An interesting article at the BBC about The Netherlands. An ongoing battle over language in The Netherlands is being fuelled by the country's New Year's word lists. The Little Green Book, or Het Groene Boekje, the official Dutch spelling guide, was published this year. But it is being boycotted by public broadcasters, who say it is too silly for words. Instead, … [Read more...] about Double Dutch
Somalia Waving Islamists… Goodbye(?)
Good news from Reuters: Defeated Somali Islamists fled their last stronghold and headed toward the Kenyan border on Monday in what looked like the end of nearly two weeks of war with the Ethiopian-backed government. Several thousand Islamist troops, who abandoned the capital to take a stand 300 km (186 miles) to the south near the port of Kismayu, melted away again … [Read more...] about Somalia Waving Islamists… Goodbye(?)
The Media & Saddam: Onward Into the Past
It's kind of sad but not surprising that many mainstream media reporters and most definitely their editors still cannot factor the blogosphere into a major breaking story like Saddam's Sayonara. An example is Alessandra Stanley's "TV Watch" column in the Sunday New York Times on the pre-execution death watch by the cable news channels and networks and then the scramble to … [Read more...] about The Media & Saddam: Onward Into the Past
And So 2007 Is A Babe In The Woods: Can We Get It RIGHT?
As you read this, 2007 is an innocent little year (well, almost if you scroll down Google). Like most infants, it absorbs its environment: the words used, the events it sees, the way people treat it...the very tone. It may be naive to say this, but even with powder-keg issues in politics, passionate issues that people want to write about on weblogs...in the interest of … [Read more...] about And So 2007 Is A Babe In The Woods: Can We Get It RIGHT?
Happy 2007!
May the year 2007 bring us more deposed tyrants and fewer new plots in Arlington. Upon this hope, we can all agree. Best wishes for 2007 and a cordial goodnight to all! … [Read more...] about Happy 2007!
Happy New Year!
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House as the city ushers in the first day of 2007. (Getty Images) Around the World, It's Happy New Year! … [Read more...] about Happy New Year!
Vengeance, not justice
I don't have much more to say about Saddam Hussein's execution. I wrote about it extensively before it took place -- see here -- and, at The Reaction, Creature wrote the words I was searching for in a subsequent post -- see here: "I feel sad, not for Saddam, but for what we have become." This was America's doing, and America should not have allowed it to happen. To the … [Read more...] about Vengeance, not justice
The Good in the Current Administration
I realize the title of this post, alone, will anger a lot of readers and, as a result, some of them will take time to leave comments here, pointing out that the bad in this Administration far outweighs the good. And that's probably true. But it doesn't change the fact that on this subject, the Administration got it right. Cheers to Captain Ed for this reminder. … [Read more...] about The Good in the Current Administration
“Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada”
Joe made an important observation in an earlier post on the differing interpretations of the Saddam execution. The conventional wisdom is that Shi'ites and Kurds are happy that Saddam has died, and Sunnis are despondent that the last leader who privileged them in Iraqi society has now passed away. But anybody hoping that the trial and execution would help the Iraqi nation turn … [Read more...] about “Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada”
How Do You Pronounce “TOETBD”?
My New Year's resolutions. … [Read more...] about How Do You Pronounce “TOETBD”?
Can I Get a Witness?
I'm really just testing the new WordPress software, but since I feel I should give you some reason for reading, Check out "Indexed", a really fun and entertaining blog that makes me glad I learned how to read graphs (really, really, simple graphs, but graphs). Â Really--it's worth your time. … [Read more...] about Can I Get a Witness?
GOP and Survival of the Fittest
The Washington Times featured an interesting post election analysis that showed that Republican Senators gave far less money to struggling candidates than did Democrats. I believe that this is relatively true in the House races as well. It was not that they soberly calculated that they were going to lose in a landslide and decided not to throw good money after bad. They just … [Read more...] about GOP and Survival of the Fittest
Theater Review: ‘The Vertical Hour’
“The Vertical Hour,â€? David Hare’s timely new play, refers to that moment in combat medicine when you can be of some use after a soldier is critically wounded. Julianne Moore makes her Broadway debut as an American foreign correspondent turned Yale University professor who finds herself caught in a romantic triangle with Bill Nighy, who plays an esteemed British … [Read more...] about Theater Review: ‘The Vertical Hour’
Thoughts for the New Year
For every moderate voice who has ever struggled with questions about the utility of moderation, I offer these thoughts on the doorstep of the new year. (Warning: The linked post is a rather lengthy read. For those who attempt it, I only hope it proves worthy of the time you invested.) … [Read more...] about Thoughts for the New Year
Should Hillary Clinton Be Jittery?
One of the "givens" of the non-ending Presidential campaigns, is the early annointing of a media "front-runner" who has the money OR the name power OR the organization OR the charisma. So look at Hillary Clinton. Oh, well: three out of four ain't bad... Times Online has a piece that utters the seemingly unutterable in some quarters: Hillary is often … [Read more...] about Should Hillary Clinton Be Jittery?
Rogue Senators Undermining American Interests
Several Senators have taken it upon themselves to travel the world, negotiating with radical states behind the Administration’s back because they think it’s the appropriate measures for one individual in one house of one branch of the U.S. government to take.In reality, their glamorous actions only threaten the effectiveness of American foreign policy: an effect that such … [Read more...] about Rogue Senators Undermining American Interests
Hillary Schillary
The Times of London on Hillary Clinton: Unfortunately for Senator Hillary Clinton, long the front-runner in the Democratic drive to retake the presidency, most of them are coming at her expense. A brace of Christmas opinion polls has left Clinton with a political hangover after a year that had appeared to cement her status as the Democrats’ best-organised, best-financed … [Read more...] about Hillary Schillary
Looking Back
Dahlia Litwick looks back at 2006 for Slate and compiles a "the 10 most outrageous civil liberties violations of 2006"-list. The numbers 3 -1: 3. Abuse of Jose Padilla First, he was, according to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, "exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or 'dirty bomb,' in the United States." Then, he … [Read more...] about Looking Back
Edwards Appeals to Liberal Base
The Washington Post has an interesting article up about John Edwards. With overflow crowds and his populist economic message and his Internet-friendly campaign organization, John Edwards signaled this week that, if he has anything to say about it, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination will be about more than just Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. … [Read more...] about Edwards Appeals to Liberal Base
Waiting For The Impact Of Saddam Hussein’s Death
And now the prevailing question becomes: what will be the impact of Saddam Hussein's hanging? Will the Iraqi populace's lingering images be of the guy in that photo with the seeming glint of fear in his eye as they put the noose around his neck? Will it be the dead-and-hung Saddam, lying on his side? Will it be the Saddam of the video (which will most assuredly show up in … [Read more...] about Waiting For The Impact Of Saddam Hussein’s Death