I’ve been intending for a while to start writing some book reviews for the blog, but hadn’t gotten to it yet. And now it’s summer, which is always the Season of Reading for me, because in my mind if not reality, summer is still vacation time, which obviously means curling up with a good book on the couch, on the beach, in the car, and so forth. If you’re casting about for something to read, here are a couple I’ve read recently and highly recommend: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. This book is superb, and I don’t say...
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Justice Ginsburg on Roe and more
I would have loved to have heard Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in person when she spoke recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival, but I’ll have to content myself with reading excerpts from the conversation she had with Jeffrey Rosen. Justice Ginsburg, who was introduced by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, described herself as a “flaming feminist” and talked eloquently about the economic realities of abortion rights, among other subjects. (Quotes courtesy of these two articles on the event) ~On her husband Marty, who recently passed away after 56 years of marriage: He “was the first boy I...
Continue reading...Oh noes! Traficant's comeback bid thwarted by one of the most ridiculous of roadblocks
Oh Mr. Traficant, maybe among my favorite of former disgraced congressman, I have to admit this news makes me terribly sad: Former U.S. Rep. and convicted felon James Traficant’s improbable bid to return to Congress appears to have ended before it began. The Ohio Democrat, who spent seven years in prison on a bribery and racketeering conviction, fell about 100 names short of the necessary number of signatures to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate in Ohio’s 17th congressional district, according to Trumbull County Board of Elections official Jodi Dibble. Traficant had submitted 4,000 signatures...
Continue reading...Males' tears make them more attractive to the ladies
Seriously: A guy who can shed a tear really can drive females wild—among mice, at least. According to a new study, male mouse tears contain a sex pheromone called ESP1, which makes female mice more receptive to mounting. … Male mice shed tears to keep their eyes from drying out. As they groom themselves, the tears—and the pheromone—get spread around their bodies and nests. When female mice come in contact with a male or his nest, they pick up the pheromone via a nose organ called the vomeronasal, where the pheromone binds to a specific protein receptor....
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Good morning, everyone. We’re back from vacation, so here’s your morning constitutional: Bronislaw Komorowski, the pro-business rival to the late President Lech Kaczynski, was elected President in Poland yesterday, beating out the former president’s twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski. BP has cleaned up a lot less oil so far than it had promised it would. The Obama administration’s economic team wants more stimulus spending to get the economy moving, while the political arm isn’t so sure. Do American’s hate soccer? Maybe not: The U.S.-Ghana game was watched by over 19.4m Americans, more than watched last year’s World Series,...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
Hi (virtual) friends, I’m sorry for my recent absence, but not TOO sorry — I’ve been in sunny California, and it is marvelous. Mountains, oceans, cool breezes, lots of good food… it’s been wonderfully vacation-y. And yet, I am still making time to share this gorgeous poem with you. It is by W.S. Merwin, who was just named the new U.S. Poet Laureate, a job the Library of Congress describes as “the nation’s official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans.” Merwin currently lives atop a dormant volcano in Maui; it’s unclear whether he will relocate...
Continue reading...Baby not smiling because she likes you
Slate asks “Why Do Babies Smile?” But research from the last couple of decades shows there’s more to it. Smiling typically develops around six to eight weeks, a time when a baby spends her days gazing at faces, and when her vision widens to take in the whole face, not just the eyes. It’s unclear if there’s any emotion embedded in these very early smiles or what they mean, if anything, to the infant. Daniel Messinger, a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, suspects that these first smiles teach infants the positive associations attached to...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Good morning, everybody. Could there really be a Lego movie? Now, your morning constitutional: Legendary broadcaster Larry King will leave his show this fall after 25 years. Hurricane Alex, the first June hurricane since 1995, is moving westward through the Gulf of Mexico and is on course to hit Mexico and southern Texas, but nowhere near the oil spill cleanup efforts. The German presidential election goes into a second round today, as Christian Wulff won the first round, but not by a large enough margin to secure victory. The voting takes place in an electoral college by...
Continue reading...Sharron Angle and "God's Plan"
No wonder she’s trying to avoid the news-folk. Sharron Angle may have spouted some radically conservative ideas and convictions since becoming a candidate for Senate, but this has to take the cake: In a segment that has gone unnoticed since it first aired, the Tea Party-backed candidate told the Bill Manders show — a favorable platform for Republican candidates — that she opposed abortion even in cases of rape and incest. A pregnancy under those circumstances, she said, was “God’s plan.” Okay, sure, her opponent Harry Reid is pro-life as well, so maybe it doesn’t seem like...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "Vincent and the Doctor"
Doctor: “Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly, and in the proper order?” “Vincent and the Doctor” was a lovely episode, full of great moments, and the tone felt appropriate after last week’s loss of Rory. Amy is in mourning though she doesn’t even realize it, and she finally makes a human connection with Vincent that I think has been lacking for her all season. As the Doctor joked, a child produced by Amy and Vincent would have been the ultimate ginger… Written by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, etc.), this episode...
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