My immediate response to the new “guidelines” announced by Ashcroft yesterday was negative (I confess that I have a knee-jerk reaction to the A-G; if he’s for it, I’m agin’ it); Nicholas Kristof of the NYT has a more reasoned response from my side of the issue. Anybody need a bulletproof (actually bulletproof, not in …
In light of the events of the past couple of days, I had a rather odd thought this morning; it occurred to me that the only useful thing to come out of the LA riots 10 years ago may have been Rodney King’s plaintive plea, “Can’t we all just get along?” Granted, he’s not a …
I feel I should say something about the controversy roiling the blogosphere today, so here goes: Trust is an imperative in all personal relationships and interactions, and the trust of many folks in this community has been badly damaged by the inexplicable (at least to me) actions of one man. I have no idea what …
It’s ailing dog week, apparently (see Batgrl’s entry et seq.); the vet just found four small but suspicious lumps on our beastie. He wants to do full-on excisions rather than biopsies, on the theory that once the pooch is anesthetized, you’re already halfway into the process, so why not go ahead and cut? This is …
I made it! Y’all shoulda seen me re-publishing each old entry individually, since I misunderstood the import instructions. The thing defaults to the same status your new entries have, and since I always start out in “draft,” well… Oh, well…the Yankees/Red Sox game got out of hand early anyway.
Lest one forget how amazing a feat it was, Lindbergh’s flight (which ended in Paris 75 years ago Tuesday) is recounted here. I’ve seen that airplane; when I think of all the flight hours I’ve got in its descendants, I can only shake my head. Thinking of a slightly smaller plane? Try
Here’s an innovative idea for old computers: use ’em as projectors for all those digital photos. In fact, if a digital camera is calling to you, I recommend the entire NYT Circuits section this week; it’s chock-full of potentially useful articles, including one about help for chocoholics! How can one equate Big Bang theory with …
I bought the domain name linkmeister.com today. Kinda catchy, yeah? I found about four others I’d like to have for business purposes; that search and register process can be seductive! Asking patients if they are currently sad or depressed sounds well and good, but I wonder if the Prozac-makers are behind the study? I’ve liked …
R.I.P. Stephen Jay Gould. I have only one quibble about the obit…”In 1967, he received a doctorate…” Surely he earned it? Also in a scientific vein: a conversation with an anthropologist who studies nuclear scientists. I have a college buddy who works for DOE at Los Alamos, so… Seguing neatly (?) into medical history, here’s …
If there are any “Fresh Air” listeners out there, here’s the website of Geoff Nunberg, the linguist who occasionally does a piece on language for the show. There was apparently quite a flap about the piece he recently did disputing the premise of Bernard Goldberg’s “Bias” claiming network news departments tilt toward the political left. …