Tony Snow's job

Lately Bill Moyers and every other decent fringe and sometimes non-fringe journalist is blaming the media in large part for not asking the necessary questions leading up to the Iraq war. And for the past year or so, I've found the mainstream press to be far more adequate at their jobs than they were 5 years ago. Even the Daily Texan is getting some good stories. Which is why it's hard for me to ignore the possibility that all of this scares the hell out of the administration, and in a last ditch effort to get the press corps to toss them softballs, Dick Cheney has given Tony Snow cancer so everyone feels bad for him. Come on, these are the people that got a guy with no more credentials than your average male escort (Jeff Gannon, who asked "how are you going to work with these people [dems] who are so divorced from reality?") to gently blow the president in front of everyone. And we all know how Bush warms up to the press corps with his nicknames ("slim," "stretch," "blind guy," etc.). They even made Helen Thomas sit in the back and refused to call on her for awhile. So is it so far out to suspect them of giving Tony Snow cancer?

save the patriarchy

I don't even know what to do with this article, which argues that in order to reverse American demographic decline, we MUST reinstate patriarchy. Did I fall asleep and get time-traveled back to 1904, or something? Is the ghost of TR bending over me, tickling me with his bushy spectral moustache?

Excerpt: "Without implying any endorsement for the strategy, one must observe that a society that presents women with essentially three options -- be a nun, be a prostitute, or marry a man and bear children -- has stumbled upon a highly effective way to reduce the risk of demographic decline."

save the humans

The Rapture of the Bees

Check out this disturbing and fascinating article in the Times about disappearing bee colonies around the world.

Goodnight Mr. Halberstam

David Halberstam, who became famous for his coverage of the Vietnam War and won the Pulitzer Prize, died in a car crash at the age of 73. Sad.

Apparently, my contributions to this blog are quickly becoming this week in death.

boil

More photos coming...

Bill Goetzmann, Ismail Ax and Virginia Tech...

"In one [theory], tied to James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie," Ishmael Bush is known as an outcast and outlawed warrior, according to an essay written in 1969 by William H. Goetzmann, a University of Texas History professor. In Cooper's book, "Bush carries the prime symbol of evil - the spoiler's axe," the professor wrote."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/ismail-ax-sparks-web-frenzy/2007/04/18/1176696889800.html?s_cid=rss_age

Ones to Watch

The YCT released the new edition of the Professor Watch List. Fascinating document.

The Professor Watch List is designed to be a resource to the student body of the University of Texas. This report includes professors who push an ideological viewpoint on their students through oftentimes subtle but sometimes abrasive methods of indoctrination.
This List does not target professors for their opinions in or out of the classroom, and professors are not judged by their politics alone. What is considered is whether the professor respects and strives for intellectual honesty in his or her classroom through presenting a fair and balanced delivery of information that is not crafted to produce a certain mindset within the receiving student. Classroom presentation, instructor attitude and reading material are among applicable measurements of this standard.
Additionally, some professors will be listed on our Honor Roll. These professors embody an intellectually honest classroom or teach a subject we feel is important to higher education but is oftentimes downplayed, shunned or forgotten about by largely liberal campuses.
YCT does not advocate retaliation against listed professors, nor do we demand they change their teaching style. YCT members have made every effort to produce a non-partisan list.

Apparently, no one from AMS made the cut. Also, the population of the list makes me think that perhaps all members of YCT have chosen government, economics or similar for their course of study.

One of my favorite poems

of which Carly's post reminded me...

JOE HELLER

True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.
I said, "Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel 'Catch-22'
has earned in its entire history?"
And Joe said, "I've got something he can never have."
And I said, "What on earth could that be, Joe?"
And Joe said, "The knowledge that I've got enough."
Not bad! Rest in peace!

- Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84

I read in an introduction he'd written to one of his novels about how once someone had asked him what he was doing while he was smoking in a bar. He'd said he was committing suicide by cigarette, and decided to quit smoking. For some reason, I keep thinking about that story, hearing about his death. I guess he decided he might as well live. 84 years is a long road to wander.

public transportation hip hop

as if everyone needed another reason to love portland.... their public transit system (tri-met) now has its own (fairly long) hip hop song...

Invisi-bandages!

Not only is the above video a relatively high-production-values commercial parody, it's a good companion to Peggy McIntosh's "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."

Uncle Ben's Return

The ASFS listserv has been kicking around this "Uncle Ben" thread for a couple of days, and when I finally followed it to the bottom and read the Stuart Elliot NYT article about Uncle Ben's new marketing campaign, I was mindblown. I am fascinated by the thought processes behind decisions like these. My only explanation is that there must have been some very powerful person at the top of the food chain who had this idea, or liked it, and who (whom?) nobody else wanted to offend. Here, read.