Politics

JUST SAY NO….I’d like to join Atrios in applauding the imminent passage of a bill to implement a national do-not-call registry. Put your name on the registry and telemarketers are no longer allowed to call you. Charities, surveyers, and, of course, political organizations, are exempt. This is one of those things where I don’t even […]

FUN WITH LICENSE PLATES….Jim Capozzola of the Rittenhouse Review, proving that he has too much time on his hands, points me toward this nifty little website that says: Pretend you’re in prison and make a license! You can make license plates from all 50 states plus Washington DC and the various Canadian provinces, and you […]

TALKLEFT TALKS TO HART….Hey, this business of bloggers doing interviews with people seems to be spreading. Jeralyn Merritt talked to Gary Hart for half an hour today and confirms that there was nothing anti-semitic in his much-blogged speech about foreign policy a couple of days ago. Check it out.

BUSH AND HIS DEFICITS….I’m trying hard not to blog about the war today ? not an easy task with CNN’s “all war all the time” broadcasts going on in the background ? but I’m going to keep at it because, well, I’m just tired and depressed about the whole thing. Besides, tomorrow looks to be […]

OUR GENETIC FUTURE….In the Los Angeles Times today, Caroline S. Wagner writes about genetic tailoring: Many loving parents, desiring only the best for their children, will want to use genetic manipulation to make them smarter, more creative, more attractive or more athletic. Hmmm, that doesn’t sound too horrifying, does it? But there’s more: The option […]

CELL PHONE UPDATE….Hey, New York City has banned cell phone use at “public performances, including plays, movies and concerts, and in galleries and museums.” Is this sort of trivial? Is it unenforcable? Maybe even a little silly? Sure, but good for them anyway. Even if it’s just a PR effort, it’s about time someone stood […]

IT’S FILIBUSTER TIME!….Jay Caruso thinks that “Democrats are going to shoot themselves in the foot by filibustering the nomination of Miguel Estrada.” I think not, Jay. The Democrats have finally learned that compromising with George W. Bush gets them nothing. Bush plays an unusually mean game of hardball, and even if you work with him, […]

ADVISE AND CONSENT….Matt Yglesias points to a document from Pat Leahy’s office that lays out the raw number of judicial confirmations by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Here’s a good excerpt, simple enough even for Rush Limbaugh to understand: YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISONS: Republican Control, 1995-2000: 1995: 56 confirmed (45 district, 11 circuit) 1996: 17 (17 district, 0 […]

C.P. SNOW LIVES!….Ah, memories….. Jeanne d’Arc links today to a Los Angeles Times feature story about the dreaded humanities requirement at Caltech, ground zero for geekdom here in sunny Southern California. As you can see from the fine sample of student journalism reproduced at the right, the Humanities Division (no “colleges” at Caltech!) has long […]

TV RECOMMENDATIONS….Don’t forget, the first episode of Survivor Amazon is on tonight! They’re promising a battle royal of the sexes this time around. You are all going to be watching, aren’t you?