Slideshow of musicians who did too soon

NBC 4 - Slideshow

The Forbes Fictional Fifteen - Forbes.com

Ordinarily I don't have much time for Forbes (the individual or the magazine) but this is pretty interesting.

The Other I.D.

Seed: The Other I.D.

The Claremont Institute: Rebels Without a Clue

A review of Nation of Rebels, a critique of the Left by commited Leftists

Carter: the best ex-President, ever

See James Wolcott on Carter's latest book.

Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting As Illegal

Typical

Air travel

This site has some really cool videos of what the skies look like with all those planes in the air.

Misstatement or Admission?

Orrin Hatch referred to Iraq as Vietnam. More: Salt Lake Tribune - Utah

Torture worked on McCain, so he shouldn't criticize it, says conservative outlet

For more, see The Rude Pundit.

Non Sequitur on Yahoo! News

Questionable Intelligent Design

Salon.com Life | Broadsheet

An interesting tale of life in the present-day U.S.

Informed Comment on the French issue

Informed Comment

Enemies List

Capitol Hill Blue: White House keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 'political enemies' Is 10,000 big enough?

Alito or Scalito? - If you're a liberal, you'd prefer Scalia. By Robert Gordon

Alito or Scalito? - If you're a liberal, you'd prefer Scalia. By Robert Gordon: "When Antonin Scalia starts looking good, you know you're in trouble."

The Brontosaurus - Monty Python's flying creationism. By William Saletan

The Brontosaurus - Monty Python's flying creationism. By William Saletan

A less serious note

Arcata Police Log October 25, 2005

Salon.com | Shipwrecked

Salon.com | Shipwrecked

A good runddown of all the good folks who've left or been forced out of the Bush Administration because of the direction Bush has taken, both politically and internationally.

Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler : Hating Suburbia

Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler : Hating Suburbia

"Up until the 1970s, suburbia was a kind of accessory to America's manufacturing economy. But as industrial production moved overseas, the creation of suburbia itself insidiously replaced it as the engine of the US economy." Check out this post and Kunstler's excellent blog.

God save the heretic - Sunday Times - Times Online

A good critique of the Labour Party's attempt to restrict "insulting or abusive" language regarding religion.

Top Public Intellectuals

This goes to a list from Prospect Magazine of the top public intellectuals as voted by the readers.

Natural Unborn Killers - The bigotry of Bill Bennett's low expectations. By William Saletan

Natural Unborn Killers - The bigotry of Bill Bennett's low expectations. By William Saletan

Oxbridge

I've been looking at the websites for Oxford and Cambridge because my wife's been invited to a conference at Harris Manchester College, part of Oxford University. Truly fascinating. I sometimes think a move to the ancestral homeland might be in order.

Republican Credo

Republican Credo:

Distract, Deny, DeLay

Religion may be bad for Society: U.S. prime example

Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times - Times Online

essays & effluvia: New Office Slang

essays & effluvia: New Office Slang

PrudentBear.com - The One-Stop Shop for the Bear Case

PrudentBear.com - The One-Stop Shop for the Bear Case

Comparing Bush with 1930s (and other) fascist regimes. Scroll down for list of characteristics of fascist regimes.

The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit

More rudeness.

MichaelMoore.com! : Mike's Letter

MichaelMoore.com! : Mike's Letter

Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina - Stupidest Hurricane Katrina Quotes

Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina - Stupidest Hurricane Katrina Quotes

The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit: The Rude Pundit is, as you might imagine, rude, so be warned before you click through to the rest. Here's an excerpt: "Thus, God's hand was forced to bring out the biggest guns to drive into stark relief the images of God's poorest people, the ones that the rest of us are supposed to care about, the ones who got nary a visit from a presidential candidate last year, the ones who are supposed to disappear like ants into the hill after they've done their work: out of sight, out of mind. God's made this pretty fuckin' simple, God thinks: what you do to the least of these, you know. The last twenty-five years or so have shown that the American government wants God to live in shithole housing with no health insurance, no child care, bare bones job training, no welfare net, facing starvation, violence, and/or imprisonment at every turn. And that's a pretty shitty way to treat God."

Daily Kos: The Hall of Shame

This is an ongoing effort to document the worst in ass-covering and poor reporting from the Katrina disaster.

orleans.mov (video/quicktime Object)

This is all that needs to be said.

Chronicle Careers: 08/26/2005

On leaving the Ivory Tower, or What has Higher Education Become?

Wonkette - Hitch v. Stewart: Stewart, TKO

Wonkette - Hitch v. Stewart: Stewart, TKO Now I wish I'd seen this, but I can't stand hearing Hitchens speak anymore.

The Blog | Justin Frank: Pedaling as Fast as He Can | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Justin Frank: Pedaling as Fast as He Can | The Huffington Post A scary analysis of Bush as recovering alcoholic and that being the reason for much of his narrow-mindedness--he can't accept anything that deviates from his mind-set.

Hullabaloo

Digby has an interesting take on the politico-media elite that runs things in this post. Insightful analysis of why the media hated Hart, Clinton, Gore, et al.

The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit: "But let us not 'applaud,' as CAIR did, Graham's firing for his words. It's the same as applauding ABC for firing Bill Maher after 9/11. It'd be the same as taking Marc Maron off Air America for some of the (really funny) shit he says about fundamentalist Christians."

The Rude Pundit has it right. I think Graham's an asshole, like most of his ilk, but he probably shouldn't have been fired.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Buried alive

This is a requiem for Six Feet Under, one of the best shows ever on television. It's on Salon.com, so a subscription or ad-intensive day pass are required.

Energy Fiend � Death by Caffeine

I haven't added anything in a while, but saw this link somewhere (if I could remember where, I'd give credit where it's due). Amusing.

The Christian Paradox (Harpers.org)

The Christian Paradox (Harpers.org)

This is only an excerpt, but worth some attention. It appears that America as a Christian nation suffers from the same inaccuracy as saying that America is an educated nation, and for many of the same reasons, e.g. that most Americans would really rather be told what to think, or would rather not think at all.

Potter again

I've been doing nothing since the 6th Harry Potter book came out, outside of work, except read Harry Potter. I even watched Prisoner of Azkaban twice yesterday on cable (well, parts of it anyway). I suppose that, like last time, this transient obsession will wane (though, with a new movie coming out in November, that may not happen until sometime early in 2006). Currently, I'm re-reading the Goblet of Fire since I read that a lot of the book won't be in the November film.

On another note, anyone happening upon this blog who can tell me anything about the black kid in the Prisoner of Azkaban film who got the good lines ("like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands") while regular characters didn't, please drop me a line in the comments. Unless he's Boy 1 or Boy 2, I can't find him in the credits listed on imdb.com.

Whiskey Bar: The Liberal Disease

Whiskey Bar: The Liberal Disease

Billmon gets it just about right. It's an unfortunate truth that liberals and conservatives are not only not playing out of the same playbook, but that they're playing entirely different games.

Rove Rage - The poverty of our current scandal. By Christopher Hitchens

Rove Rage - The poverty of our current scandal. By Christopher Hitchens

Don't read the above article unless you want to gag. There's nothing worse--nothing, not a reformed smoker, not a reformed alcoholic, not even a born-again Christian who won't stop witnessing after a life spent drugging and smoking--than a reformed Trotskyite.

Christopher Hitchens has gone from stark raving moonbat to something far worse: an abject apologist for the Bush administration. The article referenced above buys into all the admin talking points som much that I wonder if Rove has somehow managed to control Hitchens' scotch-addled mind.

Fubbs

-- il mondo del Fubbs --

I hadn't been on this site in a while--since before I started blogging, in fact--and had forgotten how clever/cool the elements were.

Potter

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening reading the new Harry Potter book, and almost managed to finish by 12:30 this morning. Finished it over lunch today, and I have that feeling I get when I've gone through something that really moves me. It's the experience of loss, not at the loss of an important character, but of the experience itself, of the act of reading and genuinely feeling concerned about what happens to the characters.

20 Things That Only Happen In Movies - Nostalgia Central

20 Things That Only Happen In Movies - Nostalgia Central

This list is apparently making the rounds. Try to list as many movies as you can remember where these things happen.

The Anonymity Trap - Norm Pearlstine didn't go far enough. By Jacob Weisberg

The Anonymity Trap - Norm Pearlstine didn't go far enough. By Jacob Weisberg

The best argument against Judith Miller's protectors I've seen.

Whiskey Bar: Jail Bait

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Daily Kos: They are more like our enemy, Part II

Daily Kos: They are more like our enemy, Part II:

As indicated, this is part of a series challenging the notion that, since liberals oppose the war in Iraq, we must be friends of Al Qaida. Nothing could be further from the truth, and as this list and the previous one indicate, the right wing in the U.S. has more in common with Al Qaida than the left does.

"The reasons we hate the American Taliban are the same reasons we hate fundamentalists of all stripes -- they seek to impose their own moral code on the rest of society, and do so with the zeal and moral absolutism possible only from those who believe they are doing 'God's work'."

CHARLES DARWIN HAS A POSSE

CHARLES DARWIN HAS A POSSE -- stickers in support of evolution

Use these everywhere.

Beer Ratings, brewer, brewpub, bar, beer reviews and more

Beer Ratings, brewer, brewpub, bar, beer reviews and more

Ahhh, delicious.

Daily Kos: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

Daily Kos: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.: "Bush is at 50 percent or above in only 11 states -- Utah (63), Nebraska (60), Wyoming (58), Idaho (56), Montana (56), Alabama (54), Alaska (53), North Dakota (52), Kansas (51), Kentucky (50), Mississippi (50), and Texas (50)."

I'm kinda suprised that South Carolina is not among those, but certainly pleased that it isn't.

In other SC news, Harry Reid says Sen. Lindsey Graham would be a consensus pick for the SCOTUS. He could probably be confirmed, but it would be, I'm afraid, a loss for this state, as Graham has somehow demonstrated some sense, a trait lacking in most of South Carolina's Republican political establishment, especially Graham's counterpart in the Senate, Jim DeMint.

Salon.com | Too damn little, too damn late

Salon.com | Too damn little, too damn late

Subscription or ad-intensive day pass required.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | I Like to Watch

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | I Like to Watch: "I try as best I can to laugh along with the bad joke that American culture has become. But when you really take a close look and see how complacent we all are in the total annihilation of any standards of quality or decency or taste, it's pretty impossible not to imagine that we're at the start of a very rapid descent downward, to the bottom of the global barrel -- you know, where we belong?"

The quotation's from a TV review by Salon's resident, and often brilliant, reviewer, Heather Havrilesky. I just liked the quotation, but the complete review isn't bad either.

The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race

The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race: "Archaeologists studying the rise of farming have reconstructed a crucial stage at which we made the worst mistake in human history. Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny."

CNN.com - White House stands behind Rove over comments on liberals and terrorism - Jun 24, 2005

CNN.com - White House stands behind Rove over comments on liberals and terrorism - Jun 24, 2005

They don't apologize. Durbin shouldn't have. I never will.

Majikthise : Prof. Tim Shortell busted for online atheism

Absolutely ridiculous.: "http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2666697"

War: Realities and Myths - by Chris Hedges

War: Realities and Myths - by Chris Hedges

Lance Mannion: We can have our fear or we can have our lives

Lance Mannion:

"You know what they like to say about the terrorists? 'They hate us for our freedom.'

Well, that's why the Right hates the Left these days. We aren't as afraid as they are.

They hate us for our freedom from fear."

The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit is, indeed, rude, as this pull-quote indicates. Don't click on the link if this kind of language offends: "Calling out motherfuckers for fucking their mothers is as brutally truthful as politics gets."

Losing Our Country - New York Times

Krugman

Republican Party: White and Christian

There's a lot of flap and infighting among Democrats about Howard Dean's statement the other day that the R Party is pretty much white and Christian. Democratic politicians are in a tizzy, lambasting Dean in every major media outlet. Why? Because the Democratic Party leadership is comprised almost entirely of craven cowards. Dean is right. The R Party is predominantly white and Christian. By comparison, the Democratic Party is much more diverse. Retro v. Metro has this statistic:

The Republican Party, as represented by its affiliated lawmakers in the state legislatures, is almost 99 percent white, 82.2 percent male, and 1.1 percent minority. By contrast, Democratic state lawmakers are about 80 percent white, 72.6 percent male, and 20.1 percent minority.

According to the Pew Center for the People and the Press, only 7% of African Americans call themselves Republicans, and Hispanics are still more likely to be Democrats than Republicans. The greatest gain for Republicans among Hispanics? Protestant Hispanics who consider themselves evangelicals. Also according to Pew, more white Christians identify themselves as Republicans than as Democrats. That ratio is close to 2:1 among Protestants and greater than 2:1 among evangelicals. Jews, African American Christians, and those professing no religion run Democratic. See this report for more.

According to Paul Begala (link at Liberal Oasis), The only population groups in which majorities say the president is concentrating on issues important to them are Republicans, Evangelical White Protestants, Conservatives and better off Americans.

So where does that leave Dean and the Democrats? He's right. He knows it. They know it. And the American People know it. So Democrats, if you want to remain in the minority for the forseeable future, keep attacking Dean and each other, instead of the Republicans.

Rewriting History

American Prospect Online - ViewWeb

This article deals with how the right's rewriting of Watergate slides into their rewriting of the history of the 1990s. Revisionist history, indeed.

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant - Weekend Review - Times Online

Richard Dawkins strikes again.

Supreme Court Outlaws Use Of Marijuana For Medical Reasons

So Much for Federalism

Just give me that old-time atheism!

TheStar.com - An article by Salman Rushdie

Jefferson/Hemmings and the Horsey Set

From History News Network:

A thoroughbred owner filed a
federal lawsuit seeking the right to name a 2-year-old filly after Sally
Hemings, the slave who was the reputed mistress of Thomas Jefferson. The
Jockey Club, which regulates the naming of thoroughbred racehorses, denied
use of the name on grounds that Hemings was a famous or notorious person,
requiring stewards' approval. "Naming a thoroughbred horse 'Sally Hemings'
may be offensive to persons of African descent and other ethnic groups" and
may be offensive to Hemings' descendants, Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of
The Jockey Club, wrote in a letter last year. Garrett Redmond filed suit
last week in U.S. District Court, seeking to force the Jockey Club to let
him use the name and allow the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to let him
race the filly under the name. "To name a horse after someone is an honor,"
said Redmond, owner of Ballycapple, a farm in Paris, Ky. "I have a horse
here named after my wife." Redmond, a history buff, thought the proposed
name was perfect, since the filly's mother is a mare named Jefferson's
Secret, who in turn was fathered by a stallion named Colonial Affair.

Link (Scroll down to 5/30/05)

Idiot du jour, redux

Well, the American "Family" Association wants to boycott Ford because Jaguar is giving money to support "the gay agenda" (which I support). I'm not a Ford fan by any stretch, but I do like Jaguar, Volvo, and Mazda (all Ford partners or subsidiaries) so rush out and buy a couple if you can. And get one for me while you're out.

By the way, even though I have a winner of today's idiot du jour, I'm giving another award just to catch up for the days I missed.

Idiots du jour: Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Human Events Online has this list of harmful books, so the judges win my idiot du jour award (not awarded lately due to slackness; sorry). Check out the list, and then read (some of) the books. Not all of them are harmless; some are no-brainers for a list of bad influences, like Mein Kampf or Mao's Little Red Book, but to put Mill's On Liberty or Friedan's Feminine Mystique on the list is abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. If this list of books doesn't give you an idea of the sheer ignorance progressives are up against, nothing will.

Orson Scott Card redux

This story about Orson Scott Card (see my previous article on the death of Star Trek) sets my mind at ease, as he's apparently an idiot of some kind, or some kind or rightwinger. (Same thing, n'est-ce pas?)

Phil Spector on Trial

Wow.

"Right wing bloggers howl. . ."

Salon.com Politics

I'm not keen on the filibuster deal, but if the right is as upset as this article indicates (along with many others I've not linked to), I could learn to like it.

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame

I must go there.

The Press

This comic says more about the state of the modern DC press corps than any blogger has, or at least says it better.

I am a Scientific American

It's also a magazine, as we all know, and it has an article addressing "creationist nonsense." Good for them.

Letter to the Editor

I write the occasional letter to the editor of our local paper here, the Greenville News, but it usually takes them so long to publish them when I write that I'm now going to put them on the blog first, so here you go:

Jonah Goldberg, following George Bush, argues that the U.S. betrayed Eastern Europe at the end of World War II at the Yalta Conference. He fails to acknowledge the historical reality that Eastern Europe was already under the control of the Soviet Union, which had thousands of troops there, fresh from defeating the Nazis. It would have required another war to remove them by force. Thousands would have died, perhaps millions if the U.S. had chosen to use atomic bombs in Eastern Europe or Russia. The bomb was still a well-kept secret; Roosevelt would have been foolish to use it as a bargaining chip to get the Russians out of Eastern Europe.

By overlooking history and painting Franklin D. Roosevelt as a traitor to Eastern Europe, Goldberg seeks to tarnish the image of the 20^th century’s greatest president. By doing so, he can undermine faith in Roosevelt’s other accomplishments, particularly Social Security. Roosevelt’s greatest achievement, saving capitalism itself in the United States, is never mentioned by his many detractors on the right, Goldberg included.

If Goldberg wants the U.S. to apologize for something, he should go to Central America, where Cold War policies of Republican presidents caused the CIA-led overthrow of an elected government in Guatemala (1954) or to the support of death squads and the attempted overthrow of an elected government in El Salvador and Nicaragua, respectively (1980s). Why select only the politically and militarily necessary consequences of Yalta for criticism instead of more outrageous breaches of human rights and international law? It’s obvious that the politics of 2005 are more at issue here than the history of 1945.

It was longer at first, but I had to cut it for publication. In the future, I'll post the longer versions.

Disturbing toys

These toys are designed to look like the ones you see in grocery stores. They are real toys re-packaged in disturbing combinations.

Moyers

Bill Moyers, whom I've long admired, rips the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a well-deserved new one. Under its new chair, a Bush appointee and partisan flack with a history of trying to undermine any alternative voice for this nation, the CPB has become a tool of the right wing. Moyers gave a speech to the National Conference for Media Reform the other day, and it's simply brilliant. Thanks to my ACLU colleague Roger Rollin, for the link.

The Future: Doom and Gloom edition

This interview with author James Howard Kunstler discusses his new book, The Long Emergency, which argues that the U.S. (and the world) are slowly heading toward a future in which the economic boom fueled (pun intended) by oil will ultimately end. The biggest casualty in the U.S. will be the suburbs, where one is able to live an urban life in a rural setting only because of one’s use of and dependence on oil. It’s a scary scenario not because I may live to see it (though I may) but because my children will live to see it. Kunstler sees little to no possibility of a new, cheap, energy source anytime in the near future, and it’s entirely possible that being able to shoe horses may be a more valuable skill than being able to set up a wireless network.

Also of interest in the interview is the discussion of the real estate boom and coming bust. Kunstler says that the real estate bubble is “a consequence of capital desperately seeking a way to increase in an industrial economy that has ceased to grow. America is no longer producing wealth in the conventional sense. And so the housing bubble is a way for residual capital to produce wealth. But like all bubbles, it's a delusional thing that will probably end in tears.”

It’s a disturbing view of the future: it rejects unfounded optimism, technology, and globalism. I won’t miss suburbia; in fact, I hate it with a passion. The identi-houses, ever-increasing traffic problems, new subdivisions being built on top of farms and fields with histories going back thousands of years, all fill me with dread and a desire to wipe the map clean. However, I’ve also always been a fan of technology and have been optimistic about the prospects for the future, no matter how bad the present gets.

I'm a liberal

Well, I knew it already, but the Pew Center is doing an online political typology survey in which you respond to some questions and it will tell you where you stand politically. Worth a few minutes of your time.

Arrrmy Training, Sir

Kos has a story on a federal job posting for what amounts to an MP -- for $60,000/yr. This is the current Army pay scale:

Private: $13,711
Private E-2: $14,822
Private First Class: $17,475
Specialist/Corporal: $19,352
Sergeant: $21,108
Staff Sergeant: $23,040
Sergeant First Class: $26,640

Outrageous!

Rats! (also, idiots du jour)

HBO has cancelled Carnivale, complete with unresolved cliff-hanger. It looks like Evil wins, in more ways than one. HBO execs win the idiot du jour award.

How a Typical Workday Can Seem More Important When Modeled As a Great Era in Western Civilization

From McSweeney's.

No More Star Trek (?)

Orson Scott Card has an op-ed in the LA Times about the demise of Star Trek, which he thinks is not that bad a thing. Trek has matured, and the Trek universe has grown quite a bit since 1966-69. Card might be on to something as far as the sophisication of the audience, and certainly as to the sophistication of what's available on the small (and large) screens. He uses ABC's Lost as an example. I would point to HBO's Carnivale as another. However, Star Trek's woes have been in execution, not in the lack of a coherent mythos, especially since (I would argue) the introduction of the Borg in TNG. The Gul Dukat/Sisko story line that permeated all of DS-9's run was a really good example of threading, and the show also was able to tell some pretty good stories. Card may have been disappointed in Voyager and Enterprise, as I was as well, for many reasons. But even those shows had their moments, particularly when they merged with the universe that the original Star Trek created and that The Next Generation and DS-9 elaborated.

Chapelle's Show Delayed

I'm really bummed. No reason given. Link.

Neat Confiscations

Click here to bid on a bunch of stuff the NTSA has confiscated from hapless travelers. Interesting assortments of knives, scissors, implements, utensils, etc.

Oh No!

It looks like I support THE GAY AGENDA!

Idiot du jour

Today's idiots: Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who rewrote Democratic amendments to a law to make it look like Democrats were protecting sexual abusers of children. What a-holes!

Narrative Threading on T.V.

This article from the New York Times Magazine discusses how narrative threading techniques from soap operas combined with tough story lines to improve television drama. Hill Street Blues is hailed as the first prime time drama that effectively combined multiple story lines with many characters (like Dallas did) with meaningful and powerful plots and themes (like Dallas didn't).

The article goes on to discuss "flashing arrows," the narrative device used to explain things that the audience isn't likely to understand: "Don't touch that, or we'll be blown to bits!" or something like that. There's a lot less of that nowadays, which is good, because it presumes an intelligent audience.

Lots more in the article. The author, Steven Johnson, has a book coming out entitled Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.

Update: Dana Stevens (aka Liz Penn) over at Slate has a rejoinder to the Johnson article.

Idiot du jour, Monday, April 26

The Army Office of Inspector General, in a blowout!

I'm Back

Lots of work this week finishing up the manuscript. Will print tomorrow and Thursday, with aims of getting it in the mail by Friday. UPF has some interesting formatting requirements that I didn't remember from the first time I sent it off, so I had to make some changes I didn't expect. Anyway, one more ream (less 65 sheets) and I'm done.

No hot links today, but I'll post an idiot du jour soon. So many idiots, so little time.

I couldn't resist

Click here and click on the thumb.

New Feature: Idiot du jour

Today's winners, in a tie: Rick Santorum and the morons at Accuweather. They want to cut off public access to the National Weather Service's forecasts. Link.

The Creative Class

A good interview with Richard Florida on the creative class and the impact on the economy. (Registration or day pass req'd.)

Another Reason to Hate Microsoft

This post at Americablog details how Microsoft has abandoned support for gay rights legislation in its home state of Washington, apparently because some idiot right-wing religious zealot threatened them with a boycott. What are they gonna do, go to Apple (which does support gay rights) or move to Linux (which the narrow-between-the-eyes set can't figure out anyway)? That Microsoft blinked at this meaningless threat is disturbing in the extreme. I expect Hell-Mart to support right-wing issues, but the Tech field is filled with a much more diverse population, and for Microsoft to cave like that is not only absurd, it's ridiculous.

Individual-i

A new site, and idea, to promote the rights of individuals.

Coulter

I can't stand Ann Coulter, but I can't write as well as James Wolcott, so I'll just link to what he has to say about her and Time magazine.

Juan Cole has it right:

"Universities are about skewering sacred cows. Anyone who doesn't want their views challenged or their feelings hurt should stay away from them. If you can't handle an intellectual challenge, you shouldn't be on campus."

See the whole article, which is about why he's cancelling his subscription to the New York Times, here.

My Language

Your Linguistic Profile:

45% General American English

40% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Haplogroups

National Geographic is doing a project in which individuals can trace their ancestry back to a common African ancestor. See more here. Very cool.

uh, yeah

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The worst job in the court of Henry VIII -- other than queen -- may have been "groom of the stool." Link

So Gay

So, it seems that rightwing consultants can love, and get married, even to fellow males, by taking advantage of one of our more intelligent states. I'm happy for the guy (Arthur Finkelstein), but a little irritated that in order to make money, he helped bring Jesse Helms to power and keep him there.

Hypocrisy? You decide.

AP

Lots of stuff on the AP photo pulitzer, but the rightwing reaction, especially by Powerline, is taken to task by Athenae at First Draft. Awesome.

I'm also into cars. This one's from the Euro 2004 Auto Show held at the BMW facility in Greer (Greenville-Spartanburg) SC. While I'm at it, the relationship between cars and politics was covered in this NY Times article (registration req'd.) I drive a Honda Odyssey, which skewed highest in the minivan category for Democratic drivers.

Schiavo

I can't put it any better. Also here.

Science

New Scientist has a list of 13 scientific phenomena that cannot be explained, including the possibility of life on Mars, why the universe seems to have a consistent temperature (even though it would require speeds faster than light to accomplish that, given our current knowledge), etc. Worth a look.

This is my first post

Greetings. I thought I would have more to say at this point, but just coming up with a name was taxing enough. I can't guarantee that I'll post frequently, but I'll post as often as I can. Don't let the name fool you. I won't be posting on the history of Harry Potter puns, nor on history exclusively. That was just the name I came up with after the first two I chose were rejected. My interests, beyond history, include politics (of the left-wing variety), TV, books, music (a little), and to some extent sports. I don't claim to be an expert on any of the above, with the exception of the history of the civil rights movement in South Carolina. Beyond that, I'm just a semi-well-informed amateur.

Cheers.