I Can See Tehran from My House! by Michael Winship Being a total history geek, I confess that there's almost nothing as entertaining to me as a good historic house tour. It's a great way to get a feel for how someone from the past lived his or her life. I realize that this nerdish interest would seem to indicate that conversely, I have no life of my own, but bear … [Read more...] about I Can See Tehran from My House! (Guest Voice)
Iran: Militia Raids On Homes And Destroying Satellite Dishes
The multi-faceted crackdown by the Iranian regime continues with reports that militia are now conducting night-time raids on homes, beating civilians and destroying satellite dishes so Iranians can't see what the outside world is reporting about the crackdown in their country. The BBC reports: Human Rights Watch has accused Iran's volunteer Basij militia of carrying out … [Read more...] about Iran: Militia Raids On Homes And Destroying Satellite Dishes
What Will LGBT Scholarship Look Like Over the Next Decade?
Tomorrow will be the 40th anniversary of the June 28, 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn bar in NYC's Greenwich Village. On that day the drag queens, teenagers and street kids fought back in what is now generally considered to be the birth of the modern gay rights movement. Writing in Inside Higher Education, Scott McLemee asked scholars what they think (or hope) will … [Read more...] about What Will LGBT Scholarship Look Like Over the Next Decade?
A King David for Our Times
Good rule of thumb: When you've violated the Ten Commandments every which way from Sunday, you're probably better off choosing a non-biblical analogy to explain why you're not giving up your powerful public office: … [Read more...] about A King David for Our Times
House Passes Landmark Climate Bill
Narrowly: In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy. The vote was 219-212, capping months of negotiations and days of intense bargaining among Democrats. … [Read more...] about House Passes Landmark Climate Bill
Michael Jackson: August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
I am working on a roundup of media and blogger reaction to the death of Michael Jackson, but I just want to make an initial point about the revulsion many people (here and elsewhere) have expressed toward Jackson because of the child molestation charges filed against him in the mid-1990s. … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson: August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
Where Were You When Michael Jackson Died?
I remember the day Princess Diana died. I was on holiday with my family and my 12 year old brain could not comprehend why so many people were showing such emotion for a person they hadn’t met. I couldn’t understand how someone can cry for a person who wasn’t a direct family member, or a close personal friend. I remember a news correspondent saying that Diana’s death will go … [Read more...] about Where Were You When Michael Jackson Died?
Jackson Autopsy Report Says Little
The coroner has finished the preliminary autopsy on Michael Jackson but has little to say other than there was not any external trauma or signs of foul play. Extra toxicology tests have been ordered which will take 4-6 weeks to complete so we won't know anything until then. There is a 'security hold' on the report so not a whole lot of details will be released until the other … [Read more...] about Jackson Autopsy Report Says Little
Demerol+Anorexia+Dehydration=Death
Perhaps you saw how as the attendants moved Michael Jackson, his body lay nearly flat on the stretcher, as though there were an ironing board underneath the sheet, rather than the body of a full person. My guess from just a glance, is that he weighed around 100 pounds or less. Not slender, not thin, rather... entirely skeletal. Most people are familiar with anorexia … [Read more...] about Demerol+Anorexia+Dehydration=Death
Hey Iraq, How’s That Withdrawal Going?
HEY IRAQ, HOW'S THAT WITHDRAWAL GOING? Peter Feaver, formerly of the NSC, has some sharp analysis over at Shadow Government, including an improbable comparison of Hillary Clinton to Dick Cheney: These [recent] attacks may simply be what Secretary Clinton has called "a signal that the rejectionists fear Iraq is going in the right direction." This sounds eerily like the … [Read more...] about Hey Iraq, How’s That Withdrawal Going?
Global Warming For Amateurs
Amateurs like me. If you're not a scientist, how much can really you know? Even if you are a scientist, how much can you really know? This week, the New Yorker has a profile of James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, written by Elizabeth Kolbert. When I saw, something rang a bell. Two weeks ago, the Weekly Standard ran a piece on Hansen … [Read more...] about Global Warming For Amateurs
Obama the Moderate President
It has been very interesting watching American political discourse after Obama’s inauguration from the comforts of the United Kingdom. I think that its just beginning to sink in to most people in America that Obama is not the mythical superhero that he portrayed himself to be during the Decision 2008 election assault course, but he is in fact (shock horror) a politician. … [Read more...] about Obama the Moderate President
Justice Thomas, The Rest of the Story: What He Really Said re Safford Unified School District #1 v. April Redding
After reading on blog-sites and in some media hugely inaccurate portrayals of Justice Clarence Thomas's opinion about fourth ammendment rights re underage children being searched for drugs at school, including having the chid disrobe... for what some call a strip search... take a look for yourself. Firstly, what is left out of most reports I've read, is Justice Thomas's … [Read more...] about Justice Thomas, The Rest of the Story: What He Really Said re Safford Unified School District #1 v. April Redding
Home Schooled, Home Grown Football Team
Today's NYTimes has a piece on The Glory for Christ Football League, which came into being because Georgia is not one of the twenty-four states that allow homeshcoolers to join public- or private-school teams: By 2002, the sports-loving sons of Roger and Diana McDaniel had aged out of recreation league football. A school team was not an option. They had no school. The boys … [Read more...] about Home Schooled, Home Grown Football Team
World Cartoonists On The Death Of Michael Jackson
Editorial cartoonists around the world are offering their good byes to singer Michael Jackson. Here are a few: Michael Goes To Heaven John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri The Moon Walker Manny Francisco, Manila, The Phillippines Michael Jackson In Paradise Patrick Chappatte, NZZ am Sonntag Bye Bye Michael Monte Wolverton, Cagle … [Read more...] about World Cartoonists On The Death Of Michael Jackson
Climate Chicken Littles
I'm not a big fan of the cap and trade approach to limiting climate change just passed by the House of Representatives. I much prefer the old tried and true cap and enforce approach, employed in every successful environmental effort since the 1960s. While there's disagreement today about whether cap and trade or cap and enforce is the best way to go when it comes to … [Read more...] about Climate Chicken Littles
Mommy-Knows-Best’s No No
As a parent, I would think Caroline Maria McNeal of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, wanted to do the very best for her daughter Brittany. Unfortunately, as school secretary at Huntingdon Area High School, she took it a step too far. The state attorney general Thursday filed 29 criminal complaints of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of unlawful altering of public records … [Read more...] about Mommy-Knows-Best’s No No
Michael Jackson’s Mumbai Feast: Tandoori Chicken & Butter Naan
If The Beatles managed to convey the increasing dominance of machine over man --- with their voice and script struggling to rise over the clamour and force of musical instruments, Michael Jackson's songs, accompanied with his unbeatable mechanical body movements, went a step further to deliver a similar message --- the human beings gradually turning into robots. Thus, The … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson’s Mumbai Feast: Tandoori Chicken & Butter Naan
Keeping The Climate Change A-Changing
Kimberley A. Strassel at the Wall Street Journal writes about the growing number of skeptics on "human caused global warming": Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with … [Read more...] about Keeping The Climate Change A-Changing
The Sadness of Michael Jackson
Well, what more is there to say? One of the genuine icons of our time, which says a lot about our time (more for bad than for good, I would argue), has died at the age of 50. Like him or not, there is no denying Michael Jackson's significance in global popular culture. He was a star above stars, as outsized a celebrity as we have ever seen. He was an artist, I'll give him … [Read more...] about The Sadness of Michael Jackson