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We live in extraordinary times, if only we can lift our eyes from the press of the mundane long enough to see it. As I write, I have just finished reading a series of "tweets" broadcast by a friend in besieged Kabul, one of many friends in the international diplomatic/aid community working to ameliorate conditions in the most desperate places in the world.

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Although I spent two years in the Peace Corps, I was always particularly impressed by my Peace Corps colleagues who went on to make careers of international service. Over the years, I have intermittently followed their careers as they narrowly cheated death from landmines in Zaire, tried to patch up Rwanda after the genocide, stimulated agricultural production in Mozambique, and tried to foster democracy in Afghanistan. And while I am amazed that Google can rescan the Haitian landscape within hours in order to give rescuers a detailed map of the devastation, I recognize that the key element in repairing the frayed edges of the international community is the people on the ground. With their unique blend of courage and compassion, they are my heroes.

John Milton, one of the most prodigious intellects of the seventeenth century, who played an active political part in one of England's greatest political upheavals, spent the latter part of his life confined to comparative inactivity by total blindness. Like Beethoven composing symphonies he could not hear, Milton dictated Paradise Lost from memory. In his sonnet On His Blindness, Milton wrote, "They also serve who only stand and wait." But among the vast majority of us who effectively "stand and wait," at least with respect to the world beyond our borders, let us have a moment's reflection for those who go forth and do, at their peril, and wish them a safe return.

A moment's reflection is enough to reveal that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the universe's longest running cosmic joke. No matter what puny efforts we make, in the end everything falls apart. Some may take comfort in the hope that in the ultimate hereafter the Divine Joker who inflicted the Second Law on us will make everything all right. In the meantime, we are confronted not merely with our eventual disintegration but also with the daily mess.

I hate the daily mess. I have never been good at dealing with it, and my failure to master the petty organizational details of my life has been a lifelong irritant. I am particularly irritated because I am quite aware that the petty organizational details of life can be mastered, at least in the short term on a day to day basis. Going to college really brought this home, since I spent four years rooming with someone who was not only scientifically brilliant (and amused himself in his spare time by picking up Chinese) but also impeccably organized. Since his homework was generally done before dinner, he could relax in the evening reading science fiction before going to bed at 9 p.m., about the time I was sweeping the mess off my desk so I could start working.

Nevertheless, perpetual optimist that I am, I spent today picking up, throwing out, and cleaning off in the oft repeated hope that if I established a baseline of tidiness and organization, at little maintenance would preserve order in my life. But I do not really believe it. I am still good at the flash of concentrated effort. (Not as good as I once was, but as good once as I ever was, as Toby Keith put it.) But the daily nit-picky, habit forming, regimen following discipline that maintains daily order, while I long to embrace it with my programs, checklists, reminders, planners, schedules, and calendars is as elusive to me as the glimmering girl to Aengus. Ben Franklin, why has thou forsaken me?

I wish I could remember who first observed that modern life has endowed with thousands of new ways to communicate and nothing more to say. At this moment, however, it seems particularly apropos. I finally decided to integrate my blog pages with the notes feed in my Facebook account. Some weeks ago, I displayed my twitter feed on my blog page. I have four private email accounts -- my own domain, gmail, yahoo, and hotmail -- plus a Google Wave account. I keep a list of public bookmarks on Del.icio.us. I am connected and integrated on my home computer, my laptop, my blog platform, and &mdash God help me — my iPhone, which I tote around from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, and not because I am making phone calls. I have word processors, CMS systems, text editors, version control systems, and email clients. True, I get a certain perverse pleasure out of setting all this up and keeping it running; it's a hobby. But to what end? Shakespeare was able to accomplish more with a quill pen in a day than the Internet in all its digital glory will in a lifetime.

I have been a big fan of Gretchen Rubin ever since reading her slim biography of Winston Churchill and her somewhat less slim biography of John F. Kennedy. At present, I am about half way through her latest book: The Happiness Project, in which she chronicles a year spent thinking and trying ways to live a happier life. One thing which brought Rubin more happiness was starting a blog, also called the Happiness Project. Given that one of Rubin's principles of happiness could be paraphrased as the journey is more important than the destination (though the destination counts!), it is not surprising that one of the ways she found greater happiness was through her blog.

It is a shibboleth of the Right that anyone more liberal than Rush Limbaugh is a "traitor" to his country; the egregious Ann Coulter even wrote an entire book about liberal "Treason." The shrill rhetoric and exaggerated alarums over the bogeymen of the Left betray a deep-seated unease about American democracy, however. Modern American democracy is committed above all to the orderly transfer of power through stable institutions designed to express the will of the People. Secondarily, American democracy is committed to the proposition, familiar to every student who ever dipped into the Federalist Papers, that no one locus of power is ever to be trusted completely. A government of limited powers can best be preserved by encouraging each of the three branches of government to jealously guard its prerogatives and ensure that no other branch overstepped its authority.

In contrast, modern American conservatism, as repeatedly expressed in the eras of Nixon, Reagan, and Bush the Younger, is infatuated with the cult of the man on the white horse, the strong central executive who will put all to rights because he is not bound by the petty considerations of law or morals that bind lesser mortals. (See Bombing of Cambodia, Watergate, Iran-Contra, War on Terror.) The Party panders in the pursuit of power to the racaille of the American South, who have historically been the pillar of slavery, segregation, States Rights, Jim Crow, and the Southern Strategy and who now form the electoral core of the rump of the party of Lincoln, (Teddy) Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Rockefeller, but the Republican Party does not fundamentally believe in fulfilling the will of the people. Rather, theirs is the paternalism of the plantation owner and the corporate executive, the "Quality" who will ensure that the teeming swarthy masses do not threaten white privilege in America, endowed upon the white man by grace of God, the gun, and the smallpox. The alternative would be to recognize equality and welcome participation in the political process by all Americans. (Anyone who doubts the overtly exclusionary tendency of the contemporary, conservative American South need only review the disproportionately anti-Obama vote of white southerners compared to the overall vote in their own states and to whites in other parts of the country, or anecdotally the interview footage of white Southerners in Kentucky before the election.)

The first two chapters of Benjamin Wittes' Law and the Long War starkly illustrate this modern tendency in the modern politics of the Republican Party. Proceeding under a theory of the "unitary executive," the Bush Administration sought to consolidate the emergency powers it had assumed immediately after the crisis of 9/11 on a permanent "wartime" basis. In his first chapter, "The Law of September 10," Wittes seeks to show not only that there was some continuity between the anti-terrorism efforts of the Clinton and Bush Administrations, but also that there were some theoretical precedents dating from World War II (or earlier) for the Bush Administration's insistence that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to Al Qaeda and the Taliban and that it needed no authorization from Congress to regulate its treatment of those captured in the wake of 9/11. In particular, Wittes points out that Guantanamo had been used prior to 9/11 for the indefinite preventive detention of HIV positive illegal immigrants, and that the Clinton administration had pioneered on a limited scale the practice of extraordinary rendition, or "outsourced torture," that later became a staple of the Bush Administration's "War on Terror." Wittes concedes that the Bush Administration was totally lacking in legal justification for its actions in only one area: its decision to disregard the jurisdiction of the FISA Court over the conduct of electronic surveillance.

Wittes explains the readiness of the Bush Administration to disregard legal and moral norms in pursuit of the so-called "War on Terror" precisely in terms of the Bush Administration's public insistence on casting the conflict almost entirely in wartime terms and its concomitant contempt for any argument that legal guidance or Congressional authority was relevant to prosecuting the conflict.

While Wittes' attempts to show legal continuity and at least theoretical justification for the Bush Administration's disregard of legal and moral norms in its prosecution of the so-called "War on Terror" seem a little strained, he is quite persuasive on the legislative and political dynamics that guided the Administration's actions. Wittes' formulation has almost the ring of a Greek tragedy. Persuaded in their hubris that any request for legislative authorization from the Congress would diminish the inherent power of the "unitary executive," the (Vice) President's men, particularly David Addington, strongly resisted any suggestion that they ask the Congress for legislation to regulate the custody of terror suspects and adjudication of their cases. Wittes identifies three important consequences of the Administration's arrogance. First, they failed to recognize that whatever small quantum of executive authority might be lost to the Congress, the authority of the executive is vastly magnified when bolstered by statute, as Justice Jackson long ago pointed out. Second, they failed to recognize that the supine Congress — Republican or Democrat — was ready to give them anything they requested. Third, they underestimated the willingness of the Supreme Court to step in and fill the vacuum left when the Administration bypassed the Congress, resulting in a series of highly embarrassing Supreme Court decisions that in fact undermined executive prerogative and enhanced the reach of the Court.

In Wittes' view, the normal dynamic of American democracy should be that the President proposes, the Congress legislates, the President executes, and the Courts, if necessary, adjudicate. The Bush Administration turned this dynamic on its head. The President, recognizing no limit on his authority, was brought up short by the Court, and then sought to control the damage by seeking legislation from the Congress to limit or overturn the Court's rulings. Such a course of action is not only woefully inefficient, but it drastically undermines the Administration's moral authority for any action it might take, particularly when the rebuke comes from a notoriously conservative Supreme Court. It is one thing to take action with the full endorsement of the nation's deliberative and legislative bodies; it is quite another to suffer public rebuke from the nation's highest court and then to be seen frantically manipulating a rubber-stamp Congress in order to proceed with a course of action that has been roundly condemned. Moreover, proceeding in such a manner is a course of action that, once the immediate fires had been extinguished, could only be undertaken by men with a fundamental contempt for representative democracy and a complete lack of concern for the damage they might do to our institutions and our freedom.

Having widely outraged some sensibilities with my recent unequivocal call for decriminalization of drugs, it will come as a surprise to no one that I also advocate legalization and licensing of prostitution.

The goal of bringing both drugs and prostitution out of the underworld and into the sunshine is to limit both their prevalence and their harmful effects. Ironically, the drug problem drives in part the prostitution problem, as many young women become prostitutes in order to feed a drug habit, and many pimps inculcate drug habits to maintain control over their prostitutes.

There are few social problems more rife with hypocrisy than prostitution. As a rule, we punish the largely female prostitutes more severely than the largely male customers, although even then the usual punishments are so light as to call into question any genuine commitment to ending the trade. I positively admire Deborah Jeane Palfrey and Sidney Biddle Barrows compared to the two-legged cockroaches David Vitter and Eliot Spitzer, who hypocritically condemn the very lusts in which they are most deeply steeped. Cf. Angelo in Measure for Measure. My objection, mind you, is not so much to the lust as to the loathsome hypocrisy. Ms. Palfrey should not have been the one who suffered, or at least not alone.

Mind you, calling prostitution a victimless crime is cant. Overwhelming, it appears, women sell their bodies out of economic compulsion not simply profit maximization. In doing so, they frequently suffer danger and disease, not to mention whatever psychic cost there is to repetitive, anonymous copulation. But calling for legalization, as with drugs, does not imply endorsement; it merely recognizes the futility of our efforts at interdiction and the excerbation of the costs of the behavior in question.

The first benefit of legalization of prostitution would be to undermine the element of coercion. Not only would employers be more closely scrutinized by the government, but also women who decided to engage in the sex trade would have more opportunities and greater job mobility. Moreover, legalization would hopefully undercut the economic gains of kidnapping and sex slavery. If women are to have control of their own bodies, they must have enough economic freedom that prostitution is an option, not a last, desperate necessity.

As a recent article in the Guardian demonstrates, a second significant benefit would be disease control. See http://bit.ly/2VVRAE . Puritanical South Africa apparently wants to legalise prostitution for the duration of the World Cup in the hopes of avoiding an explosion of HIV infection. Nearly half of South Africa's prostitutes are HIV positive, and without screening and treatment, authorities fear that there will be an explosion of HIV infection among the 3.2 million fans. Meanwhile, proponents of legalisation in South Africa are mainly dismayed that the country is only talking about legalisation during the games rather than on a permanent basis.

It is time for more dignity and less disease. The time for legalization is now.

I honor the memory of the 9/11 dead and grieve for the horrible deaths inflicted upon them. I was not at ground zero (although some of my relatives were very, very close), but I was a couple of blocks from the White House, as I am every work day, when the Pentagon was hit. I understand that having been hit once, we could be hit again.

However, I am also incensed that the tragedy of 9/11 has been misappropriated by the Republican propaganda machine to justify war abroad and repression at home. This kind of politicization of a tragedy dishonors the dead.

I also think that the horror and immediacy of 9/11 have created a loss of historical perspective. Tragic and horrific as 9/11 was, it was not Nagasaki or Stalingrad. I suggest that as we remember the tragedy of 9/11, we also remember other great and tragic historical September events. I suggest this not to diminish what happened on 9/11, but to caution against a self-absorption that distorts our place in history and the world.

Other Noteworthy September Events

1792 September Massacres initiate the Reign of Terror
1812 Battle of Borodino, 70,000 casualties, French capture Moscow
1862 Battle of Antietam, approximately 20,000 Americans die
1863 Battle of Chickamauga
1886 U.S. crushes the Chiricahua Apaches with the capture of Geronimo
1914 Battle of the Marne, first trenches dug
1915 British use gas at Loos, kill 60,000 of their own men
1916 Battle of the Somme continues, eventual casualties equal 1,000,000
1917 Passschendaele continues, eventual casualties equal 700,000
1939 Germany invades Poland, unleashing the Second World War
1940 Italy invades North Africa, beginning the North African campaign
1943 Allies invade Italy
1945 Surrender of Japan
1962 James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss
1963 Birmingham Church Bombing

Sources
http://french-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_reign_of_terror_in_the_french_revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Borodino
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1862.html
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/chickamauga.htm
http://www.historynet.com/geronimos-last-surrender.htm
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/
http://history.searchbeat.com/worldwar.htm
http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Civ%20Rts.html

I have just read the first of Cory Doctorow's short stories in Overclocked, which are available for download under a Creative Commons license. It has the virtues, among others, of a) being short, b) illustrating an important point about a fundamental freedom, c) alluding to George Orwell, d) relying on the common programming concept of recursion, and e) availing itself of an innovative legal structure for marketing and distribution purposes. All in all, it's "Science Fiction" in the best senses of both terms.

A minor postscript to Outliers is that it is the first Amazon Kindle book I have read, although I read it not on a Kindle but on an iPhone. All in all, it is delightful to have a book always at hand. The book was quite readable, and really my only reservation is that charts did not always reproduce well on the iPhone. In addition to Amazon, I am heartened to see that high quality e-books continue to be published by ereader and others.

An interview with Christopher Hitchens at Powell's Books. I think his hopes for a tolerant, secular state emerging in Iraq are . . . naive. Given the corrupt manner in which we have managed the war, I do not think we ever really intended to create such a state, even assuming it could have been done. I think our priorities lay elsewhere, with oil and strategic military dominance in the region. Hitchens is a brilliant essayist, but he is also a bit of a crank.

Conservative Evangelist Jerry Falwell Dies at 73 - washingtonpost.com

Obama Displays Maturity, Laughs Off "Barack the 'Magic Negro'" Song

In case anyone was wondering whether the level of political discourse from the GOP could sink any lower, we now have Rush Limbaugh race baiting Barack Obama with his song "Barack the Magic Negro."

As the facts unfold about the tragedy in Virginia, let us take a moment to remember the thousands of anonymous victims of gun violence across America every year. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports, firearms are used in 72.6 percent of homicides in America. Of these, handguns comprised 87.3 percent, killing 7,543 people in America in 2005.

Pope Says Evolution Can't Be Proven - washingtonpost.com

BERLIN -- Benedict XVI, in his first extended reflections on evolution published as pope, says that Darwin's theory cannot be finally proven and that science has unnecessarily narrowed humanity's view of creation.

Just in case you were wondering whether the Papacy had gained in intellectual sophistication since the 17th century.

You Are Also What You Drink - New York Times

Says the New York Times. So is milk, for that matter. Water is best. Juice and soda, not so good. Next question.

Thanks to My Marrakesh.

Jimmy Carter's 'Peace' Mission To Brandeis - washingtonpost.com

Jimmy Carter defended his latest book in a speech at Brandeis Univerisity, where he was generally well-received by a student body that is 50 percent Jewish:

WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 23 -- Former president Jimmy Carter flew north to Brandeis University to speak on Tuesday of his hurt at the personal attacks by some American Jews that followed publication of his latest book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid," which urges Israel to turn away from a policy of creating "Bantustans" on the West Bank.

"This is the first time that I've ever been called a liar and a bigot and an anti-Semite and a coward and a plagiarist." Carter paused and squinted at the audience. "This has hurt me."

Carter did apologize for one sentence in the book that he said could be miscontrued as condoning terrorism. However, he strongly defended the book's thesis that Israel has effectively divided the Palestinian territories into ungovernable sham statelets, or "Bantustans." Needless to say, while respectful, not all of the students bought the ex-President's argument, according to the Washington Post.

I give the audience great credit for their respectful hearing of what must have been an unpalatable argument to many of them. The fact that they were respectful while still asking tough questions shows that at Brandeis, at least, the students and faculty understand the meaning of freedom of expression. On a more personal note, one of my Moroccan friends was so moved by Carter's book that he intends to write the ex-President a letter of thanks.

Sixty years of Washington, D.C. music history came to an abrupt halt today as WGMS classical radio went off the air. At the time, WGMS continued to be the most successful classical station in the country. Announcer Chip Brienza had the final word.The station is donating its 15,000 disc music library to WETA 90.9 public radio, which is resuming a classical format after approximately a two-year hiatus, during which WETA essentially aped the news/talk format of its sister station, WAMU. With this welcome return to a classical format, I am hopeful that WETA will seize the opportunity to offer truly fresh and innovative classical broadcasting on the most powerful signal in the Washington area.

The Post's Paul Farhi has the story, and Mark Fisher has commentary.

Va. Lawmaker's Comments Anger Blacks, Jews - washingtonpost.com

First, George Allen comes out and compares a South Asian to a "Macaca" monkey, then characterizes Judaism as an "aspersion." Then Congressman Virgil Goode attacks Keith Ellison for being sworn in on the Koran and suggests that the immigration laws should keep people like Ellison out of the country. (Ellison , who is African American, was born a citizen of the United States.) Now Virginia Delegate Frank Hargrove is denying the country's responsibility for slavery and talking about Christ-killing on Martin Luther King Day:

RICHMOND, Jan. 16 -- A veteran Virginia lawmaker from suburban Richmond ignited a hot exchange in the House of Delegates on Tuesday after criticizing a proposal for the state to issue an apology for slavery and likening it to requiring Jews to apologize for "killing Christ."

What are they drinking in Virginia?

Australia's unofficial national anthem, and another take.

WETA May Fill Classical Music Gap Left by WGMS - washingtonpost.com

Public broadcaster WETA (90.9 FM) is considering dumping its news-and-talk programming and returning to being a classical broadcaster if the music dies on WGMS, WETA's management said yesterday.

WETA's return to classical programming would present a real opportunity to classical listeners; hopefully it would entail longer pieces, more vocal music, and the return of the opera.

Coda for the Classics: Public Radio's Failed Mission - Raw Fisher

Commentary from Marc Fisher and the public on the imminent demise of Classical radio in Washington, D.C. Fisher also excoriates WETA public radio for abandoning Classical music in order to ape the news and talk format of its public radio twin, WAMU.

Conservative Rabbis Allow Ordained Gays, Same-Sex Unions - washingtonpost.com

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 -- A panel of rabbis gave permission Wednesday for same-sex commitment ceremonies and ordination of gays within Conservative Judaism, a wrenching change for a movement that occupies the middle ground between orthodoxy and liberalism in Judaism.

Now, Conservative Jews have recognized same sex marriage and gay ordination. It almost seems as though the only people who don't these days are Nigerian bishops, Virginia churches, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Episcopal Diocese Votes to Secede From Church - New York Times

The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, California, has voted to secede from the Episcopal Church of the United States. For San Joaquin, which does not even ordain women, the consecration of a gay Bishop was apparently the last straw. All I can conclude is that the Episcopal Church will be a more Godly, loving, and tolerant community without them, as they pursue their lives blinded by their own hate and bigotry.

Bitch Ph.D.

Another interesting commentary on Michael Richards' racist routine.

blackprof.com: Why Kramer’s (Michael Richards) Letterman Apology Was Important

Law Professor Spencer Overton accepts Michael Richards' apology as sincere, and thinks it has some lessons for the rest of us. Overton points to Harvard's Project Implicit, which attempts to detect racial and other hidden biases based on unconscious reactions to visual stimuli. A number of sample tests are included with the project, which collects some personal data but promises confidentiality.

On a personal note, while I was not overly surprised by the results of the one test I took, I am confirmed in my belief that I must consciously strive every day to treat people fairly, equally, and as individuals.

Michael Richards' tirade at a stand up routine is bizarre and disgusting. Christopher Bracey at BlackProf.com argues that it was a classic attempt to assert white racial supremacy:

What intrigues me about this video, and Richard's attempt at an apology, is his self-proclaimed racial innocence. How could this man possibly understand his comments to be anything other than raw bigotry? His comments were plainly racially insensitive, and he acknowledged their "shock value" himself. Moreover, he conceded that his racial tirade was an attempt to silence (ie. assert dominance over) over the hecklers. And if that's not all, he sought to enlist crowd support for is racial rant!

Sadly, I believe that behavior like Richards', and like Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic rant, which he also attempted to excuse, is much more common that we would like to acknowledge in the 21st century, and that it reveals deep ongoing fissures in our society. Professor Bracey is right to be skeptical about Richards' assertion that he is not a bigot. However, I think that bigotry to some degree is probably endemic in all of us; like vanity, greed, lust, gluttony, envy, anger, and sloth, it is better that it be acknowledged and combated rather than denied and allowed to fester. If there is anything that the 20th century reminded us, it is that there is no bottom to the potential for human depravity, and no reason to believe that any particular person is not capable of unspeakable acts. One thing that I believe Dr. King tried to do is to show us a better way to deal with our worse nature, and even Dr. King was not immune from human fallibility.

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: "Those Words, Those Words ..."

Andrew Sullivan is right that while we must be steadfast in condemning racism wherever it rears its ugly head, we should do so with humility and self-examination, in the knowledge that our own conduct is not likely to be above reproach.

Note: Some commentators at BlackProf.com have attempted to cast this as a free speech issue. No one prevented Mr. Richards from spewing his hateful diatribe, but likewise his critics are free to say what they wish in response. Free speech is freedom from state coercion, not public ridicule.

Persistent Race Disparities Found - washingtonpost.com

. . . that race in America will remain a major issue for a long time to come, the Washington Post reports on the stark differences in standards of living among members of different races:

White households had incomes that were two-thirds higher than those of African Americans and 40 percent higher than those of Hispanics last year, according to data released yesterday by the Census Bureau. White adults were also more likely than black and Hispanic adults to have college degrees and to own their own homes. They were less likely to live in poverty.

Keith Ferrazzi, for whom I have enormous respect and with whom I agree more often than not, has posted an entry in his blog lauding Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg as a champion of "Brand USA," promoting relationships between the United States and the rest of the world. Ferrazzi describes Silverberg as charming and intelligent, not surprising in a Harvard graduate and Supreme Court clerk. All the more pity that Ms. Silverberg's talents have consistently been employed in a bad cause. My comment on Mr. Ferrazzi's post follows:

Ms. Silverberg's bio, to which you link, highlights among other accomplishments her service in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the current administration and as an adviser to L. Paul Bremer in Iraq. As a member of an administration that led a rag-tag coalition of countries (excluding most major powers) in an invasion based on false statements to the United Nations about Weapons of Mass Destruction, excluded other countries from the rebuilding of Iraq, and staffed the Green Zone with unqualified Republican Party hacks, how can Ms. Silverberg have any credibility when it comes to building relationships? See Bob Woodward, State of Denial and Rajiv Chandrasekaran in the Washington Post. Thanks to the administration that Ms. Silverberg serves, Brand USA is badly tarnished worldwide.

Independent Lens . PAUL CONRAD: Drawing Fire . The Film | PBS

On PBS, just saw a great fragment of a documentary about legendary political cartoonist Paul Conrad.

Andrew Sullivan reports that the Library of Congress has accepted the Kameny papers.

Outspoken Putin critic shot dead in Moscow - washingtonpost.com

A free press is the last bulwark against tyranny. It seems to have crumbled in Russia.

MOSCOW, Oct. 7 -- Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist whose byline defined the fading craft of investigative and crusading reporting in President Vladimir Putin's Russia, was fatally gunned down Saturday in the lobby of her apartment building in central Moscow.

Anna Politkovskaya should be remembered as an inspiration to us all.

BREITBART.COM - Veteran Actor Collapses Onstage, Dies

Actor Gene Janson collapsed on stage in the midst of one his favorite roles and died shortly thereafter.

"There is a certain poetic irony to his death," Christopher Janson said. "He died doing what he loved, which was being on the stage and in a play he was so proud of."

There are worse ways to go than dying before a throng of admirers in the midst of your life's great work. Link from Andrew Sullivan.

The Electric Company is even better the second time around. As a child, I never realized that the show had quite as much star power as it did: Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, and Tom Lehrer among the cast.

Top 500 World Universities (1-100)

The Chinese rank the world's universities. The methodology appears to be heavily weighted toward the sciences.

WP: Parents embarrassed by kids' blogs - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

One more way for kids to embarrass their parents, and themselves.

Morgan Spurlock is back with his show 30 days. Today's episode places a member of the Minuteman anti-immigration movement with a family of undocumented immigrants in L.A. for 30 days. Not surprisingly, he comes to the conclusion that the people he is trying to keep out of the country are also human beings, but the process is worth watching.

But Seriously, Folks

And now for something completely different . . . Kinky Friedman has launched a campaign for Texas governor.

At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust - New York Times

The New York Times has just discovered what I have known for 20 years; that the best students are women. At least, in my classes, the academic leaders seemed invariably to be reserved, soft-spoken women, while the noisier men did not perform as well in the end.

Cat in Rabat: Happy Canada Day, eh?

Cat in Rabat on why Canada is great.

Soccer With a Side of Slavery

Human trafficking is the third-largest criminal industry in the world, after arms and drugs. While soccer fans anticipate the excitement of the games, many of us in the anti-trafficking movement are deeply troubled by the expected surge of sex trafficking in Germany to meet the demand for commercial sex associated with the World Cup.

Long-Scorned in Maine, French Has Renaissance - New York Times

I took French in junior high school because I thought it was elegant and sophisticated. It was a bit of a shock to learn that until recently it was an object of derision in Maine, where it has only recently gained a grudging cachet, according to the New York Times.

Halley's Comment: Dick Clark's Return: Real Reality TV

We've seen a lot of unreal reality TV, very overproduced schlock, but last night, we saw reality. On New Year's Eve when the old Grim Reaper and young Baby New Years lindyhop out the last few steps dance of a long year, we saw both in Dick Clark. Dick Clark the seemingly ageless, age-defying fifties soda shop cutie is suddenly 76 years old and not in American Bandstand twist-and-shout shape.

At the same time, Clark's comeback was a very heartening way to begin the New Year. We are all geting older; may we face it with Dick Clark's grace and courage.

One way to define racial stereotypes is as the ascription of a limited set of social behaviors to a limited set of physical characteristics. The result obscures individual differences and often denigrates a particular group of people. One example is the stereotype that "they all look alike." J-A, commenting on an episode of Without a Trace, muses:

It was a much more thorough presentation than the 007 film set in North Korea where the extras were all talking in Chinese, which to me implied that from a non-Asian point of view, Asians all sound the same and it doesn't matter that there are all these different countries and cultures in that region.

On blackprof.com, Paul Butler cites examples of the phenomenon in reverse. He describes television portrayals of African Americans in embarrassing conflicts portrayed for entertainment value in a two-part post (part 1 and part 2). What cultural assumptions make the conflict between a black quarterback and a black receiver fodder for television drama? What cultural assumptions induce an African American talk show host to broadcast a show about an African American woman and her gay African American husband? Professor Butler's point seems to be that cultural stereotypes define these individuals for the mass media, blurring their individuality and reinforcing the stereotypes.

The New York Times gives a glowing review to the new movie of Pride of Prejudice.

'The Chosen': Getting In - New York Times

In 1904, the Yale yearbook boasted of having "more gentlemen and fewer scholars than any other class in the memory of man."

David Brooks describes the rise of meritocracy in Ivy League admissions.

Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church

Mark Tooley, a conservative Methodist at the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, said the rulings show that Methodism "is not moving in the direction of the Episcopal Church and declining liberal Protestantism in the West." Rather, he said, it "is moving in the direction of global Christianity, which is robustly orthodox."

The Methodist Church has apparently chosen to embrace bigotry by defrocking a lesbian minister and reinstating a minister who denied membership in his congregation to a gay man. Amidst much discussion of church law, there is little mention of the example of Christ. Once again, I am proud to be an Episcopalian.

Simon Wiesenthal Is Dead at 96; Tirelessly Pursued Nazi Fugitives - New York Times

For all his flaws and egotism, Wiesenthal led an exemplary life, and one in which there is much to emulate. He earned his status as a household word.

Recipes : Mighty Duck : Food Network

Update: The duck was successful beyond expectation: crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside, but not greasy. Alton Brown shows once again why he rules the kitchen.

Few things are as delightfully aromatic as good extra virgin olive oil mixed with fresh, hot pasta.

What better breakfast than slow cooked oatmeal, with blueberries and cranberries, a splash of buttermilk and a sprinking of cinnamon?

But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There? - New York Times

The New York Times contemplates whether the universe was really created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Times notes:

The history books show that parody isn't always the smartest strategy when it comes to persuasion. Remember Galileo? Some recent scholars say that it may not have been his science so much as his satire, "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems," that got everyone steamed up. Under threat of death, Galileo ended up recanting his view that the earth revolves around the sun, and had to wait 350 years for vindication.

Perhaps persuasion is not what is at issue here, but rather energizing the faithful.

Thanks to Gayle for the link.

Lutherans Affirm Ban on Gay Clergy

ORLANDO, Aug. 12 -- A national meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America rejected a proposal Friday that would have allowed gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy under certain conditions.

It appears that I am not the only one to notice that Dr. Gregory House of the Fox television series is a dead ringer for Sherlock Holmes. House shares Holmes' cool detachment, total absorption in problem solving, musical talent, and even drug addiction. While other doctors fumble or guess at diagnoses, House's relentless application of deductive reasoning invariably produces a satisfying and elegant solution to each successive medical dilemma to the amazement and consternation of his less gifted colleagues. In his rare off hours, House devotes himself to his piano in his spare, impeccably modern apartment. House's intellectual elegance beneath his gruff exterior is mesmerizing.

FDA - Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish

I have been trying to cut down on red meat and lose some weight, and fish seems like a healthy alternative. Not all fish are created equal, however, and swordfish particularly should be eaten in moderation.

Between Series, an Actress Became a Superstar (in Math) - New York Times

Who says girls can't do math?

The New York Times has a great story on how it is possible, by shopping at Costco rather that Wal-Mart, to save money at a store with generous health benefits, decent wages, and a (partially) union workforce.

Bastille Day is as good a point in history as any to mark the moment that Europe entered the modern age, for better and for worse. A mes amis français, salut!

One of the many curious facts that I learned at the Oman pavilion at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was that the Sultan of Oman has a bagpipe band. Rachel, meanwhile, was more interested in joining the traditional musicians as they danced the qasafiya.

Halley Suitt on the price of living on your own terms.

When I glanced at the comics page today, I noticed that Prince Valiant had shrunk and that the art was cruder and the story more preposterous than usual. A glance at the byline revealed that the strip is now drawn by Gianni and Schultz rather than John Cullen Murphy. I never thought that Murphy was the equal of Hal Foster, but his art was far superior to the current version. I have a strong sentimental attachment to Prince Valiant because my father used to read it to me, along with "The Phantom," when I was a little boy. Reading the Sunday comics with my father is one of my fondest memories, but I do not think it will sustain me through this latest iteration of Prince Valiant.

Students top Peace Corps' volunteer rolls, serve across the globe

The Peace Corps has recently released statistics that show Chicago ranks No. 1 among institutions with undergraduate populations of fewer than 5,000 in the number of alumni who volunteer for the corps.

For the second year in a row, Chicago has pushed to the top of the Peace Corps' annual list of smaller colleges and universities, with a total of 39 College alumni joining last year.

In my years as a volunteer with Peace Corps Morocco, we had one person from the University of Chicago. I did not go to Chicago until after I returned to the States. For different reasons, they were two of the best decisions I ever made. (I met my wife at Chicago.)

'Crossfire,' R.I.P (washingtonpost.com)

Update: Kinsley's column in the Post.

I heard one of my heroes, Michael Kinsley, on the radio today as I was listening to NPR. In the face of a chorus of approval over the cancellation of "CrossFire", Kinsley defended the program, of which he was formerly the host. Kinsley's argument was that journalists were more honest, and issues more fully explored, when the journalists were free to be themselves and to express their own point of view. As for the shows "gotcha" format, he also defended the use of questions along the lines of "When did you stop beating your wife?" Kinsley's point was that such questions either force a politician to give a thoughtful answer or to engage in a transparent evasion. For Kinsley, Crossfire at its best was a quintessential exercise in democracy.

Kinsley made essentially the same points years ago in Slate:

To start, it is honest in a way the other shows are not. Virtually all the political talk shows require journalists to adopt one of two dishonest postures: agnosticism or omniscience. On traditional Q&A shows like Meet the Press, journalists must pretend that they are neutral observers who have no opinion about the subject at hand. This is not only dishonest, but it also limits their ability to frame sharp questions and to pursue evasive answers. On opinion-spouting shows like The McLaughlin Group, by contrast, journalists (often the same journalists) are free to have a point of view. Indeed, they are required to have, or to pretend to have, a passionate and fully informed viewpoint on every subject that comes along. How many of those opining solemnly on the Indonesian financial crisis this past week know (or care) squat about Indonesian finance?

Crossfire's basic fuel is the tendentious question. As a host, you needn't pretend to be impartial or pretend to be all-knowing. This is more honest, and it's also more effective in getting at the truth. Or at least, that is the premise of Anglo-American jurisprudence, which uses the same model. (For the neutral-interrogator approach, try France.)

Right or wrong, never dull.

Andrew Sullivan announces that he is taking a hiatus of indeterminate length from his blog. The Internet will be poorer for it.

He also recently posted a very touching portrait of Abraham Lincoln. I had never really clued into the meaning of "Log Cabin Republican" until my wife pointed out that many people believe Lincoln was either gay or actively bisexual. Sullivan's essay makes a very persuasive case for this point of view. I imagine it is cold comfort for gay members of the Republican Party today, however.

MoorishGirl points out that writing doesn't come easily, even to great writers.

I knew that it was Inaugural Ball time when I saw a man and a woman on the subway, he in a leather coat and she in a white fur jacket and diamond earrings, both of them wearing matching black cowboy hats and black cowboy boots. I stifled my laughter and resisted the temptation to play bait the Republicans, but it required an exercise of will.

Apparently the recent tragedy in South Asia also reminded William Safire of Voltaire's disillusioned reaction to the Lisbon earthquake. Safire, unlike Voltaire, is not so much impressed by divine indifference as by human compassion.

"Law school is the most unhealthy thing I've ever done in my life," he says. "I was looking for something to get me back in shape."

The speed and success of soliciting donations on the web for disaster victims in South Asia is unprecedented, according to the Washington Post. Not only have the large charities such as the Red Cross reaped massive donations, but also because of the relatively low cost of putting up a website, many smaller charities are able to compete more effecitively for funds.

The American Red Cross is seeking donations to help victims of the tsunami in South Asia. To date, Americans have donated $18 million. (N.B. CNN warns donors to be sure that if they make a donation on line, they are making it to a bona fide charity.)

I learned this evening that Jerry Orbach, who plays my favorite TV cop Lennie Briscoe, died yesterday of prostate cancer. Orbach's tough, understated character was appealing for his crusty exterior overlaying his fundamental decency. Surprisingly to one who knows him only from Law and Order, Orbach was for most of his career a successful Broadway song and dance man. MSNBC has an extended profile.

The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Revealing the Soul of a Soulless Lawyer

The New York Times describe the antics of "Anonymous Lawyer," a caricature of a big firm law partner concocted by a third year law student. Ironically, the site has been greeted enthusiastically by lawyers who see their own experiences reflected in the blog.

Michael Kinsley notes in his column in the Washington Post that a thought problem on Social Security that he posted to the blogosphere received a more serious response than he anticipated. Andrew Sullivan is not surprised.

TheStar.com - Court endorses gay marriage bill

OTTAWA — The Liberals will move swiftly to legalize gay weddings across the country now that the top court has endorsed a draft bill that would revolutionize marriage.

Canada would join the vanguard of nations supporting same-sex unions if legislation to be introduced early in 2005 is passed.

Canada once again proves to be light years ahead of the United States on social issues, as it plans to legislate equality in the country's most important institution while preserving religious freedom for those with opposing viewpoints. (A significant qualification in the Supreme Court's ruling is that no religious leader can be forced to perform a marriage that he or she opposes on religious or moral grounds.)

Scott Hamilton to Be Treated for Tumor (washingtonpost.com)

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2 -- Former world champion figure skater Scott Hamilton will undergo high-tech radiation therapy for a noncancerous brain tumor, his publicist said Thursday.

As I was watching superannuated Olympic stars skate yesterday on "Ice Wars," I missed the voice of one my favorite skaters of all time, Scott Hamilton. Hamilton has been a frequent commenter on ice exhibitions. With his infectious sense of fun and modest self-effacement, despite being one of the greatest athletes ever to lace up skates, he has always been my particular favorite. It was with genuine sorrow that I learned that, despite having survived a bout with testicular cancer several years ago, Hamilton is now facing treatment for a benign brain tumor. Count me among the millions wishing him a speedy recovery.

The Mavens' Word of the Day

"Agenbite of inwit": remorse of conscience, or the psychic wound that attends introspection. Joyce uses the phrase, which is memorable for its oddity, but I only bothered to look it up today.

See also the discussion on fireparty.

The New York Times sees new hope for classical music recording as smaller publishers thrive.

Q. Who was Nina Simone's pianist?

A. Nina Simone.

The Nina Simone Web - Mississippi Goddam

You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

I have been listening to Nina Simone. She seems appropriate right about now. The old stuff is the best; I'm not too big on synthesizers. I just remind myself, "My Baby Just Cares for Me."

The New York Times > Arts > Music > The Rap Against Rockism

Rockism isn't unrelated to older, more familiar prejudices - that's part of why it's so powerful, and so worth arguing about. The pop star, the disco diva, the lip-syncher, the "awesomely bad" hit maker: could it really be a coincidence that rockist complaints often pit straight white men against the rest of the world? Like the anti-disco backlash of 25 years ago, the current rockist consensus seems to reflect not just an idea of how music should be made but also an idea about who should be making it.

The Times' contention that a critique of singers who cannot sing or write songs has been coopted by a shrill minority with a racial agenda is a sad commentary on popular culture. Certainly, popular music is notorious for putting a white face on other people's musical traditions. However, is there not enough genuine talent across the board to disprove easily any assertion that the only people who can really sing are straight white males? Although the search for "authenticity" in popular music may be a chimera, surely this does not mean that we should fail to distinguish talent from its lack?

The Washington Post has an overview of the smoke and mirrors that surround the production of modern popular music. The Post points out that Simpson's performance should have come as no surprise; electronic enhancement has been around for years and is pervasive in the industry. Simpson just had the misfortune to get caught in a very public and embarrassing way.

Rockism defined.

Old Warrior Again Underway (washingtonpost.com)

The Constellation, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of its launch this year, was venturing out of Baltimore's harbor for the first time since her arrival there in 1955. Yet the old sloop of war was a fettered beauty. The gorgeous double-wheeled, teak-and-mahogany helm was lashed with the crown spoke pointing straight up, and the rudder amidships. The capstan bars were stowed. And the mizzenmast, mainmast and foremast were missing the canvas the ship was built to carry.

I toured the Constellation when I was about 10 years old, and it was one of the great thrills of my young life. I loved sailing ships growing up: I read C.S. Forester and I built models. The Constellation — often confused with one the first ships built for U.S. Navy in 1797 bearing the same name — was in fact the last ship powered entirely by sail built for the U.S. Navy just before the Civil War, according to the Post article. Of course, the Post should be read with a grain of salt; even I know that a square-rigged ship is not a sloop.

Denyce Graves, After the Low Notes (washingtonpost.com)

Far from the stage lights, this is the Denyce Graves the public never sees, a 40-year-old woman who has been battling four years of depression, turbulence and upheaval, all scrupulously kept out of the public eye. In 2000, when she began to undergo a series of debilitating physical and emotional crises, her vocal cords -- the ones that made her world famous -- began bleeding.

I have been a big fan of Denyce Graves ever since I first saw her on Sesame Street, of all places. I found it heartwarming to read about a woman who is not only blessed with a beautiful voice but also a strong character.

This slightly unorthodox cookbook is based on the premise that to please the woman in your life, you should figure out what kind of women she is and cook her what she wants. Naturally, the book is ready to offer its assistance in figuring her out; hence the quiz above (which concludes that if I were a girl, I would be "Academic Girl"). The fact that the quiz is aimed at women, although the book is ostensibly aimed at men, suggests that there may be a lot of men receiving this book as a gift with a hint.

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Unused Audio Commentary By Howard Zinn & Noam Chomsky, Recorded Summer 2002, for The Fellowship of the Ring Platinum Series Extended Edition DVD, Part One

I heard a selection on the radio today from this imagined commentary by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky on the Lord of the Rings. Although not everyone agrees, I found the conceit of the Orcs as oppressed farmers brutalized by the militaristic regimes of Gondor and Rohan quite funny.

Christopher Reeve, Another Kind Of Superhero (washingtonpost.com)

The two warring images will be linked forever, each denying -- and completing -- the other: Christopher Reeve, built and beautiful in his Superman suit, roaring invincibly into the stratosphere. And Christopher Reeve, strained and drawn, hooked to a ventilator and living another motionless day in his wheelchair. The cartoon hero had suffered a horrible fall and emerged as a real-life hero.

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! (Hamlet, 5.2.349)

The New York Times > Books > Poetry Starts to Wear $100 Million Crown

The Poetry Foundation awarded its first two prizes out of the $100 million gift it received two years ago to Greenwich Village poet Samuel Menashe and former poet laureate Billy Collins.

The latest issue of Poetry Magazine is largely devoted to a single (disturbing) poem by Frank Bidart, most of which is about sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. Cellini, while a gifted sculptor, was apparently a monstrous human being, guilty of at least one murder. Once again a refutation of the idea that art is dependent upon morals.

Enjoying Macbeth has quite a bit of useful information about the historical background of the play, but is marred by gratuitous remarks about "white Broncos" and "radical Afrocentrist" historians and about the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. (I don't deny that the author has a right to his opinions, but I find some of his remarks and quotations neither to my taste nor germane to discussion of the play.)

Gayle and I went to see a very good production of Macbeth this afternoon at the Shakespeare Theatre. The play gave rise to several observations:

1. The play shows clearly that the question is not whether you will die, but how. Very few people have a chance to make a "good death," most are butchered when they least expect it.


2. Even if the play was written for a Scottish king, it is clear that it was written by an English playwright. Who else would pen a drama in which the rightful Scottish king is restored to power by the English army?


3. Of course, the play is all about getting even, not just revenge by individuals, but also the attempt to bring the state back into equilibrium.


4. Women are always judged more harshly than men.


5. In an unusual decision, the play did not show the murdered Banquo at the feast to which he returns after being murdered by MacBeth. The effect is to emphasize Macbeth's madness rather than the supernatural element in the play.


6. Macbeth seals his pact with the devil by exchanging blood with the weird sisters. (The actors who plays the weird sisters double as servants at the feast.)


7. The murder of Lady MacDuff and the children takes place on stage, and is particularly horrifying and pitiful.


8. Ted van Griethuysen (who also plays Duncan) gives a bravura performance as the porter, whose shadow, thrown in relief against the wall, looms over him in dumbshow as he clowns on his way to answer the door.


9. Patrick Page is a cunning and diabolical Macbeth, Andrew Long a solid MacDuff, and Kelly McGillis, as Lady MacBeth, is Kelly McGillis.


10. The set, which consisted mainly of a metal frame with patterned screens and a few trees, was everything a Shakespearian set should be, spare and minimal, yet flexible and evocative.

Foreign Reporters A World Apart In the Campaign (washingtonpost.com)

One Democratic campaign official ranks the foreign press "about on a par with lice" on his list of concerns. The official would not allow his name to be used, for fear his comment would reflect poorly on him.

Gee, I wonder why the rest of the world has a low opinion of us. Equally striking is the observation that during the last month of a campaign, the print media in general is treated just as badly as the foreign press is the rest of the time. Television is all that matters.

Washington Drank Here (washingtonpost.com)

The Distilled Spirits Council is restoring Washington's still at Mount Vernon. It is a reminder of the prodigious quantities of alcohol that the revolutionary generation consumed.

CSPI scam | Critics

The Food Industry's risible criticism of the Center For Science in the Public Interest reminds me to check and see if I need to renew my subscription to CSPI's Nutrition Health Action Newsletter.

The New York Times > Washington > Survey Confirms It: Women Outjuggle Men

It may fall into the category of Things You Knew but Could Never Prove, but a new survey by the Department of Labor shows that the average working woman spends about twice as much time as the average working man on household chores and the care of children.

The average working woman also gets about an hour's less sleep each night than the average stay-at-home mom. And men spend more time than women both at their jobs and on leisure and sports.

Clearly, men need to be more helpful around the house. (Progress is relative, however: a male friend of mine in Morocco once expressed astonishment that American men did any housework at all.)

The story goes on to mention that we spend more than half our leisure time watching TV. My aspiration is zero TV, but even it weren't, half my leisure time watching the tube would be way too much.

Doonesbury Goes to War : News : RollingStone.com

Garry Trudeau gives a rare interview to Rolling Stone magazine. Worth reading for the descriptions of life for soldiers in the amputee ward alone, but also gives an interesting description of life at Yale with George W. Bush.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Which vodka is the best? By Alex Abramovich

Slate concludes that despite being made primarily of water and alcohol, not all vodkas are created equal:

But if all vodkas tasted alike, there'd be no reason to favor a $30 bottle of Armadale over a $12 magnum of Fleischmann's. In fact, all vodkas are not alike. Vodka can be distilled in a good many ways, from a great many substances, including wheat, rye, beets, corn, potatoes, and sugar cane. (In Russia, the Yukos oil conglomerate recently made headlines for marketing a vodka distilled from hemp seeds.) As a result, each brand has a distinct smell, flavor, aftertaste, and burn (i.e., the burning sensation vodka creates as it goes down your gullet). The grain-based vodkas, which are the most popular, tend to be smooth and can even taste fruity. Vegetable-based vodkas are often (and often unfairly) dismissed as being harsh and medicinal.

My Russian neighbor prefers Absolut, which was rated surprisingly low. Second place, however, went to a Scottish vodka, Armadale, distilled on the Isle of Skye.

RPO -- Andrew Marvell : To his Coy Mistress

            21      But at my back I always hear
            22      Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
            23      And yonder all before us lie
            24      Deserts of vast eternity.

The Chal Roberts Story (washingtonpost.com)

Chal's article of Saturday illustrated a 93-year-old mind that works as well as anyone's, at any age. Those who know him, and the thousands of older Post readers who read his work so often, could only wish for many more decades of Chal. But the same friends and readers can only admire the qualities he brought to his decision, the same toughness and lack of sentimentality that have served us all so uniquely and so well.

For better or worse, toughness and lack of sentimentality are what we prize in our reporters. To be fair, the Post also lauds Roberts' "fairness, intelligence, and nuanced judgment."

The Decision of a Lifetime (washingtonpost.com)

I could be dead when you read this. But I thought it might be worthwhile to put down my thoughts about how I decided to skip a lifesaving heart operation.

Chalmers Roberts lived life on his own terms. Now, by refusing a potentially life-saving operation, he is preparing to die on his own terms. Few of us could ask for better.

As we enjoyed dinner at a very fine Spanish restaurant in Washington, one of my companions brought up my (remote) Scottish ancestry, and the discussion quickly turned to Braveheart. I have always thought it amusing that outside the visitors center at the Wallace Monument in Stirling there is a statue of William Wallace, rendered to look exactly like Mel Gibson. The explanation I was given was that since no one knows what Wallace really looked like, why not make him look like Mel Gibson? (We do know, from the Wallace sword, that Wallace must have been taller than Gibson).

As for Mr. Gibson's more recent career, I do not really hold it against him. However, I find it hard to understand how a religious person like Gibson reconciles the imitation of Christ with a career based on extreme movie violence. I do not consider myself a very religious person, but I have never thought that the main point of Christ's life and teachings was the brutality of his death.

The television is more evil than the computer (Jeremy Zawodny's blog)

In our family debates, I generally espouse the point of view expressed by Jeremy Zawodny, but there is clearly another side to the argument that TV is simply evil.

I have enjoyed watching the Olympics on the television; I don't think that I would enjoy gymnastics as much on the computer. While I watched the Olympics, I could cuddle up with my wife and daughter on the couch. This does not work well at the keyboard; in fact, taking the baby to the computer is an invitation to a tantrum. Once we have finished watching a program together, it is often the subject of a discussion. This happens less frequently with the computer, which caters to our divergent more than our common interests.

Finally, as Zawodny's practice of turning on the iTunes at the keyboard suggests, one tends to tune out in front of the CRT, minimizing interaction with other people. Anyone who uses a computer is clearly aware that it can become obsessive. I have never been accused of ignoring someone because I was watching television, but occasionally people have suggested that I should pay more attention to them and less to the computer.

For myself, I would cheerfully dispense with a television, but not at the expense of social relationships with my family.

What's With That Weird New Vault? - Goodbye, horse. Hello, tongue! By Brendan I. Koerner

Slate explains that the new "horse" used for vaults at the Olympics is the result of safety concerns after several accidents in Sydney. In addition to reducing injury, the new "tongue" shape also encourages more elaborate acrobatics.

The New York Times > Dining & Wine > Recalling Julia Child, Oyster-Loving Idealist

Everyone knows about Julia Child the great epicure, but how many people knew she was also a liberal activist? It's refreshing to be reminded that good taste and social justice can go together.

Paul Hamm apparently earned his all-around gold medal in gymnastics as a result of a scoring error. The medal is likely to stand because the South Koreans, who should have won, did not issue a timely protest. Sometimes a storybook ending is too good to be true.

Svetlana the Great - Russia's gymnastics queen preens at the all-around finals. By Meghan O'Rourke

What is appealing about Khorkina is that she grasps the magnitude of every moment. In a pre-Olympics interview, she told NBC that she loved being called a diva. "A diva is magical; you can't catch her," she smiled.

What is really disturbing about Khorkina is that she looks anorexic.

Harvard, Princeton Tied in News Rankings (washingtonpost.com)

Perhaps a playoff is in order. For the second straight year, Harvard and Princeton share the top spot in the controversial U.S. News & World Report rankings of "America's Best Colleges."

Yale is number 3, and the University of Pennsylvania is number 4. Harvard had nothing to say for itself (but is no doubt secretly chagrined over having to share the glory with the pumpkinheads.)

The New York Times > AP > Sports > U.S. Wins First Fencing Medals Since '84

Bronze medal winner Sada Jacobson, ranked first in the world in women's saber, is a Yale undergraduate.

Blog Interrupted (washingtonpost.com)

When Jessica Cutler put her dirty secrets on the Web, she lost her job, signed a book deal, posed for Playboy -- and raised a ton of questions about where America is headed.

Cutler apparently first started her blog so that her girlfriends could keep her sexploits with six "boyfriends" straight. She described her affairs to her friends for laughs.

In addition to an unashamed promiscuity, Cutler, according to the Post, has also casually experimented with a wide range of illegal substances, is chronically unable to keep a job, and was "inaccurate" on her resume about such details as whether she had actually graduated from college.

The Post's interest in the story — apart from its obviously titilallating details about sex in corridors of power — seems to be based on the question: "Is this the new norm for young women today?" The Post suggests, citing Naomi Wolf, that sexual liberation and the push for equal rights have led to a commoditization of sex among young women that apes the worst of men's traditional attittudes.

The story also has a moral: don't write anything on your blog that you would not want your boss, your significant other, or your parents to read.

Salon.com Books | Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz dies at 93

"It's not possible to be sated with the world. I'm still insatiable," he said. "At my age, I'm still looking for a form, for a language to express the world."

Link from BookSlut.

Top reads at the moment: Caterina.net, Halley's Comment, and MoorishGirl.

Francis Crick, DNA Scientist, Dies (washingtonpost.com)

Francis H.C. Crick, 88, co-discoverer of one of the most important scientific findings of the 20th century, the recognition of the "double-helix" structure of DNA as the blueprint to life, died Wednesday at the San Diego's Thornton Hospital. He had colon cancer.

Vegetarians in Paradise/Avocado history, Avocado nutrition, Avocado recipe/Avocado folklore

WGMS reminds me why I love Rossini.

I caught Friday Night Jazz at Borders at 18th and L, N.W. tonight. The great thing was that the four person combo — trumpet, piano, bass, and drums — wasn't a regular group even though they sounded like one. They were just four musicians who get together a couple of times a year to play.

A recent post by Halley Suitt suggests that there is nothing unusual about what the Washingtonienne had to say. What was unusual was that — deliberately or not — she let herself get caught writing a sex journal from a Senate computer.

Frank Kinahan's scrutinizes at length the Irish legend of Oisin and Niamh that formed the basis for William Butler Yeats' The Wanderings of Oisin. Oisin, leader of the Fenians, who have been vanquished in battle, is lured away to the realm of Faery by the faery Niamh, who has fallen in love with him. Once there, Oisin spends a hundred years hunting, a hundred years fighting, and a hundred years sleeping. Upon his return to the earth, against Niamh's wishes, the full weight of his three hundred years falls upon him when his foot touches the earth. He lives long enough to recount his story to St. Patrick. Niamh wastes away and dies.

One suspects that J.R.R. Tolkien, a professor of Medieval English literature at Oxford, had stories such as Oisin's in mind when he composed the stories of Beren and Luthien (see the ) and of Aragorn and Arwen (see ). The twist, in Tolkien, however, is that the emphasis is on the renunciation by the Elf of her immortality for the sake of love, rather than on the mortal human's renunciation of the chance for immortality.

Kinahan emphasizes that the realm of poetry is the impermanent, material world, not the unchanging (and sterile?) realm of Faery or the occult, a truth that both Yeats and Tolkien implicitly recognize.

Arabic Language A Tough Assignment (washingtonpost.com)

According to a survey by the Modern Language Association, the number of students at U.S. colleges enrolled in Arabic language courses nearly doubled from fall 1998 to fall 2002 -- the largest growth rate of any foreign language during that period. At Georgetown University, enrollment in Arabic courses is up by 300 percent since 2001. At George Washington, twice as many students applied as could be admitted into the new summer-long intensive Arabic program.

It is encouraging to hear of more interest in Arabic as a foreign language, discouraging to be reminded how difficult the language is and how few people study it despite renewed interest.

According to W.B. Yeats' Faery and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, butterflies in Irish folklore are the souls of the dead awaiting entry into Purgatory.

NAMES & FACES (washingtonpost.com)

Stop the presses! Or should we say start the presses? Washingtonienne, that 26-year-old infamous former Hill staffer who grabbed everyone's attention by blogging each nitty-gritty detail of her sexual escapades with six men, not only has a six-figure book deal anchored with Hyperion Disney, but the rumor that she'll be posing for Playboy mag is true, too! (November issue, for those interested.)

The Post's Reliable Source has the background on 26-year-old Jessica Cutler, a.k.a. Washingtonienne. Her Senate boss chose a creative legal angle when he fired her; apparently she was discharged for misuse of government property because she was blogging on a Senate computer. In a way, it is odd that the Senator gave her a reason; I would have thought that a Senate staff job would be at-will, and that a Senate staffer could be fired for any reason or no reason at all.

It is remarkable not only how much attention this story has garnered, but how much anger it has generated, as evidenced by comments on the Wizbang weblog.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Moore's Public Service

Paul Krugman echoes Barbara Ehrenreich's column of a comple of days ago, in which he points out that Michael Moore — unlike the privileged George Walker Bush — comes from an ordinary background. Krugman thinks that Moore — whose tone and political conspiracy theories he does not endorse — nevetheless has performed an essential service by telling stories about the Bush administration that the mainstream media lacked the moxy to reveal. And he makes a good point when he states that Moore's critics point to Moore's alleged distortions, but they have little to say about he Commander in Chief's.

Voice of Experience (washingtonpost.com)

"I was 30 years old, at the height of my career," says Hollander. "I loved my job. And, yes, I would go places and be recognized. You get spoiled a little bit. And then everything was gone. So, yes, it was a long fall."

And, it turns out, a long climb back. On June 1, Hollander returns to the studio at WGMS, and returns to her old time slot -- the 10 a.m.-3 p.m. show that she describes, with both affection and possessiveness, as "mine." For the past two years, as she has slowly gained more control over her epilepsy, Hollander has been working for WGMS out of a studio in her basement. To her, this is returning to the "big time."

Diana Hollander, one of the country's top Classical music radio announcers, has overcome six years of personal tragedy to return full-time ot the station she loves. WGMS, meanwhile, deserves a lot of credit for its leadership in accommodating Ms. Hollander's disability and proving itself to be a model employer of the disabled. The result has been a fourfold win — for Diana Hollander, for WGMS, for the Washington audience, and for Classical music.

NutritionData's Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter

An interesting site that provides access to nutrition date on line. I found it while looking up the nutrition data for olives, which are better than I thought, despite a high sodium content. This is good news since I find myself increasingly addicted. My favorites right now are Moroccan oil cured black olives, green Picholines from France, and black Nicoise. A good Kalamata, of course, is also hard to resist.

MoorishGirl: June 2004 Archives

Congratulations to MoorishGirl on being featured by the Guardian as its web pick and for passing the million visitor mark. Ms. Lalami leads where the rest of us hope to follow.

AP CustomWire | The Janesville Gazette | Janesville, Wisconsin, USA

Charles "had this blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them."

His last Grammy came in 1993 for "A Song for You," but he never dropped out of the music scene. He continued to tour and long treasured time for chess. He once told the Los Angeles Times: "I'm not Spassky, but I'll make it interesting for you."

Rest in peace Ray Charles, dead of liver disease at 73. The AP notes that Charles left behind 12 children, 20 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. He may be gone, but his music will never be forgotten. The rest is silence.

Slate doesn't give the former president much credit. Tip of the hat toAndrew Sullivan ("An avalanche of hostility.")

The New York Times > Opinion > June 6, 1944

In a way, D-Day sums up for us the whole of World War II. It was the frontal clash of two ideas, a collision between the possibility of human freedom and its nullification. Even now, we are still learning what to make of it, still trying to know whether we are dwarfed by the scale of such an effort or whether what happened that day still enlarges us. It certainly enlarges the veterans of Normandy and their friends who died in every zone of that war.

Unhomepage

I was listening to the "Tubthumping" song on the way home from the KFC, and it kind of stuck in my head. London evenings . . .

Tillman Killed by 'Friendly Fire' (washingtonpost.com)

Pat Tillman, the former pro football player, was killed by other American troops in a "friendly fire" episode in Afghanistan last month and not by enemy bullets, according to a U.S. investigation of the incident.

The revelation that that former football player Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire is a grotesque reminder of the of the ugliness and chaos of war. (I'm reminded of Hedda Gabler's reaction when she finds out that Eilert Lovborg has shot himself not in the heart but in the gut.) This news does not diminish the courage displayed by Tillman, but it should be an awakening to those who celebrated his death as affirmation of a romantic vision of war.

Bad Timing Creates a 'Doonesbury' Dilemma (washingtonpost.com)

While I understand people's sensibilities are raw over the brutal execution of Nick Berg, I do not see how a fair reading of this strip could discern an allusion to Berg's murder. It's very obviously a literal illustration of the phrase "handing him his head on a platter."

(It's nice to see Garry Trudeau making a pitch for justice in the workplace.)

The New York Times > Arts > Television > How 'American Idol' Got Hijacked by Its Viewers

"It's fixable. But whatever structural changes are made for the fourth season, the idea that the best singer wins will never again be a matter of faith. "American Idol" used to exude a sense of pop-cultural justice � that regardless of appearance or race, all that matters is the voice. The show has lost its innocence."

eGullet.com -> Cast iron pan problem

Cooking tomatoes or tomato sauce in a cast iron pan tends to strip the seasoning. It's better to use a non-reactive pot.

Washington Post coverage of LaToya London's ejection from American Idol.

I am almost unable to express how shocked I am to find my worst suspicions about America confirmed over a music competition. The show may be trivial, but it is outrageous that, for a second time, the two most talented musicians — who are also the African American musicians — should be consigned to the bottom ranking, and that the person who obviously has the most talent — LaToya London — should be booted off the show. I cannot condone the poor manners of the crowd that booed when Ryan Seacrest announced that LaToya was leaving the show, but I certainly understand how they felt. Randy Jackson did not quite come out and say that the choice was racially biased, but we all felt it.

I am trying to figure out which print magazines I actually want to read: Poetry, The New Republic, Chess Life, Washington Lawyer, Smithsonian, WorldView. I subscribe to other good magazines that I just do not have time for, such as National Geographic and various alumni magazines. And there are some open questions, such as the Middle East Journal and Better Investing. Part of the dilemma is that every minute devoted to magazines is a minute less that I can devote to books.

How Do You Pronounce "Abu Ghraib"?

Slate explains that apparently even non-Iraqi Arabs are unlikely to get this one right, since the Baghdad suburb has a local pronunciation.

Andrew Sullivan does not like this cartoon.

I actually find myself agreeing with Simon Cowell about something: Fantasia and LaToya are in a class by themselves.

Smithsonian Magazine reconsiders Lord Nelson's place in history after a new discovery of letters from his long suffering wife.

I would be more impressed by Halley Suitt's commentary on how cold it is in New England if my brother had not lived four years in North Dakota, and then moved to Alaska!

Attention Deficit Linked to TV Viewing (washingtonpost.com)

Very young children who watch television face an increased risk of attention deficit problems by school age, a study has found, suggesting that TV might overstimulate and permanently "rewire" the developing brain.

I admit that I park the kid in front of the TV when I am alone and I need to take a shower. Otherwise, we try hard to stimulate the baby in other ways. Even at 10 months, however, she loves Sesame Street.

Andrew Sullivan has a poignant tribute to Alistair Cooke, from one naturalized Englishman to another.

These days, it is not surprising to walk into the cafe at an urban Borders and find a homeless man seated at a table drinking coffee. It is still surprising, however, to see that the homeless man is using a laptop.

Yahoo! News - Legendary Broadcaster Alistair Cooke Dies

LONDON - Alistair Cooke, the broadcaster who epitomized highbrow television as host of "Masterpiece Theatre" and whose "Letter from America" was a radio fixture in Britain for 58 years, has died, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Tuesday. He was 95.

I grew up watching Alistair Cooke introduce Masterpiece Theatre, the one program on television that my parents invariably watched. His polish and assurance set the tone for the television program, lending a patina of English refinement and sophistication to the BBC retreads that followed. (Don't get me wrong, I love BBC retreads.) It has been years since I actually saw Alistair Cooke on television, but reading of his death marks the passing of another of the institutions of my childhood.

Divers - Ah! vous dirai-je, maman

"Ah! vous dirai-je, maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je raisonne
Comme une grande personne
Moi je sais que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.

"Ah! vous dirai-je, maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je retienne
Les verbes La Laurentienne
Mois je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que les leçons."

Oh, if I could tell you mother,
How I suffer like no other,
Father wants me to reason,
Like a big person,
Me, I know that chocolate,
Is better than boring thought,

Oh, if I could tell you mother,
How I suffer like no other,
Daddy wants me to retain
Verbs Laurentian
Me I know that candies good,
Please me more than study could.

Ah! vous dirai-je, maman.

"Ah! vous dirai-je, maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment!
Depuis que j'ai vu Silvandre,
Me regarder d'un oeil tendre,
Mon coeur dit à chaque instant :
Peut-on vivre sans amant?"

Oh, if I could tell you mother,
How I suffer like no other,
Since I have seen Silvander,
Gaze on me with an eye so tender,
My heart asks when each moment's over
Can one live without a lover?

How It Works: Be Your Own Barista, With a Programmable Helper

"Unlike the $40 drip coffee maker, which requires a bit of work to get from bean to cup, superautomatics grind the beans, tamp the grounds, brew the coffee with hot water under pressure and provide steam to foam the milk. They even dump out the coffee grounds."

Some things a man prefers to do for himself.

Scripting News: 3/12/2004

"Second perspective-alterer. Yesterday on All Things Considered, a very young thoughtful and sweet analyst, Mikel Jollett, explained slowly and carefully why rap music is a way for us old folk to look inside ourselves and find our parents and grandparents, disapproving of us as we now disapprove of the younger generation's music."

I guess we were listening to the same program. It"s a reminder that NPR is the best broadcast has to offer.

I cooked Djej Emshmel -- chicken with preserved lemons and olives -- tonight, and I was quite pleased at how it came out. I need to work on the presentation, but the taste was delicious.

I spent the evening with baby watching In Harm's Way on American Movie Classics. Ostensibly a 1965 vehicle for John Wayne as a take charge admiral (starring opposite Patricia Neal as a Navy nurse and his main squeeze), the film is a much more interesting portrayal of his executive officer played by Kirk Douglas. An embittered veteran driven to drink by an incompetent commander, Douglas sobers up when Wayne arrives on the scene and makes Douglas his executive officer. After commiting a terrible crime, Douglas seeks to escape disgrace and punishment and redeem himself on a one man suicide mission that discovers the enemy fleet, including the legendary Japanese battleship Yamato. Having provided the intelligence crucial to victory Douglas perishes in a dogfight with four enemy Zeroes. I thought the role particularly interesting because it foreshadows the kind of role his son Michael would later play, rather than the more unidimensional Douglas of such films as Spartacus. The timing of the film, made as the nation was sinking deeper into the quagmire of Vietnam, is cause for reflection: hearkeing back to the moral clarity of World War II, the film is even shot in black and white to recall the old WW II propaganda films.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

Norse Map or German Hoax? Still No Rest for Vinland (washingtonpost.com)

"When it surfaced in 1957, it was too good to be true: a purported 15th-century world map depicting an island to the far west labeled Vinilandia Insula -- the fabled Vinland -- proof positive, it seemed, that Norse explorers had reached North America long before Columbus."

My father still has a copy of the original book Yale published touting the Vinland Map -- purporting to show the Viking discovery of America -- before ithe map was exposed as a forgery. I grew up in the certainty that it was a clever fake, and that the University had been fooled. It seems not everyone is willing to let the matter rest, however.

My wife and I had a rare escape to the Shakespeare Theatre today, where we saw a very strong peformance of perennial favorite Henry IV pt. 1. Ted van Greithuysen, in a departure from his usual serious roles, played Falstaff; giving the fat knight a little more of an air of sophistication than usual, to great effect in such lines as "Banish not Falstaff thy Harry's company." One gets the sense from van Greithuysen's performance that Falstaff has a sense of what the future holds. Floyd King, whose usual line is clowns, fools, and buffoons, played Owen Glendower pretty straight, relying on Glendower's bizarre and pretentious mysticism to create its own comic effect. Finally, Andrew Long created a vigorous Hotspur with a biting tongue, and threatened to steal each scene he was in. Overall, the tavern scenes were most effective, whereas the fight scenes came across as perfunctory.

Caterina.net: )Difference(

"It's gonna have blood and hair on the walls," Marty said. Frank looked blank, the creative assistants nodded.

John Boswell - Wikipedia

"John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947 - December 24, 1994), a gay historian, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and educated at the College of William and Mary and at Harvard University. He became a professor of history at Yale University, and helped organize the Lesbian and Gay Studies Center at Yale in 1987. He was chairman of the history department at Yale from 1990 to 1992."

It is to Halley Suitt's credit that she doesn't get the fact that Andrew Sullivan gets hate mail because he writes about gay issues. She's right, it's a sad commentary on American prejudices, and too few people are willing to denounce this kind of bigotry. However, it is not surprising in a nation where the President is pushing an initiative to amend the Constitution in order to deny gays equal protection of the laws.

On a related note, I am almost finished with John Boswell's fascinating account of how general tolerance for gay sexuality in Classical times and during the Renaissance of the Twelfh Century gave way to vicious repression of gays -- and Jews, Muslims and religious dissenters -- in the thirteenth century, leaving Europe (and European culture) with a legacy of hate that persists to this day. Boswell admits that the question has been so little studied (and so misrepresented by modern scholars reluctant to come to grips with references to gays in Classical and Medieval literature) that any conclusions are tentative. Nevertheless, he hypothesizes that the growing repression in the thirteenth century was linked to the rise of absolutist monarchical states unwilling to tolerate any deviation from prevailing orthodoxies.

Happy New Year!

unbillable hours: On Bill Bryson and the Responsibilities of the Traveler

"I envy that man's career. Anyone who has the ability to travel - like Bryson, Ian Frazier, and Robert Kaplan - for a living has been given the most amazing gift."

I echo the sentiment, but the rare gift is the ability to describe the places the author visits in such a way that we see them in a fresh light. The best travel writers are able to share their voyage of self discovery as they move from place to place, and integrate their stories with the people they meet, the books they've read, the food they've eaten, and the other places they have been. In many ways, it is the stories that are magical more than the voyages.

Maybe it is all for the best, but I am somewhat saddened to learn that the Tall Ship Rose has become the property of Fox Studios and is now berthed at a museum rather than sailing under the auspices of the private foundation that restored her.

Having just finished John Livingstone Lowes' extensive discussion of the extensive literature on the living dead trapped on a ship of the damned, I was amused to find myself watching Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney's campy modern update of the ancient theme. The making of the ships is a story in itself.

Yahoo! News - Spam E-Mail Plays on Men's Deepest Fear

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - For many American office workers, the day begins with deleting spam. These days, a lot of electronic junk mail hits below the belt by seeking to profit from many men's deepest fear -- that their penises are too small."

Oh, please. Who can believe that anyone takes this kind of spam seriously?

Scripting News: 12/31/2003

"Could it be that our purpose is to tell a story, and that the better lived a life is, the better the story that survives after you're gone?"

Dave Winer sums up the Greek heroic ideal.

Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844)

"You have no idea what it's like if you always hear a giant marching behind you".

I never knew that there was a Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart until I heard it on the air today on WGMS.

Revisiting a Man Who Linked Two Worlds (washingtonpost.com)

"Many think they know the story of Lawrence of Arabia, said filmmaker James Hawes, "but they know the Hollywood version. People know him because of David Lean's movie, know him as a Rudolph Valentino-caped crusader."

Roger L. Simon: GREGG EASTERBROOK AND ME

"But Easterbrook also informed me of something else that is highly disturbing. He has been fired from his job at ESPN. Gregg takes full responsibility for this (he wrote the original words that he regrets), but I, as one of his harshest critics, believe that ESPN has vastly overreacted. I urge them to reconsider their decision. I don�t think anybody who attacked Easterbrook wanted to see him fired. I certainly didn�t. To the degree that I am even remotely responsible for this I humbly apologize. I can only say this is another example of what we all know�words have consequences."

Dave Winer discusses the firing of columnist Gregg Easterbrook from ESPN because of his blog comments about Jewish communications CEO's.

The New Republic Online: Easterbrook

"Nothing's worse, as a writer, than so mangling your own use of words that you are heard to have said something radically different than what you wished to express. Of mangling words, I am guilty."

After Rush Limbaugh, it is no surprise that Gregg Easterbrook lost his position at ESPN for writing a blog post that suggested that Jewish business executives were promoting violence out of cupidity. Limbaugh's comment about a black quarterback shocked but did not surprise. It does come as a surprise that a writer for the New Republic, a magazine with a liberal history and deep sympathy to Judaism, should make the kind of statements Easterbrook did.

Limbaugh Goes Off the Air To Battle Painkiller Habit (washingtonpost.com)

"A bombastic host who loves to rip and ridicule his political opponents, Limbaugh has said things about drugs over the years that are already coming back to haunt him. As People magazine noted, Limbaugh said in a 1995 interview that "too many whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to . . . find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river."

I haven't felt so good since the mealy mouthed William Bennett was exposed as a closet gambling addict.

The Subway Guy, Still on a Roll (washingtonpost.com)

"For nearly one full year in college, Jared Fogle ate nothing but Subway sandwiches -- and lost 245 pounds. Today, at age 26, he is the world's most famous hoagie huckster and a slender beacon of hope to millions of overweight Americans, who sweat and starve and staple their stomachs in a never-ending quest for svelte."

Hall of Fame Jockey Bill Shoemaker Dies (washingtonpost.com)

"Only 4-foot-11, the superb athlete rode for 41 years, most of them in Southern California, considered to be the most competitive circuit in America."

Rachel and I passed a very enjoyable evening watching Bogie and Bacall in the Big Sleep on Turner Classic Movies. Strange how even the booksellers and cab drivers are beautiful young women, who immediately fall for Bogart. I did not know that William Faulkner wrote the screenplay, or that there was a remake in the 70's with Robert Mitchum and Jimmy Stewart.

A Savvy Queen Marketed Chastity

"The use of the royal image to assert, consolidate and maintain her grip on power is explored in "Elizabeth," a fascinating exhibition that runs through Sept. 14 at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, near London."

Four hundred years later, the Queen still has good P.R.

Gayle and I went to see the Shakespeare Theatre's production of Ghosts last night, and found it to be one of the company's rare disappointments. In a nod to lead actress Jane Alexander's former NEA chairmanship, Osvald becomes a painter of shocking nudes. Rather than contracting congenital syphilis from his dissolute father, Osvald succumbs to AIDs contracted in his wild life as a New York painter. This heavy-handed attempt to "update" the play and make it "relevant" reduces Mrs. Alving's moral dilemma to incoherence: there no longer appears to be any connection between her acquiescing in the immoral and abusive life her husband led and the heavy price her son pays. One thing this production did accomplish, however, was to awaken in me a desire to pick up the play and read it again after 15 years.