[There used to be an image here, but it has sadly disappeared due to internet rot] Somewhat strangely, when President Obama took office, he opted to eschew tradition and not change anything about the decor of the Oval Office. Well, while the president was on vacation last week, he finally put his own personal stamp on the office. The Oval got new furniture, a new rug and new wallpaper. He kept the pictures of Washington and Lincoln, as well as the desk (“The Resolute”). What’s interesting, however, is not the new decor (stately, yet bland—I actually really...
Continue reading...August 2010
No more printed Oxford English Dictionary?
Sad news for bibliophiles: The Oxford English Dictionary as we know it may never be printed (in full) again. Nigel Portwood, the CEO of the Oxford University Press, told the Sunday Times (behind a pay-wall, damn you Murdoch), via the Telegraph: “The print dictionary market is just disappearing, it is falling away by tens of per cent a year,” Nigel Portwood, the chief executive of OUP, told the Sunday Times. Asked if he thought the third edition would be printed, he said: “I don’t think so.” The current printed dictionary, the second edition, which was released in...
Continue reading...Great Moments in Campaign Advertising: What has Nixon done for me?
Since you may have never seen a Hubert Humphrey advertisement. For a little background, most of Humphrey’s advertising was negative, since he was in the uncomfortable position of being the sitting vice president in a terribly unpopular administration (and had been nominated above other Democrats who were far more popular, despite winning zero primaries). So, the general aim of the campaign was the paint Nixon as out of the loop and untrustworthy. Here, we see a tactic that pre-dated Karl Rove by decades. Nixon’s biggest strength, at least in his last run in 1960, was his experience....
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’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. This is a daily feature dedicated to these folks: one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from David \”Yawny-Pants\” Brooks, who in his column \”Nation Building Works,\” actually encapsulates the fragile...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Good morning, folks. Bristol Palin and David Hasselhoff are going dancing. Now, your morning constitutional: The war is over. Reliable security, a functioning moderate West Bank government, and a growing Palestinian economy are encouraging signs as preparations intensify for a Palestinian-Israeli summit at the White House on Thursday. Mexico fires 3,200 police officers as it invokes new rules to weed out corruption. Hurricane Earl, now at Category 4 strength after edging Puerto Rico, moves toward the U.S. east coast and could affect the Carolina coast later this week. As the military deals with more overweight and physically...
Continue reading...Late Summer Book Review
The plus side of my rainy Cape Cod trip was that I had plenty of time for reading. I finished two of the books that I brought with me (the one I won’t write about today is Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, which I thought was good but not great). This was the one I liked better: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver As a former English major, I always have trouble naming favorite books or authors– just too many to choose from. But Kingsolver has been high on my list since high school, when my mom first introduced...
Continue reading...A Complete History of the Soviet Union Arraged to the Melody of Tetris
This is pretty bad-ass. From the YouTube description: Buy the whole album at http://www.pigfaceboy.co.uk Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pigfaceboy A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris. Music by “Pig With The Face Of A Boy” Written and performed by DONALD NEWHOLM and DAN WOODS, with MALCOLM GAYNER & ROBIN HARRIS Photographed by TIM JORDAN Costumes by LUCY NEWHOLM Production assistant NICOLA LINCÉ Special thanks to JAMES LAMONT and REMY LAMONT Produced by CHRIS LINCÉ and DAN WOODS for the ‘Musical Comedy Lab\’ Directed, animated, and edited by...
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’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. This is a daily feature dedicated to these folks: one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Ross \”Do That Thing\” Douthat, who in his column \”Mr. Beck Goes to Washington,\”...
Continue reading...Stay Classy
From the GW Hatchet, the George Washington University newspaper: Though the rally was a mostly peaceful gathering, two rally attendees got into a heated argument with an employee at the GW Deli over the D.C. bag tax, which ultimately resulted in the tea party member throwing a sandwich in the deli employee’s face. The GW Deli declined to comment on the issue. The D.C. bag tax is a fee levied on disposable bags from stores and restaurants. It costs five cents per bag.
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Monday, 30 August 2010
Good morning, everybody. Modern Family and Mad Men are apparently really good shows. Now, your morning constitutional: Hurricane Earl is strengthening into a major hurricane as it moves into the Caribbean, and is forecast to become a Category 3 today as it moves toward Puerto Rico. The storm could affect areas on the U.S. East Coast over Labor Day weekend. Even as much of China\’s growth is the result of private businesses, it is China\’s state-owned companies that are the growing fastest, in large part because of state-bank spending and stimulus measures. Officials in Pakistan say that...
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