June 2005 Archives

Andrew Sullivan summarizes the Air Force Report on religious coercion at the Air Force Academy. Somehow it does not appear that Christians are the are the people at risk of oppression in modern America, despite the rhetoric of the Republican Party.

Workplace Fairness: today's workplace: it's everyone's job

Workplace Fairness explains how your Blog can get you fired, and there's nothing you can do about it.

We Are Our History -- Don't Forget It

Gelernter's own place in history is perhaps most secure because he is a well-known victim of the Unabomber. I do not agree with his ultimate implication that Kennedy's aggressive anti-Communism somehow justifies our intervention in Iraq, but I agree with his argument that it is impossible to have an intelligent discussion of the issue without an understanding of history.

USA Today points out that employers are desperate to control blogs. They are torn between fear that out-of-control bloggers will alienate customers or spill trade secrets and greed over the prospect that they can manipulate bloggers to promote their products.

What You Should Know About the Author of the NYT Bestseller, Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

We hear a fair amount about historical revisionism to justify national crimes in Japan and China. We hear less about the same thing here at home. Scary stuff.

Bedtime battles: How to nip them in the bud

If you're like most parents, you're all too familiar with this scenario: You put your 2-year-old to bed at 8 at night, hugging and kissing him and wishing him sweet dreams. It's been a long day, but still the dinner dishes await, you have bills to pay, the dog needs to be walked and the cat fed, and you haven't had a spare moment to put your feet up. But instead of spending the rest of the evening catching up on your chores and clocking some precious time with your partner, you're in and out of your child's room, cajoling him to sleep. He finally nods off — about three hours after he first went to bed.

It is no wonder that SuperNanny is so popular.

It's All Relative

The Washington Post suggests that the revelation of Mark Felt's secret role in the Watergate scandal may have been a self-serving decision by his family:

Watching W. Mark Felt appear alongside his daughter and grandson on Tuesday to affirm that he was Deep Throat, one could be forgiven for suspecting that he was not the driving force behind this very public admission. Smiling like an eager-to-please child, his pajama top tucked poorly into mismatched bottoms, the 91-year-old looked like a man who no longer made many decisions for himself. Any evidence that he was once among the nation's most powerful lawmen was long gone. The two faces framing his, however, seemed to be very much in charge. His attractive, determined daughter Joan and his clean-cut, law student grandson, Nick Jones, positively glowed with purposefulness. It was hard not to think that they were the ones behind the revelation, not the shaky figure clutching the walker.

It is a very poignant picture.

Rights Group Defends Chastising of U.S. - New York Times

LONDON, June 3 - An official of Amnesty International said Friday that the term gulag in its annual report to describe the United States prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was chosen deliberately, and she shrugged off harsh criticism of the report by the Bush administration.

Good cooking is its own reward. That's why Alton Brown is my new hero.

I feel a little conflicted about learning the identity of Deep Throat. Part of the romance of the Watergate story was the secret identity of Woodward and Bernstein's confidential source, and the world seems a little plainer and less mysterious now that he has revealed his identity after 30 years. However, perhaps in the waning years of his life, it is fitting that he be honored for his role.