert. Probably the only fellow in all mediadom who is called both…
Duck Tales (02:29 PM) - William Beutler: National Journal’s Blog Aggregator and High Minister of Obscure Cartoon Theme Songs. Excellent title, sir!…
Internet2 Hub Closes Up Shop (01:40 PM) - After presumably suffering a barrage of lawyerly letters with the word ‘forthwith’ scattered about, the students behind i2hub, an application that combined the Direct Connect software platform with the Internet2 academic network in order to facilitate large file transfers, has…
Rediscovering the Speech Box (09:33 AM) - The RNC has released a little vixen of a video that reminds Americans of the Iraq consensus as it existed during the Clinton years and up through the Iraq War, and which marched forward surely up until the 2004 presidential…
Another One Bites The Dust (08:22 AM) - Abuse the wider citizenry’s general lack of munitions knowledge in order to slander the United States military and its commander-in-chief, and Scott Burgess is going to get you, too. It appears that the U.K.’s Independent is still shambling on with…
Buckle Up (07:45 AM) - The rotation of the Earth slows by about 1.5 milliseconds/century, and boy do those milliseconds add up. Get ready for some immense theoretical deceleration this New Year’s Eve, because the last minute of the last hour of the last day…
Return of the View Tax (07:29 AM) - Make your best assay, residents of the Granite State, not to behold anything pretty. Because if you durst countenance a nice view, you shall be taxed. (…via Andrew Cline)…
Does Senator John Kerry Read Newspapers? (06:58 AM) - John Kerry simply does not know what is going on. The White House has, at long last, responded to the line “misled into war” with gentle reminders that those who adopt the revisionist attack themselves voted for the war and…
Monday, November 14, 2005
More Divestment Notes (11:00 PM) - Professor Samwick reiterates his point that boycott beats divestment: “[F]or divestment to have any impact through the capital markets, it has to focus on new rather than old capital. In that post, I also suggested that the critical element in…
Headline of the Day: Lawyers Not Missed Edition (10:12 PM) - The Associated Press reports: “1,100 Lawyers Leave Saddam Defense Team.”…
Absolute Moral Authority Evaporates Again (09:41 PM) - Why is it that every ugly mug who, finding in our stilted press a bullhorn from which to spout the worst accusations against the United States, is eventually discredited? Those upon whom the likes of Maureen Dowd are wont to…
Indie Anti-Capitalism Film Screening At College (07:00 PM) - Not a particularly fresh idea, I know, but what is interesting about the imminent screening of Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices is the New York Post review they chose to paste onto the bill, amidst positive remarks from…
Jacques Chirac Gives The Speech (06:42 PM) - Donning his sérieux glasses, French President Jacques Chirac gave, perhaps unwittingly, a distinctly US-inspired speech earlier today. He reached deep into the American political firmament and, instead of one of those gems, pulled out a famous presidency-ending gaffe. Today, Jacques…
Conventional Wisdom Jellifies Again (05:03 PM) - Judge Samuel Alito pulled up to his typewriter around Christmas time in late 1985 and tapped out what everyone is reading today. The thirty-five year old attorney was applying to become a deputy political assistant in the Reagan Justice Department…
International Law Scholars & the Islamist Threat (03:00 PM) - Dan Drezner says international relations scholars and international law theorists are virtually ignoring al Qaeda and other Islamist or non-Islamist terrorism, with only 796 terrorism-related articles in the relevant journals over the past four years. Put another way, only 3%…
The Pitch Back! (01:18 PM) - WhiteHouse.gov replies to the Washington Post….
Digg I.C.A.N.N. (12:47 PM) - Over at the social bookmarking site Digg, a user linked a sappy BBC piece on the “inevitability” of an internationalized root server system. But from the comments, it appears that the Diggers are better informed and wholeheartedly against a United…
Due Process for Terrorist Detainees (11:17 AM) - It has now come to light that one of the terrorists who executed the bloodiest attack in Jordan’s history two days ago was likely held by the United States following the Fallujah offensive as recently as November 2004….
For Hanover Readers (10:48 AM) - Chabad at Dartmouth is hosting a talk by Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe op-ed columnist, at 4p in Dartmouth Hall 105 on Monday. He tears on recent lottery winner Senator Judd Gregg for Oil Profit hypocrisy in today’s column. Should be…
The Words of a Would-be Islamist Suicide Bomber (10:08 AM) - I try to catch a few moments of cable news each morning as I get ready for the day. This morning one of the programs—perhaps yearning for a new booker—had on a former state governor to talk about today’s headline…
A ‘Tortured’ Debate (09:28 AM) - The Wall Street Journal editorialized over the weekend against the demagoguery and loftiness of our nation’s debate on the use of coercive interrogation and torture proper. Certainly, there is a critical degree of pragmatism missing on both sides of the…
Has Dartmouth Divested? Hardly. (08:16 AM) - Although a mass e-mail from the Student Assembly this morning was titled, “Divestment Accomplished!” complete with smiley exclamation point, I am pleased that cooler heads prevailed and no actual divestment will be taking place. According to The Dartmouth this morning,…
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Library Books: Inappropriate Amusement Edition (06:38 PM) - From the Carroll & Bevington Macbeth….
Be The Change You Want To See In The World (03:16 PM) - Image Courtesy: Scott Meacham and Dartmo.com. Circa 1950.1976: Dartmouth’s very first female students—they matriculated in 1972, taking up the rear among the Ancient Eight—are graduating and, as they receive their diplomas, they not only embolden their contemporaries in the classes…
Educated Punctuation, seriffed type, and Credits (01:55 PM) - I owe a small debt to Jeff Harrell, whose martinetish insistence on old-school typography (Or, if not ‘old-school’ per se, then at least pre-ASCII homogenization.) inspired me to change Dartblog both to a proper serif font face—was boring blocky Verdana,…
A Note From The Australian TREASURER (01:45 PM) - “If you are somebody who wants to live in an Islamic state governed by sharia law you are not going to be happy in Australia, because Australia is not an Islamic state, will never be an Islamic state and will…
I Was Looking Forward To Seeing Jarhead (01:22 PM) - But the reviews as rounded up by Glenn Reynolds are forcing me to reconsider….
Upgrading (11:59 AM) - I am upgrading some server software today, so things may be a bit slow. UPDATE: Testing, testing. Software should be upgraded now—Now let’s see if I can rebuild. UPDATE: The site has been rebuilt, and all punctuation has been educated…
Do or Die, Next Year (11:12 AM) - TigerHawk has just cause to lament the fall of the Princeton Tigers to Eli’s men. Which is bothersome, because here at Dartmouth—where merely a year ago football was pronounced “antithetical” to our academic mission—there is little reason to rail against…
The Professor With The “Impeach Bush” Button (08:36 AM) - I thought my piece was a little disconcerting. But no: the responses have been. Because every guess was good, and every one incorrect….
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Another Brand of Push Polling (07:12 PM) - A McDonald’s shift manager receives a telephone call from a man purporting to be “Officer Scott.” He’s conducting a criminal investigation of a recent theft at the McDonald’s, but new procedure dictates that the police department coach employees through the…
The Impeach Bush Button (05:40 PM) - Just arrived back to my room from dinner at the Hopkins Center’s Courtyard Cafe, one of several student eateries ‘round these parts. Soup, grill, burritos, pre-packaged mass-produced Sushiesque handrolls. Everything an Ivy League student needs. Everything: right down to the…
Conservatism is “A Little Bit Slothful” (10:23 AM) - Joseph Rago has a drink with William F. Buckley, in the Wall Street Journal this morning….
A Suggestion For Novack Cafe (09:07 AM) - A common problem, especially around thrice-a-year finals time and once-a-year senior thesis time, is that at Novack Cafe, the coffee joint in Dartmouth’s Baker/Berry Library, there are no tables left without stacks upon stacks of unattended books and legal pads…
A Lesson in Blogging: Gossip Sells (08:37 AM) - Campbell Brown—or some other Today Show talent—must have mentioned the former’s engagement on the air this morning, because the whole world, all 6 billion people, saddled up to Google around seven o’clock eastern time and searched for more information on…
Angela Merkel Leads, Policies Remain Behind (02:59 AM) - A ruling coalition has finally been formed in Germany, but at heavy cost to the reform efforts of Merkel’s Christian Democrats: obligations to the State, for example, will remain prohibitive, with both the VAT and the top income tax rising…
Friday, November 11, 2005
More on Willy Pete (10:18 PM) - The Italian press—since the Sgrena affair rabid in its wont to ascribe any little tort or grand crime to the United States military—is pressing on with its ridiculous white phosphorus story, which purports that Coalition forces used the flare-like substance…
The City Versus The Talk Show Host (08:37 PM) - NBC News has anthropomorphized the city of San Francisco in order to report that it is feuding with Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly, who reportedly mentioned that terrorists can feel free to immolate that town….
‘there is no one typeface or document analysis God’ (07:04 PM) - According to former 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes, who earlier today took questions from a handful of WashingtonPost.com readers, typography exists under a welkin of multiple Gods and Goddesses. Although Ms. Mapes failed to verbalize the details of this round…
Reading Recommendation (06:29 PM) - Nate Fick gave a wonderful talk and responded very eloquently to some of the more unlikely questions I’ve ever heard at a Dartmouth lecture. [Edit: Readers want to know what I mean. I mean the questions were not loaded or…
der Blog (04:08 PM) - What gender is the noun ‘blog’? Germans muse….
Riots in France Continue (02:35 PM) - 500 cars, yet again, were torched last evening as riots continue in Paris and its suburbs, and as the police presence increases to 2,220….
Revitalization, Continued (01:29 PM) - Two days ago my malaise was piqued. Jeff Goldstein was in similar straits, but President Bush’s Veteran’s Day speech was Folgers to his lassitude as it finally takes on Democrats for their now-disappeared broad and strong support of the Iraq…
The Graham Amendment (12:45 PM) - Senator Lindsey Graham’s amendment barring detainees at Guantanamo—who are not United States citizens—from using American courts to bring suit against the federal government passed last evening 49-42 with a swing bloc of 9 abstaining or not present. On balance, I…
Memo To Republican Politicos (11:26 AM) - Never look down. Ever. Because if you were to, for example, go to a Federalist Society dinner and you happened to let your neck muscles slacken for even an immeasurable moment—Click!—you’re embattled….
Litigation, Lies, and Videotape (10:46 AM) - The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a measure that would commission C-SPAN 29, foisting rolling cameras upon the Supreme Court of the United States. Presumably, most oral arguments would be broadcast, including the often-hilarious questions from the justices. Arlen Specter…
Reply: Is San Francisco Still In The United States? (10:30 AM) - I asked that question about twenty-four hours ago, when I noted that San Francisco put onto its Election Day ballot—and proceeded to pass 60%-40%—a measure described by the local government as “a declaration of policy that the people of San…
Say, Who’s Going to Hear The Big Vanguard Case? (09:03 AM) - The answer, if congressional Democrats put any serious stock in the flimsy shot they are today throwing Judge Alito’s way, appears to be ‘no one’….
Here, We Advocate (06:15 AM) - My dad, on work in India, e-mails:I tried to catch up with your blog yesterday (or day before, they are all blurring a bit). Anyway, I was at Cognizant, a big ITO firm, and I was blocked by Websense. I…
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Eating Soup with a Knife (08:06 PM) - Professor Andrew Samwick, director of the Rockefeller Center and bringer of some of Dartmouth’s most fascinating and unique academic events reminds me that today is not only the anniversary of the Marines’ birth, but the eve of Nate Fick’s visit…
Aw, How Cute (05:43 PM) - NBC’s Campbell Brown interviewed her boyfriend (that’s a bit of speculation as to the formative time of their relationship), now fiancé on June 29 on the subject of the Iraqi’s government’s case against Saddam Hussein. Ms. Brown wonders if Saddam…
A Bit Like Junior High School, But With Letterhead (01:25 PM) - Here is a PDF of a letter that congressional Republicans sent to congressional Democrats this morning to send the clear, earnest, and unmistakable message that they smell. And that the “culture of corruption” is a culture that isn’t limited to…
Naked Bowling (And The Global War on Terror) (12:44 PM) - Via e-mail and in response to “Kurdish Business Rising,” a harrowing account of torture and worse inside America’s most precious institutions of higher learning:In the Spring of ‘82, I joined the newly-formed Carnegie Mellon Rugby team. Because of our late…
Semper Fidelis (12:38 PM) - Bruce Kesler has a faithful tribute to the Marines on this, its 230th birthday….
Major Action Movie Plot Element Debunked (10:22 AM) - Earlier today a suspected sex offender in a white Chevy S10 led San Diego police and the California Highway patrol on an international high-speed chase, dodging several spike strips and eventually getting on I-5. He proceeded to cross south of…
Got One (08:40 AM) - John Hinderaker notes another leaked piece of classified CIA information that has meandered its way into the pages of the New York Times. Using the Plame standard, it ought to be investigated….
Is San Francisco Still in the United States? (08:24 AM) - The good people of San Francisco, in ballot measures passed Tuesday, have seen it fit and meet to oust United States military recruiters from public high schools and universities. This leaves the very serious question of whether San Francisco has…
Dominique de Villepin: Let Them Have A Long War (08:04 AM) - Dominique, looking suave and silver-haired. Photo courtesy: Over-Blog.com.Dominique de Villepin, the suave, dashing, silver-haired intellectual and, as if the former were mere prelude, the French Prime Minister, was as one might expect not a rousing cheerer of the Iraq War….
White phosphorus just isn’t deadly enough (06:22 AM) - Willy Pete is another name for the brand of a pyrophoric phosphorus manufactured for the military. The substance, as high school graduates know, is useful because it burns very brightly. The military uses bursts of WP dispensed from few-inch shells….
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Kurdish Business Rising (07:27 PM) - I and many others have been uniquely dismayed at the notion that such fraternity-like acts as undue urination, forced nudity, and shouting might constitute torture—especially those of us who believe that big-t Torture ought to be struck outright, but that…
On The Subject of Campbell (07:22 PM) - Dartblog has unwittingly been Google-annointed the primary source for network newsgirl gawkers, so I feel duty bound to report that comely French television reporter Melissa Theuriau has survived the riots, according to John Derbyshire. Oh, he knows….
On Approval (05:07 PM) - The post below is rather down on the president. I dare say I might answer ‘disapprove’ if ever called by a pollster. It isn’t that I disagree. I disapprove. A week or so ago I excoriated a CBS poll that…
The Revitalization of Politics (03:24 PM) - Republicans had an especially self-defeating tactic in the thickest thatches of the Tom DeLay scandal, and that was referring to the charge of money laundering brought upon the House Majority Leader as the “criminalization of politics.” Ergo, they unbelievably did…
One Red Paperclip (03:22 PM) - It is slow going, but Kyle MacDonald is trying—bit by bartered bit—to turn a small red paperclip into a home. This far in the game, he has a gasoline generator. Not bad, I’d say….
Strange Hits (08:46 AM) - Dartblog server logs seem to indicate that everyone, his brother, and the FCC want to know all about NBC newsie Campbell Brown and her new fiancé. And Google dumps them at this stoop. Regrettably, I’ve no unique or secret tidbits…
What Les Enfants Learn About Terrorism (06:33 AM) - David Kopel posts on a recent Le Figaro article about a recent book detailing the strange education French children receive with respect to terrorism: the tool of the weak against the great powers America and Israel. Frightening indeed….
If You Aren’t Aware of the Hack, Why Do You Care? (06:29 AM) - Sony/BMG’s President of Global Digital Busness, Thomas Hessa, has no excuse for his company’s virus-laden CDs that covertly install onto one’s PC and track/prevent usage except: “Most people probably don’t even know what [it] is, so why should they care…
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
New Jersey Governor Update (09:21 PM) - New Jersey 101.5 is on top of things. With 33% districts reporting, Corzine is ahead 53-44. UPDATE: With 55% reporting, Corzine up 54-43. UPDATE: Associated Press calls for Corzine….
Democrat Kaine Wins Va. Governor Race (09:14 PM) - The Associated Press calls Virginia for Kaine….
Texas Marriage Amendment Passes (09:11 PM) - Texans overlooked technical quibbles and overwhelmingly passed an amendment to their state constitution defining marriage as “the union of one man and one woman” and barring lower legislatures from altering that definition….
Get Out And Vote (05:00 PM) -
Specious Law School Rankings (04:26 PM) - According to a survey of Harvard Law School students, the best law school in the nation is Harvard Law School. (…via Volokh)…
AFP: Muslims more integrated in US than France (03:40 PM) - In an article that attempts to reinforce the notion that rioting Muslims are, through whatever series of abstraction necessary, not to blame for the riots, Agence-France Presse reports: CHICAGO, Nov 8 (AFP) - While Arab Americans and Muslims suffered a…
The Dour Economic Agenda of the GOP (02:03 PM) - TigerHawk notes that the negative effects of the Bush economic policies as predicted by the New York Times’ have not occured….
“I can remember a time at Dartmouth when college professors — government professors — didn’t make political speeches.” (10:11 AM) - Over at the Agenda Gap, Michael Herman notes more annoying and quite unnecessary polemicizing at an academic debate the premise of which some professors considered not open for debate….
“Realism” In Darfur (09:10 AM) - Those who hoped that a negotiation and mediation period for the Sudanese government might result in an end to the genocide being pepetrated there have been vindicated. That hazy period might be nearing its end, and with it the genocide….
Race, Not Place (08:08 AM) - The New York Sun says that those who claim that the French Riots are all about poverty are deluding themselves. MORE: Aside from the obstinate refusal on the part of hardcore social liberals to accept that anything but class is…
Washington Post and White House Gambles (07:53 AM) - The latest polling has Democrat Tim Kaine five points over Republican Jerry Kilgore, and rumors are that the Kaine camp is all smiles. So, of course, the election is being called a referendum on the Bush presidency….
The Independent (07:15 AM) - The front-page of the U.K.’s Independent and its lead story asks and answers: LIBERTÉ? French Muslims banned from wearing headscarves in school. ÉGALITÉ? France’s non-whites twice as likely to be unemployed. FRATERNITÉ? French government admits integration policies have failed. RÉALITÉ:…
Toulouse, 300 Other Towns Burn (06:00 AM) - The “marauding youth”, known to the sighted as “rioting Muslims”, have torched a bus in Toulouse, “pelted police with firebombs and rocks”, killed a 61-year-old man, and the idea is spreading to other arms of a Europe swallowing deadly dividends…
Major Terrorist Attack Prevented In Australia (05:43 AM) - Seventeen Islamist terrorists in Australia have been captured in the final stages of planning a major terrorist attack on that country. It is very difficult to be thankful for prevention—whether it’s the Y2K bug or the several terrorist attacks halted…
Misery Loves Company In The Western World (12:14 AM) - The blogging professors at PolySigh note that leaders ‘round the globe are suffering from dire approval ratings….
Monday, November 07, 2005
Effects of Parental Notification Before Abortions (11:59 PM) - At Volokh Conspiracy, Todd Zywicki links to an academic paper predicting safer sex in general were teenagers required to let their parents know before terminating a pregnancy. Commenters, though, note a fatal flaw: the study presumes rationality….
No Change In Governorships? (11:42 PM) - The last-minute polling for New Jersey has Corzine over Forrester by five and Kaine over Kilgore by the same. MORE: Suzette is voting for Forrester not voting for Corzine tomorrow, and tells why. Via Ken Adams, another NJ blogger….
NBC’s Campbell Brown Engaged (10:42 PM) - Oh, most wicked speed. Ms. Brown’s fiance is White House advisor and occasional Fox News contributor Dan Senor, bringing the number of high-profile mainstream media gals with awkwardly Bush-connected boyfriends to two. No reports yet that, as with Rush Limbaugh’s…
Jon Corzine’s Latest Television Advertisement (10:34 PM) - The Corzine campaign—afflicted with a bit of the John “Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again!” Edwards touch—has unleashed a bombshell advertisement that features a handicapped teenager accusing Doug Forrester of being against people like him:Carl Riccio sat…
The Cult of Jobs: Media Angle (10:15 PM) - Jack Shafer at Slate muses on the “the press corps’ crush on Steve Jobs and company.”…
They Should Just Run The Credit Cards, Then (05:10 PM) - Marginal Revolution and Coyote Blog are both discussing how much more successful airlines are in their ‘frequent flier’ credit card programs than in the business of flying itself….
“Every Sri Lankan home will be gifted with a high milk-yielding cow” (05:07 PM) - Sri Lankan presidential candidate Victor Hettigoda knows what his incipient constituents want….
Misunderstanding Conservatism (01:32 PM) - Andrew Clines notes that the L.A. Times, in an article purporting to explain why Judge Alito isn’t always conservative, misses the fact that just about every welcomed deviation is in fact elementally conservative….
Opposition to Judge Alito Quiets (01:15 PM) - A positive front-pager in the New York Times today (which, as Ann Althouse observes, does not feature the same mean-spirited photo choices as introductory John Roberts pieces) coupled with Senator Biden’s pronouncement that a filibuster is unlikely, can be taken…
Beware a ‘Digital Munich’ (12:59 PM) - Everyone is linking to Senator Coleman’s Wall Street Journal column today, but that is only because it is mandatory reading. Resisting the co-optation of the internet, though it may appear technical and insignificant now, could be one of the most…
Voting Economists (10:18 AM) - The Freakonomics fellows admit that their economist friends don’t vote, and explain why economic self-interest might not be the deciding factor for voters at large after all….
The Luck of the Jumbos (10:14 AM) - Tufts University has picked up Daniel Drezner as an associate professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Congratulations to both!…
…But do they eat pudding? (09:06 AM) - The indie film circuit is abuzz with a rather odd film. And suddenly South Park looks prescient….
“Politicizing Dartmouth’s Future”? (08:29 AM) - In The Dartmouth this morning, Daniel Belkin decries the political framing of the current tug-of-war between ‘establishment’ and ‘petitioner’ at Dartmouth. He then proceeds to further politicize the situation. This is to no one’s profit, and it ought to end….
Ten Police Officers Shot In Paris Suburb (08:23 AM) - I don’t think this happened in New Orleans, but I also don’t expect to see newsweekly covers that say, “France’s Shame.”…
Morning Walk (08:09 AM) - Minimal posting time this morning, because of multiple quizzes, but I did take a few photos. Click here for more….
Priorité à la sécurité et l’ordre public (06:19 AM) - Via Le Soir, Jacques Chirac acknowledges the severity of the French riots by speaking to them, and les flics are depicted in a decidedly Pallywoodish stance: all geared up and seemingly no law left to enforce….
Gay Words (06:14 AM) - Bill Safire, with an unusual dearth of opinion, surveys the world of same-sex verbiage. Evidently, ‘gay’ does not apply to both men and women anymore….
Gas Prices Continue To Fall (05:48 AM) - According to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, the national average for a gallon of regular is $2.383, down from a month-ago average of $2.920. Democratic senators from North Dakota and Connecticut, however, are not abandoning their proposal for…
Sunday, November 06, 2005
der holle racht (07:38 PM) - According to the Internet Movie Database, swiss armyknife shakespearian Kenneth Branagh has adapted and directed a filmic Die Zauberflöte, currently in post-production and slated for a U.K. release. To his credit, Branagh did a complete first folio Hamlet for film….
GALLOWAY To Face Perjury Charges In U.S. (07:10 PM) - Respect Member of Parliament George Galloway, who has been named by both United States Senate investigations and United Nations investigations as having been complicit in Saddam Hussein’s political abuse of the UN Oil-for-Food program, could face stateside perjury charges, according…
“Local Pranksters Torch Car, Building” (10:53 AM) - A reader of Little Green Footballs has a wickedly witty Photoshopping of USA Today’s front page….
The United Nations: Now With Flash and Report (10:00 AM) - Does anyone know where, exactly, all these UN reports go? By the sheer clip of press releases coming out of the Secretariat it can safely be assumed that hundreds are produced each year. Since they are largely ignored (or at…
Paris Burning, Continued (08:47 AM) - The riots have reached center Paris, where several more cars have been torched. And in Normandy, a shopping center, a post office, and two schools have gone up in flames. The AP meanwhile, still sees the disquieted youth as “marauding,”…
A Humble Bleg (08:38 AM) - Those green and white Yahoo! advertisements atop this page might not be of immediate interest, but I do get paid for them. If anyone would be kind enough to click them (or the completely anonymous Amazon tipjar), I’d be eternally…
The Introvert In All of Us (08:32 AM) - For Sartre readers and bloggers at large, this is an excellent read. (…via Ann Althouse)…
Another Stab At The Misled Meme (08:12 AM) - Democratic attempts to revive the ‘Bush misled us into war’ (I don’t know about you, but after hearing Senator Kerry use the word ‘mislead’ in every tense every fifteen seconds for a year, I’ve developed an ongoing stomach pain that…
Grim Declinations (08:10 AM) - Editor and Publisher reports that dead-tree news continues to fall out of favor….
Drunken Rage: The Attraction Newton Forgot (08:06 AM) - London’s Times reports that cow tipping just doesn’t work. That just isn’t true….
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Atop Tisch Library At Tufts University (06:52 PM) - The roof of Tisch usually provides an excellent view of sundown over Boston, although today there was a noisy mist hanging in the air, dimming the Beantown lights to almost nothing. It is still great spot for milling about, as…
Two Roads Diverged In A Wood, (12:26 PM) - and Rick Lee, he took the one less traveled by….
Standing Athwart Economics 101 (09:56 AM) - At Google, there is such a thing as a free lunch. And Yahoo! employees are reportedly sneaking in to get some….
Downplay and Misassignation (09:02 AM) - Roger L. Simon writes that the New York Times, which among other mainstream media outlets has downplayed the Fires of Paris (now incited by “marauding” youth, not rioting youth) after decidedly overplaying the unrest in post-hurricane New Orleans. But, perhaps,…
Announcing the Pentagon Podcast (08:53 AM) - Right here. It is—how sad to say so—probably a more balanced source of war updates than the mainstream media: at least they report successes….
Che Guevara: A Humble Reminder (08:41 AM) - It appears that the only significant news out of Argentina are the anti-free trade protests—usual for that geographic region and expectedly compounded with anti-Bush rhetoric—but what more, one may ask, can possibly be expected when the masses get information from…
The loneliness of dissent (08:25 AM) - In an article spinning Judge Alito’s dissenting opinion in a case that would have upheld a law banning a type of gun (using the Commerce Clause) the San Francisco Chronicle toys with diction a bit. In a lone dissenting opinion…
Friday, November 04, 2005
Blogging Update (07:02 PM) - I’m in Boston for the weekend, so blogging will be light for a bit….
A Rare Missive from the long-lost Jeff Harrell (02:07 PM) - The on-hiatus blogger whose site has recently been overrun in a decidedly Parisian fashion didn’t like my links to Ain’t It Cool News’ reviews of Jarhead. Jeff e-mails:Somewhere out there, in the vast darkness that is the Internet, there must…
Whither The Viewpoints? (01:15 PM) - A week ago, Dartmouth web publisher Jay Collier, in conjunction with developer Chris Boone debuted “ViewPoints”, a technologically advanced website that autonomously scoured the internet to find the latest Dartmouth-related blog posts, photos, weather, and news items. Some Dartmouth student…
Classical deterrent in store for loitering youths (12:18 PM) - Shops in seaside British towns have conceived an easy, cheap, and acoustically-pleasing method of retarding the summertime influx of Those Damn Kids so wont to loiter about: Herr Mozart. The Guardian reports:Classical music has been piped into Co-op stores at…
John Paul Stevens has made his decision: now let him enforce it! (08:57 AM) - The dramatic expansion of eminent domain effected by Kelo v. New London is being challenged by Congress:WASHINGTON (AP) - Conservative defenders of private property and liberal protectors of the poor joined in an overwhelming House vote to prevent local and…
Trumpeting the Suck of Jarhead (08:47 AM) - However unsavory the personal politics of Kanye West, his Jesus Walks anthem—anointed the sonic signature of the film Jarhead—is quite the production gem. Its dichotomous nature seems especially apt to the war film, which according to early reviews here and…
“excellent, albeit slightly conservative” (08:36 AM) - Adam Shpeen so characterizes, with a tinge of Freud, a New York Observer piece on Chuck Schumer. Unlike the Observer writer, I find nothing “unlikely” or glorious about Schumer’s brusqueness in judicial opposition. Adam, in fact, gets to the warp…
The Making of the American Conservative Mind (08:29 AM) - Dartmouth Professor Emeritus of English Jeffrey Hart has a new book out, “The Making of the American Conservative Mind : National review and Its Times,” that takes a seer’s eye view of the fomenting conservative publication. And Scott Johnson reflects….
Old Traditions (08:16 AM) - In The Dartmouth, Elliot Mattingly reports that the doors of Thayer Dining Hall are wide open to military recruiters, “despite some national debate.” The American Alumni Council and Trustees have also reportedly sent letters to officials at Harvard, Yale and…
Tomlinson quits US public broadcasting board (06:48 AM) - Kenneth Tomlinson, former Vietnam reporter and editor of Reader’s Digest, was on a mission. When he was inaugurated onto the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after being appointed by President Clinton, he was handed one of the few…
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Dartmouth College: Bridging The Gap Since 1769 (10:24 PM) -
Washington Dinnertable Line of the Day (06:46 PM) - Sometimes, amidst the sturm und drang of inside-the-beltway politics, one quotable quip of modesty finds it way into the news cycle. The sort of thing that just might be uttered at the dinner table, but came, inexplicably enough, from a…
Polling the Pollsters (11:59 AM) - Replete with “Sad Bush” graphic, the Columbia Broadcasting System is heralding a sudden pitting of President Bush’s approval numbers. The banner goes “Bush’s Job Approval Hits New Low” and the bolded pullquote is tinted with resignation-talk: “This country can’t afford…
Paris Burning (09:54 AM) - Riots continue in France, though I have yet to see the civil unrest—not, from my vantage point, precipitated by a leviathan natural disaster—deemed betrayer of latent racism on the part of the French, as was so rapidly proclaimed with respect…
In Search of Humanity (09:33 AM) - If ever you have found yourself lost in the craterous deathmoon of an “interactive” customer support line, this cheat sheet may prove useful; it details the secret-by-omission DTMF codes that will land your phone call right into the live queue…
NY Post: “Hero’s Kin Rip Times” (06:35 AM) - The New York Post devotes a full page today [electronic version here] to the outrage of the late Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Starr’s family. The New York Times, in its “grim milestone” anti-war chef d’oeuvre, had quoted Starr’s letter to his…
Professor Jon Appleton Responds To Carol Folt (05:25 AM) - Dartmouth Music Professor Jon Appleton, whose resignation and forthcoming move to Stanford has fomented an ongoing debate on academic freedom among Dartmouth’s students, faculty, and administration, has sent out another e-mail to colleagues. I have republished the body of it…
Shame (05:19 AM) - The House has rejected a bill that would have protected blogs, in effect making “online political expression” a FEC-governable realm. If speech on the internet is to be limited, taxed, or in any way regulated, I suppose our fair government…
I Did It Alito’s Way (05:12 AM) - Professor Samwick supports Judge Alito, and a good discussion of spousal notification (Unsaid advantage: it often acts as a handgun-esque cooling off period, whether the husband agrees or not with the ultimate decision.) in the comments section. For Judge Alito,…
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Add it to the Pile; Add it to the Stock (03:07 PM) - Michelle Malkin yesterday featured a covey of radical liberals, whose inability to engage in civilized debate landed them in jail. There are more inmates today. They haven’t committed crimes outright, but have espoused political tactics so venomous that any seemly…
New Jersey Governor Update (02:13 PM) - Via e-mail Matthew Weinberg informs me of this new Quinnipiac University poll that shows Jon Corzine increasing his lead in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. The Quinnipiac polling institute said Corzine now has the support of 50 percent of likely…
Second In A Series: Worst Exclusive Ever (02:03 PM) - Following on the Associated Press’ exclusive peek inside Karl Rove’s garage (It “appeared to be normal.”) Reuters provides its interested readers with another highly respectful, highly apt exclusive: “What’s in Bush’s pockets?” The answer, like with Rove, was highly unfulfilling:…
On the Implausibility of the Death Star Compactor (01:45 PM) - Timothy McSweeney is thoroughly unconvinced when it comes to the Death Star’s trash compactor. Or, more specifically, the one on the detention level, of which McSweeney wonders: “Why does the trash compactor compact trash so slowly, and with such difficulty,…
Nymph In Thy Opinions (11:23 AM) - Stanley Kurtz waxes Bardic at National Review….
Rosalita, Jump a Little Lighter (10:13 AM) - Todd Zywicki ponders the developing culture of the Supreme Court and the conservative meritocracy it is coming to represent. It seems fair (and it feels good) to tie some of Sam Alito’s defining characteristics to his Jersey-Italian upbringing, a sort…
Puncturing Plamegate (08:09 AM) - In the Los Angeles Times, Max Boot offers a useful and diversified (I tend to rely upon the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s drubbing, but Max has more sources.) deflating of the spin being put on the indictment of Lewis…
What She Said (07:06 AM) - Ann Althouse, who is something of a legal authority on the topic, says that critics who use Judge Alito’s decision on the Family Medical Leave Act to buttress claims that he is hostile to women’s interests “are either distorting his…
Literally Incorrect (07:00 AM) - Literally, A Web Log is dedicated to cataloging and exposing adulteration of that proud adverb. It may seem martinetish, but in the case of ‘literally’ the offenses are dread indeed: most revolve around using the word ‘literally’ as a synonym…
In Praise of Patrick Fitzgerald (06:50 AM) - Pat Buchanan writes in favor of the special prosecutor today. Contrasting him with the opaqely partisan DeLay prosecutor Ronnie Earle, Buchanan closes:…Pat Fitzgerald came to Washington and did the job he was assigned to do. He carried out his mandate,…
Concerns of Alito Federalism (05:42 AM) - Michael Herman expounds against Judge Samuel Alito while noting “[U]nlike what many people appear to believe, the right to an abortion is not the major issue for the U.S. Supreme Court.” Finally, someone has said it. Michael is more concerned…
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Reid 21’s the Senate (03:52 PM) - The United States Senate is lights-dimmed, doors-closed, C-SPAN-out, as Harry Reid has ordered a special closed session to attract media attention to the Libby/Iraq War line. MORE: This is a rather poor line of attack. Senator Reid just tub-thumped the…
Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine? (01:38 PM) - The San Francisco Gate blares that social conservatives oppose the use of a cancer vaccine because, the disease being sexually transmitted, immunization might encourage teenage copulation. “May God one day grant them brains,” I thought to myself as I read…
Unhinged: The Cream Pie Became A Clarion (01:07 PM) - Nothing else quite approaches the subtle branding of a mugshot showcase when it comes to flogging books. Michelle Malkin’s new treatment is Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild, and it was released today. The book is a portrait of a stagnant…
Rising Mists and Pierced Fog (07:01 AM) - Dartmouth, as an institution with vasty roots spread across, as the Alma Mater goes, the girdled earth, is no stranger to political, scientific, or academic controversy. No worthwhile college is, I suspect. But what is new, at least in the…
Vladimir’s Ambition (06:01 AM) - Russian president Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he will not seek a third term (though careful readers note that he hasn’t precluded anointment), but that he is concerned about the possibility of “destabilization” in Russia following the vote….
Judge Alito: “Give me an Alito!” (05:58 AM) - To my surprise, the New York Times grants Samuel Alito a rather positive backgrounder, mentioning specifically that, though conservative, he has been mindful to check ideology at the courtroom door. And his jurisprudence has even inspired a drink at a…
Samuel Alito at Princeton (12:21 AM) - The Daily Princetonian reports on the nominee’s time spent in the land of the tiger, where upon graduation the yearbook reported: “Sam intends to go to law school and eventually to warm a seat on the Supreme Court.”…
Overzealous Campus Activists (12:00 AM) - At the University of Pennsylvania, Taylor Buley notes a poor decision on the part of the local abortion advocacy group….