Monday, June 13, 2005
Pretentious? Moi?
Jay Rosen has a few well-chosen words to say the new-evangelical media church elite.
With quotes like "When I'm reporting, I am a citizen of the world" - how can you not see the media for the religious beliefs it entails?
With quotes like "When I'm reporting, I am a citizen of the world" - how can you not see the media for the religious beliefs it entails?
The scandal craze hits Hillary
Dirty little stories sell. And often unsubstantiated claims may indeed harm the career of a politician, even if last year's book version, Kitty Kelley's The Family, didn't succeed in bringing down the Bush clan with rumors about infidelity, cocaine use at Camp David and such.
But now Mrs. Clinton has to face the music too. Ed Klein's latest book The Truth about Hillary will rock the political life of Washington D.C. with allegations that Chelsea is the outcome of Bill raping Hillary.
It's hard to say how this book will yet again bring the Clinton's down into the mud they seem to do so well in, but I have a hard time seeing how Hillary - in a worst case scenario if the rumors are proven to be correct - wouldn't be able to get a huge sympathy vote from such publicity.
Words from the publisher - here.
But now Mrs. Clinton has to face the music too. Ed Klein's latest book The Truth about Hillary will rock the political life of Washington D.C. with allegations that Chelsea is the outcome of Bill raping Hillary.
It's hard to say how this book will yet again bring the Clinton's down into the mud they seem to do so well in, but I have a hard time seeing how Hillary - in a worst case scenario if the rumors are proven to be correct - wouldn't be able to get a huge sympathy vote from such publicity.
Words from the publisher - here.
Friday, June 10, 2005
An interesting dissent, update
Madison who?, is perhaps the question posed by the SC when their verdict arrived. A sweet little post on Justice Scalia's constitutional principles.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Living in the smartest of times
I'm not gonna get into the whole debate on the Flynn effect (IQ increase over time), especially not now since I've just returned from a Mensa test (not really knowing how I did - if you really care I will let you know when I get the results...)
But, there is something very important in the findings by NYT Magazine's Steven Johnson... For example - TV shows are increasingly intellectually demanding.... Junk culture is obviously more challenging than before - computer games, plots in tv series and movies - all this culture in today's society demands that we are smarter, better trained et cetera, than ever before in the history of humankind...
Johnson takes the argument further in his newly released book Everything Bad is Good for You. And for those of us who enjoyed a good game of Dungeons & Dragons in our early teens, spending entire weekends inside to take on adventure that came to life by the roll of the dice, then the opening pages of the book does clearly give you your money's worth.
The truth, like always - nerds will rule the world. Now more than ever. Junk culture and media hyped events are good for us all.
But, there is something very important in the findings by NYT Magazine's Steven Johnson... For example - TV shows are increasingly intellectually demanding.... Junk culture is obviously more challenging than before - computer games, plots in tv series and movies - all this culture in today's society demands that we are smarter, better trained et cetera, than ever before in the history of humankind...
Johnson takes the argument further in his newly released book Everything Bad is Good for You. And for those of us who enjoyed a good game of Dungeons & Dragons in our early teens, spending entire weekends inside to take on adventure that came to life by the roll of the dice, then the opening pages of the book does clearly give you your money's worth.
The truth, like always - nerds will rule the world. Now more than ever. Junk culture and media hyped events are good for us all.
An interesting dissent in the SC
6-3
Chief Justice Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor - what do they have in common you might ask... well, in the case Gonzales, attorney General, et al. v. Raich et al. or as it is more famously called - The marijuana decision - these three Supreme Court justices seem to share some common ground. Read the Supreme Court decision here (pdf) .
With Stevens writing the opinion of the majority (joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Souter, Breyer) the federal intervention line became distinct.
But the interesting outcome is the states-right-point that all three dissenting justices share. This is certainly a great case to show how liberal justices and libertarian ditos really do have a common ground in the interest to keep states rights strong and refrain federal government from intervening.
This is a crash course in political philosophy. And also a nice little reminder that the up and coming Justice Scalia is perhaps not as much of a right-wing hardliner as he has been blamed to be.
Chief Justice Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor - what do they have in common you might ask... well, in the case Gonzales, attorney General, et al. v. Raich et al. or as it is more famously called - The marijuana decision - these three Supreme Court justices seem to share some common ground. Read the Supreme Court decision here (pdf) .
With Stevens writing the opinion of the majority (joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Souter, Breyer) the federal intervention line became distinct.
But the interesting outcome is the states-right-point that all three dissenting justices share. This is certainly a great case to show how liberal justices and libertarian ditos really do have a common ground in the interest to keep states rights strong and refrain federal government from intervening.
This is a crash course in political philosophy. And also a nice little reminder that the up and coming Justice Scalia is perhaps not as much of a right-wing hardliner as he has been blamed to be.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Kerry's Yale Record
Remember that Democratic candidate who was said to be so smart? An over-achiever at Yale? But who refused to disclose his grades?
Well, yesterday they arrived. Funny thing. It seems like he was as much of an under-achiever as that taunted guy from the same college, from which Kerry tried to get an office. Full story here.
Kerry's cumulative average (on a scale of 100) for his four college years was 76, saved by some "high" B grades in pol sci (89) and various lighter scientific areas. His freshman year earned him a grade point average of 71!
I got an average of 87 in my freshman college year at Bishop's in courses that were by far more demanding than the tender teachings Kerry slept through. (And yes, I improved my grades after that.) Not that I would ever blow my own horn... erhm... like, say, a certain somebody did during his entire campaign.
Btw, isn't there an old Shakespeare play on the theme of Kerry's record? Much ado about nothing?
Well, yesterday they arrived. Funny thing. It seems like he was as much of an under-achiever as that taunted guy from the same college, from which Kerry tried to get an office. Full story here.
Kerry's cumulative average (on a scale of 100) for his four college years was 76, saved by some "high" B grades in pol sci (89) and various lighter scientific areas. His freshman year earned him a grade point average of 71!
I got an average of 87 in my freshman college year at Bishop's in courses that were by far more demanding than the tender teachings Kerry slept through. (And yes, I improved my grades after that.) Not that I would ever blow my own horn... erhm... like, say, a certain somebody did during his entire campaign.
Btw, isn't there an old Shakespeare play on the theme of Kerry's record? Much ado about nothing?
