Sometimes you have to hand it to Slate to answer the questions you have but forget about too quickly to actually research. When reading about the arrests of the Hutaree militia group members who had planned an attack against law enforcement professionals, it was mentioned (in the headline and the body) that they were charged with attempting to use “weapons of mass destruction,” but the stories explained that they had planned on using Improvised Explosive Devices, which are generally conventional in nature. “Weapons of mass destruction” is a term that is generally used to describe nuclear, biological...
Continue reading...March 2010
New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas Friedman, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is just a sad one from Maureen Dowd: The church gave up its credibility for Lent. Holy Thursday and Good Friday are now becoming...
Continue reading..."Well now I feel the pain of racism"
I’d never heard of Doc Thompson until today. The only reference I can find of him in a very quick Google search is that he hosts some talk radio program out of Richmond, Virginia. However, apparently he was given the reins of Glenn Beck’s radio program yesterday and decided to make a name for himself. The type of name that will resonate with the Glenn-Beckers and Tea Partiers and nutters out there. Perhaps the type of name that will rescue him from Richmond and land him a gig on Fox News. That is, at the very least,...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Good morning, folks. Jesse James is going to rehab, there will be a Hangover sequel, and Matt Damon is going to guest star on 30 Rock. Now, your morning constitutional: The Obama administration will propose opening large swathes of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to natural gas and oil exploration and drilling. The price of oil has risen over the last year, mostly a result of investor activity. The New York Times, however, reports that oil prices are stable and are at a good place for the world economy. The Serbian Parliament passed a resolution condemning the...
Continue reading...Why are novels so long?
Charles Stross has a really interesting explanation for why novels are the length they are: Once a trend like that becomes established, it’s hard to stop. Put yourself in the position of a bored browser in front of a supermarket wire-rack, contemplating novels by two authors you’ve never read. They both cost the same, and you have enough pocket money to buy one. The year is 1980; LibraryThing or other internet resources aren’t available. How do you make your mind up? Well, you remember what you’ve heard about the authors, and you look at the cover painting,...
Continue reading...I'm sorta disgusted.
I was fed up with the actions and rhetoric of the left when Bush was in office, despite sharing many of their concerns. I’m fed up with the current tactics of the right, and share none of their concerns. And yes, sadly, I’m still fed up with the left. I’m having trouble understanding how we move forward from such insanity. President Obama answered the question quite diplomatically this morning, as he often does. Noting that there is a divide in the ‘tea party’* movement between the truly insane(birthers, etc…) and the more rational(deficit hawks, etc…) he thinks...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas Friedman, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. From David Brooks\’s kind-of-silly column today about happiness: The United States is much richer than it was 50 years ago, but this has produced no...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Good morning, everybody. Ricky\’s gay, Sandra\’s dumping Jesse, but, worry not!, Heidi and Spencer are staying together. Now, your morning constitutional: President Obama will sign changes to student lending into law today. The changes will replace the current system of the government giving loans through private lenders and instead provide loans directly to students. The CERN Large Hadrom Collider succeeded Tuesday morning in colliding particles at three times the highest energy levels ever recorded. Of course, I have absolutely no idea what that means. Members of the League for Democracy Party in Myanmar voted to skip the country\’s...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas Friedman, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. And today\’s from Ross \”Do that thang\” Douthat, in today\’s column \”A Time for Contrition,\” in which he inexplicably partially blames psychiatry for the Catholic...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Monday, 29 March 2010
Good morning, folks. Butler, West Virginia, Duke and Michigan State: What in the—? Anyways, here\’s your morning constitutional: President Obama made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Sunday to meet with President Karzai and address the troops stationed there. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro subway trains this morning, killing at least 36. A federal appeals court ruled Friday that three police officers were justified in using a Taser on a pregnant woman who they stopped for a traffic violation. An obituary for \’Cap and Trade.\’ Seven have been arrested in Michigan, Ohio...
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