Archive for 2007

SAUCE FOR THE GANDER: A new environmental proposal from Joshua Sharf.

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SO FATHER’S DAY was at my dad’s house at the lake, where my brother and his girlfriend prepared a very nice dinner for my dad and the rest of us. The Insta-Daughter and a cousin went canoeing on the lake, the rest of us hung out, and a good time was had by all.

I’m lucky to have my father around — he had his first heart attack nearly 15 years ago — but he’s doing very well, and he and Helen swap ICD gossip whenver they’re together. Helen’s dad hasn’t been with us for a while, and we went to his grave to lay flowers earlier today. She does that every year at Father’s Day, his birthday, and a few other special occasions. So many family members and former students, etc., have left things there that I joke it looks like Jim Morrison’s gravesite. . .

I hope that you had a good Father’s Day as well. See you tomorrow!

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THOUGHTS ON MASCULINITY AND THE FUTURE, from Phil Bowermaster.

THERE’S BEEN LOTS OF COVERAGE OF THE NIFONG CASE, but K.C. Johnson’s blog is still the place to go.

REMEMBER ME?

A RADICAL PREDICTION for Internet Economy: “Here is a radical idea: People start paying for things again.”

BBC REPORTS THAT BBC is biased:

The report concludes BBC staff must be more willing to challenge their own beliefs.

It reads: “There is a tendency to ‘group think’ with too many staff inhabiting a shared space and comfort zone.”

A staff impartiality seminar held last year is also documented in the report, at which executives admitted they would broadcast images of the Bible being thrown away but not the Koran, in case Muslims were offended.

During the seminar a senior BBC reporter criticised the corporation for being anti-American.

Admitting the problem is the first step.

MAHMOUD WANTS WAR.

LOOKING LIKE ANTS. Just don’t step on the hill.

MICHAEL YON EMAILS: “This is a very serious offensive kicking off in Iraq. The NYT realizes it’s serious, but nobody that I am seeing realizes just how big this is. Relatively massive.”

LISTEN TO THE GENERALS.

TRENT LOTT, POSTER BOY: “This is undoubtedly the creepiest photoshop I’ve ever created.”

Plus, more on the “Blathersphere”: “Don’t consider it a threat; consider it an intervention.”

I BET WE’LL SEE THIS: Google bike maps.

HAPPY HURRICANE SEASON:

In recent interviews with The Miami Herald and other media, Proenza has strongly criticized leaders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for spending millions of dollars on a public-relations campaign while hurricane forecasters deal with budget shortfalls.

One of his main concerns has been the imminent demise of a key weather satellite called QuikScat, launched in 1999 and long past its designed lifetime.

No replacement currently is in development and the loss of QuikScat could diminish the accuracy of some hurricane forecasts by up to 16 percent, Proenza and other experts have said.

Government response: Tell Proenza to shut up! Well, it’s cheaper than a new satellite. (Via hurricane-blogger Brendan Loy).

THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL is sinking into the swamp. This should provide a lovely opening paragraph / metaphor for columns on all sorts of topics.

BOB BECKEL: “There’s something about Harry Reid and the left of bloggers that has gotten, there’s a marriage gone on there. I mean, frankly I think they got much too much influence over him.”

Nonsense. Just look at Reid’s approval ratings.

STATE FARM IS MY INSURANCE COMPANY, and based on Trent Lott’s selfish, vindictive campaign to get them when they wouldn’t pay after he declined the applicable insurance, I’m happy to give them my money. Some policyholders might claim they didn’t understand, but Lott, as a longtime insurance-industry water-carrier, shouldn’t be allowed that excuse. Now he’s after them?

Lott’s an embarrassment to Mississippi, to the Republican Party, and to America.

A GAZA ROUNDUP from Noah Pollak.

SAM DINKIN: “I just got a call purporting to be from the American Civil Liberties Union. Before they got going, they said, ‘This call may be monitored for quality assurance.”