Month: May 2005

. . . then it’s an honor not to be an “investigative journalist.” Cam Edwards (of NRANews) reports that the keynote speaker at this year’s Investigative Reporters and Editors conference is none other than Dan Rather: If this doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the media, I don’t know what will. And…

For my dose of Friday the Thirteenth nostalgia, I’m watching Eraserhead. It’s a 1977 film I hadn’t seen in many years, and I forgot how genuinely weird and inventive it is. The baby: At the centre of this mechanical world is Henry (Jack Nance), one of Lynch’s many alter egos, who is a mixture of…

Iowahawk answers a vexing local question which I’m reporting entirely out of context: Why is New Jersey the butt of so many cruel jokes? I recommend traveling there by car. You?ll see many charming, well-kept towns, filled with attractive, friendly, intelligent people. Then, when you finally arrive at the New Jersey border, you will understand…

I mentioned Michael Gazzaniga and his new book the other day, and thought it was so fascinating that I should plug it again. Judging from the on-line example I’ve seen, it reminds me somewhat of Oliver Sacks territory. Neurological disorders are both fascinating and appalling, particularly when they present a first impression of normalcy. The…

I found an intriguing household tip from Tom Brennan on what to do if you need to open a sealed envelope without ruining it: Put in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a knife under the flap. The envelope can then be resealed. It’s perfectly legal to do this as long as long…

Increasingly, we are surrounded by people who write and speak to a single constituency – their own. So says Cal Thomas, of all people, about “the blogosphere.” The above comes (via Glenn Reynolds) from John Hawkins, who asks what’s changed since Cal Thomas’s more favorable view of the blogosphere a couple of months ago. Is…

What’s the Bolton fuss about? I agree with John Cole that the Bolton appointment won’t have all that much effect on the U.N., and while I’ve been completely unimpressed (to put it mildly) by the merits of the attacks against Bolton, the manic way these largely groundless attacks were sexed up got my attention. I…

Only one week to go till the final Star Wars movie. How the time flew. Seems like only yesterday it was 1977. In honor of the historic event we’ll hit a few Star Wars related sites, just for the hell of it. First up, The Darth Side. Some people don’t think it’s funny. To help…

Here’s something which ought to be obvious to anybody, but which apparently isn’t. Your blog can actually be read by anyone — including prospective employers: Cell phone callers connect with one person at a time while bloggers put their lives on the Internet for dozens to follow. Some of the online diarists document everything from…

Via Ace at The Pryhills, I found an excellent column by David Brooks, who finds optimism alive and well — and living right in the middle of the “Culture War.” It should be read in its entirety, but I can’t resist sharing these excerpts: it’s becoming clear that we are seeing the denouement of one…

Poor old Puff has just about everything wrong with him right now, and it’s really painful to be in a state of denial mixed with rage. It is not easy having to lose a fifteen year friend, and Puff’s death will mark the end of a particular dynasty of dogs I bred myself beginning back…

I’ve just returned from a secret indoctrination session and am just a few short steps from Neo-Condom. Is that the right term? Hmm … I have been Neo-Condemned. No, that’s not it either. Perhaps I’ve joined the Neo-Conspiracy. Or so some of our readers would like to think. I did attend a talk on the…

Via the Longevity Meme I found this heartening and amusing discussion between George Khushf and Christine Peterson. Here are a few lines from Ms. Peterson’s part of the presentation. I particularly admire the concreteness and simplicity of her examples. Let’s look, for a moment, at a longer-term issue, which is this question of extending the…

The 138th Carnival of the Vanities has been posted at a delightful blog (which I’m honored to add to the blogroll) called Cynical Nation. Host Barry N. Johnson describes himself as “a southern, small-l libertarian still trying to adjust to life in the New York City area.” Just thinking about such a plight is enough…

I first heard it on the radio, and now Drudge is running a major headline: U.S. FIGHTER JETS FLYING ABOVE WHITE HOUSE… The U.S. Capitol and White House were evacuated Wednesday and alarms range through the buildings. War planes were seen flying overhead and security cars rushed away from the building. Reporters in the White…

On top of anti-Republican prejudice noted before, I now see clear evidence of regional prejudice emanating from Dave Winer: We should return the favor and host an open blogging conference in a blue state, and import some of the south’s most famous bloggers. Before the conference we should make sure that the most flamey left-wing…

Al-Qaida didn’t inflict abortion on demand (including the horror of partial-birth abortion) on this nation. Nor did it open the floodgates of pornography – or make it harder to interrogate and hold suspected terrorists. Osama bin Laden isn’t trying to deconstruct the American family by imposing same-sex marriage on us. — Don Feder Hmmm…… Does…

Glenn Reynolds has noticed what’s beginning to appear to have all the earmarks of a delay. It has now been 100 days since John Kerry vowed to sign his form 180. But hey, at least the man has offered a decent explanation for the delay: ask not whether Senator John F. Kerry has signed his…

Amidst the huge stories involving local (Philadelphia) corruption, it’s a wonder the LA Times report on the Rosen trial ever made its way into today’s Philadelphia Inquirer: LOS ANGELES – A former finance director for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign will go on trial in federal court today on charges of lying about the cost…

As a person who hates rules, I loved this: Right now, Gordon and I blog under an unspoken code of human beings, which I’m sure is broader than the journalistic code of ethics. I would hate for us to aim lower in our standards. (Via Glenn Reynolds.) I often speak of my own low standards,…