tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52639682011-09-01T08:41:38.774-04:00Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. -- Mark TwainTom Sawyernoreply@blogger.comBlogger10081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1114773075496031822005-04-29T07:11:00.000-04:002005-04-29T07:11:15.496-04:00

Read this article dispelling the hackneyed comparison between Iraq and Vietnam. Favorite Quote: "You get the sense that Earth could be invaded by Klingons and some editorialist would hear “echoes of Vietnam” amid their disruptor blasts."

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1114204616090545622005-04-22T17:11:00.000-04:002005-04-22T17:16:56.093-04:00

I decided here because I don't have anything scholarly to say about it. But, it is about scholarship. Do we really need a special academic journal dedicated to the work of JRR Tolkien? I know there are a lot of academics who played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, but are there really 4 good articles on Tolkien than need to come out each year? I don't know that I've overwhelmed by the current

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1112801471686522152005-04-06T11:31:00.000-04:002005-04-06T11:31:11.686-04:00

Check out this very interesting article by the always thoughtful Judge Posner about the failures of hindsight in analyzing and restructuring US intelligence.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1112620094663674922005-04-04T09:08:00.000-04:002005-04-04T09:08:14.663-04:00

Check out this article in the WSJ which summarizes the trends in 2004 election data by congressional district. Interesting stuff.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1112208508576599692005-03-30T13:48:00.000-05:002005-03-30T13:48:28.576-05:00

All right, I could not make this up. Apparently there was a brawl at Kim Il Sung Stadium, where home-town favorites the North Koreans were playing Iran. The fracas erupted after a questioned call by the referee, who hails from, that's right, Syria...

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1112193771923186892005-03-30T09:42:00.000-05:002005-03-30T09:42:51.923-05:00

Read this article from the WSJ, about The Motorcycle Diaries and Hollywood's canonization of Che Guevara. I am continually appalled by the number of Che shirts I see on poseurs here in the capital of the free world. In fact, I was at a Cuban bar in hip Adams Morgan this weekend for a friend's going away party, which was decorated with numerous Che portraits. Revolting, I said. When I am in

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1112044231187288042005-03-28T16:10:00.000-05:002005-03-28T16:10:31.186-05:00

Now here's something I don't get to say very often: Richard Gere is right on an issue. Check out his opposition to the proposed lifting of the EU embargo on arms sales to China, here.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1111679962312671712005-03-24T10:59:00.000-05:002005-03-24T10:59:22.313-05:00

The Washington Post reports today on last week's clarification of Title IX rules which aim to prevent gender discrimination in college sports. One way to headline this would be "Changes to Title IX Debated" (neutral) or "Colleges Support Title IX Changes" (positive). The WaPo choice? "Title IX Web Surveys Criticized by NCAA." The article follows the slant of the headline as well, with only one

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1111515277767849912005-03-22T13:11:00.000-05:002005-03-22T13:14:37.766-05:00

Their proper name is Trustifarians, and they're not a recent phenomena. They were everywhere at my boarding school, and they really do try to dress like hippies - even when driving home in the brand new BMW they got for their 16th birthday.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1110995488171781202005-03-16T12:47:00.000-05:002005-03-16T12:51:28.173-05:00

The mother in front of me in line, when asked how old her child was, responded, "He's 19 and 1/2 months." I mean, kids are cute and all, and I understand that parents pay pretty close attention (at least when they're young) but, really, doesn't "almost two" get you all you need? Or can this little guy expect to be begging for a car for his 192nd birthday?

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1110932014101300462005-03-15T19:09:00.002-05:002005-03-15T19:13:34.103-05:00

For those insufficiently bored with my lack of posting, I offer a whole new way to be bored. You can check out my history musings blog, which I've created (for reasons more throughly explained there) basically to keep this blog's general interest/political approach. And because I don't feel like I can put up half-baked ideas here (I feel more like I need 3/4 baked), but I want to put them up

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1110215674664520122005-03-07T12:14:00.000-05:002005-03-07T12:14:34.663-05:00

This article details the difficulty of getting into space - even when you are an astronaut. Apparently, "a third of the nation's nearly 150 astronauts have never flown in space." Can you imagine the conversations they must have to endure? "You're an astronaut - how exciting! What is space like?" "Uh, actually I've never been in space. But we have some great simulators." [sounds of

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1110030790526063572005-03-05T08:45:00.000-05:002005-03-05T08:53:10.526-05:00

If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109707471108093852005-03-01T15:04:00.000-05:002005-03-01T15:04:31.106-05:00

Check out this article by Christopher Hitchens, my favorite ex-editor of the Nation. I won't hold my breath waiting for retractions from all the left-wing pundits who claimed to know the feelings of "The Arab Street," but I will happily note how wrong they were. Ole Hitch does so quite well. KJJ

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109606734037244902005-02-28T11:05:00.000-05:002005-02-28T11:05:34.036-05:00

Check out this piece by former Clinton Treasury Sec'y Robert Reich. I don't generally agree with Reich - for example, he supports a higher minimum wage and government offered wage insurance. But in this piece, written in light of the blocking of a Walmart store in NY, he correctly frames the issue and points out that consumers drive the market, not star chamber decisions by evil corporations,

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109604030889902192005-02-28T10:07:00.000-05:002005-02-28T10:20:30.893-05:00

I need the time to do some of the spade work to make this argument more convincing, both for the blog and for my life. But, for now, I just point you to this post from the Volokh Conspiracy pointing out that even the ACLU thinks the majority of the PATRIOT Act is perfectly acceptable. That's not to say, of course, that they're not very, very unhappy with those small parts of it they don't like,

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109450968073669372005-02-26T15:49:00.000-05:002005-02-27T17:05:54.550-05:00

Check out this amusing and on-point article which discusses the provenance of bullshit.Where does it come from? Professor Harry Frankfurt of Princeton (possibly a real person, or perhaps this too is bullshit) tells us:"The production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109342237770477372005-02-25T09:37:00.000-05:002005-02-25T09:37:17.770-05:00

Check out this article, which aptly summarizes my feelings on DC and its pathological inability to deal with minor weather problems. It recalls my favorite quote from Mayor Williams, who a few years ago was quoted as being "literally concerned" about what Washington would do in response to a snow storm. Not concerned in any vague or metaphorical sense, but quite concretely, and literally,

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109300711022954112005-02-24T21:56:00.000-05:002005-02-24T22:05:11.023-05:00

Now that it's NASCAR season again, I feared I'd have my typical problem of being a Chevy guy pulling for a Ford driver (Dale Jarrett in the 88 UPS Ford). Turns out, however, that I can let go of the Chevy thing because I've learned Chevy's deep, dark little secret: They're named after some French dude. I'm a Ford guys now - all the way. Swiss you say? Swiss, French, whatever. There're all

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109035316810554522005-02-21T20:19:00.000-05:002005-02-21T20:21:56.810-05:00

The good news is that I seem to be in demand for summer work around the department. Which is nice. The bad news is that four years out of law school I seem to be worth about $10 an hour. Sigh.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1109006648245638452005-02-21T12:24:00.001-05:002005-02-21T20:25:53.470-05:00

is the nectar of the Gods. I don't know how I lived before I drank it. (ok, maybe that's a pathetic comback post, but I needed something to break the ice. My long absence has left me with bloggers block and I think this will get me going again.)

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1106875311049057792005-01-27T20:21:00.002-05:002005-01-27T20:21:51.050-05:00

I went out to dinner tonight after class with a few classmates. When ordering, one of them asked how much more the curly fries were than the regular fries. "40 cents," said the waitress. His response? "Well, I'll have the cheaper ones then." That's God's honest truth.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1106696939414928192005-01-25T18:48:00.000-05:002005-01-25T18:48:59.413-05:00

In class today I picked up this really interesting tidbit: John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and who was President from 1841-45, has, get this, a grandson who currently lives in Richmond and is around 80 years old. It turns out President Tyler is the only President to marry while in office (the inspiration for the American President???). His wife died, and he married Julia Gardner, then 24

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1106574031168085792005-01-24T08:40:00.000-05:002005-01-24T08:40:31.166-05:00

Cigars in the Sand (see our blogroll) is a superb source of on the ground news in Iraq from an intelligent supporter of American policy. He suggests this blog, so I do too.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1106491690657940912005-01-23T09:17:00.000-05:002005-01-23T09:49:32.823-05:00

Jonathan Rauch is one of my favorite journalists. His pieces are clear without being simple, and express opinion without being polemical. I also happen to agree with him more often than not. (You can see a good sample of his work here, but for real brilliance, you can see what I regard as the most interesting article to ever appear in the most interesting magazine in the world.) His most

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1105715044841986542005-01-14T10:04:00.000-05:002005-01-14T10:04:04.840-05:00

Well, the holidays are over and it is time to get some blogging started for 2005. No shortage of events that could use commentary, but I thought I would start off the year with this story, about a speaker at a junior high school in California who "may not be invited back" to career day next year, after he told girls they could earn a good living as strippers as part of his popular 55-minute

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103517203902664172004-12-19T23:17:00.000-05:002004-12-19T23:41:25.130-05:00

In an attempt to not get too bogged down by the end of the semester, I'm reading Carroll's Alice in Wonderland for the first time. It's hilarious, and great fun if you need some escapist literature. Especially good for me was his skewering of historians's pedantic prose: They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank - the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103209271299517922004-12-16T09:58:00.000-05:002004-12-16T10:01:11.300-05:00

Ann Coulter has a great response to melodramatic criminal defense lawyers who use the term "circumstantial evidence" as a slur: In a murder case, all evidence of guilt other than eyewitness testimony is "circumstantial." Inasmuch as most murders do not occur at Grand Central Terminal during rush hour, it is not an uncommon occurrence to have murder convictions based entirely on circumstantial

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103208905034261352004-12-16T09:37:00.000-05:002004-12-16T09:55:05.033-05:00

I like Victor Davis Hanson, an excellent writer mainly devoted to teasing out what W.F. Buckley calls the central tenet of conservatism, "there is nothing new under the sun." Right Wing News has put together Hanson's Best Quotes of 2004. Read it all, but here is my favorite: "The Palestinians will, in fact, get their de facto state, though one that may be now cut off entirely from Israeli

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103152288768228052004-12-15T18:05:00.000-05:002004-12-15T18:11:28.766-05:00

Wesley Pruden at the Washington Times writes about a wheelchair-bound Californian who seems to make his living by filing suits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Until a judge put a stop to it, after the man filed three nearly identical suits alleging three similar injuries on the same day: Judge Rafeedie agreed that Mr. Molski might have had a "credible" case in each instance, standing

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103136560955285632004-12-15T13:48:00.000-05:002004-12-15T13:49:20.956-05:00

Out with the old. In with the new.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103136024855754472004-12-15T13:38:00.000-05:002004-12-16T09:08:59.063-05:00

This will only be funny if you were a nerd like me as a kid. Update: A reader passes this along for would-be vacationers for whom Alaska is too crowded and bustling.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1103070004914569982004-12-14T18:50:00.000-05:002004-12-14T19:20:04.913-05:00

I take back what I said yesterday about linguists contribuing nothing to the public good. University of Pittsburgh linguist Scott Kiesling has analyzed the origins and uses of the word "dude": An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings (“What’s up, dude?”); as an exclamation (“Whoa, Dude!”); commiseration (“Dude, I’m so

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102980287081387802004-12-13T16:45:00.000-05:002004-12-13T18:24:47.080-05:00

Liberal academics continue to defend their profession's intellectual uniformity on the basis that conservatives are too selfish to pursue the scholastic lifestyle: A Democrat on the Berkeley faculty, George Lakoff, who teaches linguistics and is the author of "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think," said that liberals choose academic fields that fit their worldviews. "Unlike

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102973928309866962004-12-13T16:08:00.000-05:002004-12-13T16:38:48.310-05:00

One of my new favorite sites, David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com, is ON FIRE. 1. On Purdue University's "Peace Studies" program, a taxpayer-funded effort led by an unreconstructed communist: Professor Harry Targ is the director for the Peace Studies program at Purdue University, a state college in the Indiana system. Professor Targ is a member of the National Executive Committee of the “

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102949922083680712004-12-13T09:53:00.000-05:002004-12-13T09:58:42.083-05:00

I get a crooked smile when Northeasterners discuss Middle America as if they were back in that anthropology class they took junior year because it didn't meet on Mondays or Fridays. So I got a kick out of "Dean Makes Bid to take Democratic Party National" from ScrappleFace: Howard Dean, the former potential presidential nominee, said today that if he's selected as chairman of the Democrat party

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102886374758191982004-12-12T16:01:00.000-05:002004-12-12T16:19:34.756-05:00

The recent debate about academia's intolerance of and hostility to alternative viewpoints, and the accompanying effect on higher education, sometimes assumes that academia ever had a constructive role in policy making. I love this anecdote from Paul Boller, about a time when the left/right roles were reversed but the lesson remains the same. The setting is the presidential campaign of 1896,

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102885204263228662004-12-12T15:46:00.000-05:002004-12-12T16:00:04.263-05:00

A Burger King employee was fired after she refused to return a 10-foot-tall SpongeBob Squarepants balloon that she sold for $1,025 in an Internet auction. Viney Richards, 36, said a manager gave her the 50-pound balloon after it was taken down from the restaurant's roof. I'm reminded of the concept of "efficient breach" in contract law, whereby one party may, and should, breach a contract

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102884224634367612004-12-12T14:38:00.000-05:002004-12-12T15:43:44.633-05:00

I still miss Michael Kelly, whose voice and skills in the war of words we still haven't replaced. His famous 1998 column, "I Still Believe," is evidently still the stuff of journalistic legend. Because Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly has taken up the device, substituting Barry Bonds for Bill Clinton (damn SI for no links!). And instead of "I didn't inhale" and "I did not have sex with

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102740006002290752004-12-10T22:52:00.000-05:002004-12-10T23:45:32.676-05:00

Jonathan Chait may well be a nice, thoughtful guy, but his LA Times editorial claiming that there is no bias against conservatives in academia is offensive bullsh*t on a stilts, and I prove it - not I can prove it - I prove it. Mr. Chait claims that the dearth of conservatives in academia is primarily due to two reasons: First, Republicans don't particularly want to be professors. To go into

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102722603553886072004-12-10T18:24:00.000-05:002004-12-10T18:50:03.553-05:00

The Human Rights Campaign is 100% correct that the social security reform debate represents an opportunity for gay rights. But they're seeing the wrong opportunity: The HRC said it will use the upcoming Social Security debate to "promote to the country the fact that GLBT people do not have a majority of the Social Security benefits enjoyed by most Americans." The group says it has not taken a

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102721029043641382004-12-10T18:19:00.000-05:002004-12-10T18:23:49.043-05:00

Joe Biden clearly doesn't share my views on the inevitability of Hillary's nomination: It's apparently never too early to declare you're running for the presidency. Delaware Senator Joe Biden unofficially declared on Wednesday that he's running for president in 2008. Sort of. In an interview with Don Imus on MSNBC's Imus in the Morning, the radio personality asked Biden, "Are you going to run

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102717480676332152004-12-10T17:18:00.000-05:002004-12-10T17:24:40.676-05:00

We know that liberals love to take themselves seriously, but never more so when romanticizing self-indulgence and license. Like walking around with your crank hanging out.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102708640067600542004-12-10T14:53:00.000-05:002004-12-10T14:57:20.066-05:00

I have a Hillary problem. That is, I have a hard time imagining how she doesn't get nominated in 2008. And then you have to give her at least even odds in November. Peggy Noonan sums up how she's been positioning herself.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102597503363653932004-12-09T08:05:00.000-05:002004-12-09T08:12:17.523-05:00

Not complicated, or expensive, but full of truth. Last night I saw a 4 x 6 piece of plywood with Christmas lights stapled to it. The lights spelled out, "I love college."

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102547170172674912004-12-08T17:44:00.000-05:002004-12-08T18:06:10.173-05:00

Like most Americans, I find the whole Harvard/Yale thing a bit tedious. In my case, I object to the sheer artificiality of the rivalry, in the sense that the two schools share the exact same applicant pool, students at one are overwhelmingly likely to have been admitted to the other, the facilities are equal, the professors and curricula are equally useless, and the choice came down to personal

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102530249273046652004-12-08T13:24:00.000-05:002004-12-08T13:25:16.946-05:00

No, not, unfortunately, on the research paper due Friday that I'm trying to salvage from a semester of neglect. Or on the essay summary due today for the essay I've yet to write, or even outline. Or on the review I'm trying to write for Friday based on the incoherent question (more on that later, for sure - lots of ranty goodness as Big Arm Woman would say). Instead, and more importantly, I've

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102448068771389572004-12-07T14:02:00.000-05:002004-12-07T14:34:28.773-05:00

There is sure to be some condescending tut-tuts in the newsrooms and faculty lounges about a Newsweek poll's report that 79% of Americans believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus. (Don't confuse the virgin birth with the Immaculate Conception of Mary, by the way.) My response is, "No crap." The Virgin Birth is one of The Biggies, those fundamental tenets that are virtually co-terminous with

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102441615625461122004-12-07T13:43:00.000-05:002004-12-07T12:46:55.626-05:00

I've been wondering why the President took Colorado by almost 5 points, but the GOP really got zapped in the other races down-ticket. Former Colorado Senate President John Andrews tries to explain.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102439389099225942004-12-07T11:55:00.000-05:002004-12-07T12:09:49.100-05:00

On the heels of all the attention get-out-the-vote drives have been getting with respect to the 2004 campaign, the Washington Post has a riveting front page article on Shiite voter mobilization in advance of the January elections. As I was reading it, I was naturally trying place the clergy-led campaign into the "for us" or "against us" categories. But then I got the wild notion that that the

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102438402569235632004-12-07T11:47:00.000-05:002004-12-07T11:53:22.570-05:00

They say the worst insult to a comedian is that he's not funny. Have you seen George Carlin lately? This guy just ain't funny anymore. His act is now just a humor less rant against corporations and bourgeouis middle class lifestyles. He sees no irony in the fact that his entire profession depends on economic surplus, disposable income, and recreational mindlessness. How many "professional

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102437651612207862004-12-07T10:52:00.000-05:002004-12-07T11:41:45.440-05:00

Notwithstanding that Andrew Sullivan proclaims "Bozell Busted," and Jeff Jarvis claims vindication, I don't think Brent Bozell ever denied that his group was the squeaky wheel. The point of the linked-to column was that Jarvis' claim of only three complaints was a lie. Is the Parents Television Council filled with out-of-mainstream types who might find something better to do? I don't know any of

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102433988835340602004-12-07T10:39:00.000-05:002004-12-07T10:43:58.396-05:00

Travis points out that I am part of the conspiracy to undermine the efforts of the goodly folks opposing what they view as indecent material on the airwaves. The saga continues: check out Activists Dominate Content Complaints, where Todd Shields of Mediaweek reports: "According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek, nearly all indecency complaints in 2003—99.8 percent—were filed by the

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102429967035700082004-12-07T09:23:00.000-05:002004-12-07T09:32:47.036-05:00

I've just put Cigars in the Sand onto our blogroll, and you should take the time to check it out immediately. It's written by a lawyer friend of mine who left the safe, if not exactly comfy, confines of the White House Homeland Security Council to help support the effort in Iraq, where he's advising the Iraqis about border security. Ryan is a straight shooter, and if his blog is anywhere near

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102375746440883412004-12-06T18:08:00.000-05:002004-12-06T18:29:06.440-05:00

Junkscience.com now has its junk science Top Ten for 2004. My favorite is the National Academy of Science's groundless "finding" that everyone should further reduce their sodium intake: Since 1995, 10 studies have reported on whether lower sodium diets produce health benefits. All 10 studies indicate that, among the general population, lower sodium diets don’t produce health benefits. In fact,

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102367662105846552004-12-06T16:01:00.000-05:002004-12-06T16:14:22.106-05:00

Tom Boswell takes out a hammer and just bashes Barry Bonds over the head with it. And I don't blame Hank Aaron, who has consistently been a good sport about the idea of someone breaking his record fair-and-square, who sounds a little cheesed off. The Bonds situation is an absolute nightmare scenario for baseball. There isn't enough evidence to throw Barry out and strip him of his records. But

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102360892501331072004-12-06T14:05:00.000-05:002004-12-06T14:21:32.500-05:00

KJJ recently posted about Jeff Jarvis' shocking discovery that the FCC fined Fox for obscene content on Married by America based on the complaints of only three people. Brent Bozell alleges that the FCC and Jarvis are using creative math: The fashionable pundit on all this right now -- recited by every libertine columnist from the New York Times to Newsweek -- is the former TV Guide critic Jeff

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102169755557918982004-12-04T08:40:00.000-05:002004-12-04T09:15:55.556-05:00

I think everyone whose been to college has noted that the great majority of political comments made by professors assume that everyone understands Republicans are at least foolish and very likely hateful and devious. Professors teaching about the civil rights here in Collegeville have been known to assert in class that denying gays the right to marry is just like preventing interracial marriage,

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102112154545769022004-12-03T17:02:00.000-05:002004-12-03T17:15:54.546-05:00

PA Gov. Ed Rendell: "I'm not going to wring my hands over this election. If 9/11 had never happened, John Kerry would be president-elect today. I have no doubt about that." Now, this is obviously idiotic because the howling nature of Rendell's counterfactual. It's right up there with "If he had received more votes, John Kerry would be president-elect today." The key to an interesting

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102084554120211852004-12-03T09:04:00.000-05:002004-12-03T09:35:54.120-05:00

My smiles just keep getting wider. The Good Guys have been named SI's Sportsmen of the Year. Even better, the magazine really extends the honor to the whole of Red Sox Nation. It's tough to see on the web, but the cover is a composite of photos of fans and players. Tom Verducci's cover story (no link -- get a hard copy) centers mostly on two fans, one a WWII vet succumbing to cancer, the

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1102022019762229482004-12-02T16:09:00.000-05:002004-12-02T16:13:39.763-05:00

Dave Leip has a wonderful roundup of state and county-level 2004 voting statistics. Find out which jurisdictions are reddest, bluest, and even greenest.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101999567079979652004-12-02T09:46:00.002-05:002004-12-02T10:17:25.273-05:00

One of the more exasperating anti-anti-terrorist crowd myths is that "peace is patriotic" or that "we support the troops by wanting to bring them home." I love the uniform inability of liberals to mouth these sentiments with any conviction (like when a known atheist tries to quote the New Testament). In addition, as 'Nam vet-turned poet Ross Vaughn also points out, the subjects of their supposed

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101996030198785222004-12-02T08:58:00.000-05:002004-12-02T09:00:30.196-05:00

Remember when Jason Giambi indignantly denied using steroids? Well, that was a lie.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101928327939293072004-12-01T13:53:00.001-05:002004-12-01T14:12:07.940-05:00

People who bother to know, rather than just write about, the so-called "values voters" know that they/we care more about basic decency and common sense than the Book of Deuteronomy. But I was surprised to see this pointed out by none other than Maureen Dowd's brother, Kevin: There are all sorts of people of faith that place moral values over personal freedoms. They are not all 'wacky

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101927194437621912004-12-01T13:16:00.000-05:002004-12-01T13:53:14.436-05:00

NRO has an editorial highlighting how France, Germany, and the UK are falling for Iran's "nuclear rope-a-dope." After all, this is what Jimmy Carter did with respect to North Korea, resulting in the peace and stability that the Korean peninsula enjoyes today. Wait a minute. . . But I'm sensing something much more insidious here. I've long adhered to the aphorism, "Do not attribute to malice

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101923035738261482004-12-01T11:31:00.000-05:002004-12-01T12:43:55.740-05:00

Yeah, Ty Willingham got the quick hook at Notre Dame after only 3 years. That doesn't sound fair, given that he never got a real chance to get his recruits on the field. But big-time college athletics are anything but fair, and the coaches choose this life knowing this. Expectations were high for Willingham, who had brought the Stanford program to prominence, and the team didn't meet those

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101844905427669892004-11-30T14:44:00.000-05:002004-11-30T15:01:45.426-05:00

Check out this fawning article about homosexual Naval Academy alums who want to start a gay-oriented alumni association chapter, courtesy of our friends at the Washington Post. As some might expect by now, I'm indifferent on the merits, in constrast to Annapolis alum who sent me the article with no small state of outrage. But I agree it's a pretty breathtaking example of liberal bias in the

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101835584119762152004-11-30T13:25:00.000-05:002004-11-30T12:26:24.123-05:00

One of the reasons for my recent absence from this blog is that I've moved from Ohio to DC. We can debate the merits of such a move at some other time. But for now, let's observe an oddity in the local inter-jurisdictional tax structure. Let's say that you live in New Jersey and work in New York City. To which jurisdiction do you pay income tax? Well, the rule is that you pay tax to the "

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101744330401366362004-11-29T10:54:00.000-05:002004-11-29T11:05:30.403-05:00

More on the apparently unsuccessful attempt to postpone the elections in Iraq. I was puzzled as to why Kurds were joining with the formerly dominant Sunnis in calling for a postponement. But then I learned: For the Kurds, a major goal is control of Kirkuk, a major oil-producing center and ethnically mixed city that is outside the Kurdish-ruled autonomous region. . . Kurdish parties have been

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101562487590258212004-11-27T08:29:00.000-05:002004-11-27T08:34:47.590-05:00

Here's more regarding a possible delay in Iraqi elections. A host of groups, mostly Sunni but including some Kurds, insist on a 6-month delay. Shiites, the majority group, along with the temporary Allawi government, favor going forward as scheduled.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101245722624323342004-11-23T16:12:00.000-05:002004-11-23T16:35:22.623-05:00

ScappleFace: Iran Suspends Uranium Enrichment, E.U. Suspends Disbelief

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101238415516962482004-11-23T14:29:00.000-05:002004-11-23T14:33:35.516-05:00

The New York Times has joined the chorus of fetal bloodlust regarding Hyde-Weldon, calling it "a discgraceful sneak attack on on women's health and freedom." But I like this line best: In essence, it tells health care companies, hospitals and insurance companies they are free to ignore Roe v. Wade. . . Does anyone intelligent proofread these editorials before publication? Could anyone in the

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101223070147775332004-11-23T09:49:00.000-05:002004-11-23T10:17:50.146-05:00

One of may favorite phenomena is when Bushophobe foreign illuminati try to insult the President by calling him a "cowboy," as in this case from some Chilean pencil-pusher: Chilean journalists were critical of Bush's actions. Marcelo Romero, a reporter with Santiago's newspaper La Cuarta, said: "All of us journalists agree that President Bush looked like a cowboy. It was total breach of protocol.

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101162701453928802004-11-22T16:41:00.000-05:002004-11-23T14:35:42.966-05:00

That is, how dare you take away my choice to force health care providers to violate the Hippocratic Oath? Now, I really hate these omnibus appropriations bills Congress has to jam through at the last minute because they've spent the year on their duffs. And I really hate when substantive, non-appropriations riders are tacked on to appropriations bills. But for its genre, the Hyde-Weldon

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1101157007459301992004-11-22T15:36:00.000-05:002004-11-22T15:56:47.460-05:00

The Arab thugocracies have many despicable qualities, but among the most irritating is the presumption that whatever goes on in other sovereign, Arab countries has to be cleared through them first. As you might know, Iraq is holding democratic elections January 30. But true to form, Arab leaders meeting in Cairo have concluded that those elections may have to be postponed. The story quotes

Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09667955697980618755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1100708058831557952004-11-17T11:14:00.000-05:002004-11-17T11:15:49.740-05:00

Jeff Jarvis at Buzz Machine unearths the facts of the FCC's recent $1.2 million fine against Fox, which was not in response to any depth of public outcry: "[The] latest big fine by the FCC against a TV network -- a record $1.2 million against Fox for its "sexually suggestive" Married by America -- was brought about by a mere three people who actually composed letters of complaint. Yes, just

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1100180164901874162004-11-11T08:25:00.000-05:002004-11-15T17:23:12.003-05:00

in almost every way: Bush Nominates His Top Counsel for Justice Post. With his background and the newly more Republican Senate, I think his confirmation is less something to fear than something to endure. And it may offer an opportunity to clear away some of the foolishness surrounding the legality of the Patriot Act and the Guantanamo Bay detentions. For example, he may be able to finally

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1099768128876840612004-11-06T14:08:00.000-05:002004-11-06T14:10:04.306-05:00

Moving directly on to the 2008 elections, it appears that Hillary will be the next president - at least according to Pravda, here. That's right, Pravda, the pride of the former Soviet Union's news dissemination machine, is still alive and kicking. They continue to offer a perspective that is, ahem, unique. Absolutely worth checking out from time to time.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1099081481799441452004-10-29T16:16:00.000-04:002004-10-29T16:24:41.800-04:00

In my inaugural posting to this site, I call your attention to a recent advertisement by the Media Fund, a so-called independent advocacy group led by former Clinton hack Harold Ickes. The ad repeats the canard that, in the days after 9/11, the Bush Administration allowed more than a dozen relatives of Osama bin Laden to flee the country without first being detained by the FBI -- even while

Dubillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14046308190913131495noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1099065152992950012004-10-29T11:42:00.000-04:002004-10-29T11:52:32.993-04:00

Washington, D.C. has numerous peculiarities; when I had friends visiting some weeks ago, I took them to an Ethiopian bar that has reliably good free jazz on a Friday night. They were shocked that when we entered, not only was every television tuned to the presidential debate, but all the patrons were watching quietly, with interest. Apparently not what you would find in Phoenix. That said, it is

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1099057739489056912004-10-29T09:45:00.000-04:002004-10-29T09:50:39.096-04:00

If you don't read fafblog from time to time you should, and Giblets's "celebration" of the Red Sox win is an especially good excuse: So the Red Sox have won. Giblets accepts this . . . . But now Giblets has a new problem. Giblets is no longer satisfied with victory. Now he thirsts for vengeance.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1099056288188632572004-10-29T09:15:00.000-04:002004-10-29T09:32:16.860-04:00

We're all, I think, a little burned out by the election, so here's some polling that it's easier to get excited about: The new NCAA basketball Coaches' Poll. And, Whoa, Nellie! LOOK at the ACC this year. We've got 6, count 'em, 6 teams in the top twenty, and we're the majority of the top top 5. Wake, UNC, and Tech come in at 2, 3 and 4, Duke at 12, Maryland at 16, and State at 19. Florida State

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098988913913556102004-10-28T14:41:00.000-04:002004-10-28T14:43:29.196-04:00

Frankly, as the election is now outside the abilities of pollsters to predict, and I cannot stomach any more articles about turnout, registration drives / registration malfeasance or God forbid, "security moms," I found this article from the New Republic online an enjoyable read on who will be blamed if Kerry loses. My favorites: "...George Soros. If Kerry loses, expect Democrats to scratch

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098884504881050212004-10-27T09:40:00.000-04:002004-10-27T09:41:44.880-04:00

For the man who has everything, including an irrational fear of heart attacks, his very own home defibrillator.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098747838429434102004-10-25T19:43:00.000-04:002004-10-25T19:48:31.836-04:00

Some Chicago Bears Get Flu Shots. I could write something about the hysteria surrounding the flu vaccine issue, the hay each party is trying to make of it, etc., but I just thought the headline was funny. Ha, ha. Credit to the WSJ for the punchline.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098309059147921992004-10-20T17:50:00.000-04:002004-10-20T23:54:24.690-04:00

We've been getting a lot of traffic from people looking for information on collar popping. There must be a lot of interest out there, since we've only had one post on it, so, I've responded: If you came looking for the correct way to pop your collar, here, modeled by AER, who was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule of naps, meals, and diaper changes, is proper collar popping style:

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098289631052288592004-10-20T13:27:00.000-04:002004-10-20T12:28:32.826-04:00

UVA alums will no doubt remember Bill Stuntz, whom I found to be a thoughtful criminal law professor and an excellent lecturer. Sadly, he was lured away from sunny Charlottesville by the tattered Crimson (coincidence that their color is communist red?). Nonetheless, he makes an insightful argument about the war on terror vs. the war on the Mob and Kerry's "nuisance" comment about terrorism.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098281638740107962004-10-20T10:06:00.000-04:002004-10-20T10:13:58.740-04:00

8:25 – Back at it. 9:06 – Five down. More coffee. 9:13 – Grading should be done in the evening. Then one’s desire to have a Manhattan makes one feel less like an alcoholic. 9:21 – Everything by Clifford Brown makes the top 10 songs to grade to. MAN did that dude swing. Makes me think of Miles Davis’s said about Wynton Marsalis: “Aw, he ain’t doing nuthin’ Clifford didn’t do 30 years

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098239409624768872004-10-19T22:30:00.000-04:002004-10-19T22:30:09.623-04:00

Here's something that everyone should put on their Christmas list - especially if you travel often and find yourself sitting by the gate with a blaring television next to you. Simply a fabulous idea.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098152561095938412004-10-18T22:22:00.000-04:002004-10-18T22:22:41.096-04:00

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098152060836234422004-10-18T22:06:00.000-04:002004-10-18T22:21:01.213-04:00

Some folks do it for the debates. I’m doing it for my midterm grading extravaganza. Basically just to keep myself entertained. 7:35 – First thought: Holy Crap is a stack of 130 or so blue books a big stack. I predict the temptation to have more than the one beer I’ve had with dinner will be a strong one. 7:58 – Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man is currently the leading candidate for best grading

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1098110225393444312004-10-18T10:30:00.000-04:002004-10-18T10:37:05.396-04:00

Here's E. Fitch Smith writing in 1848 about American courts, quoting Sir Fortunatus Dwarris who wrote sometime before 1826 about English courts: "Instead of encroachment upon the common law, of which Bacon was apprehensive, it seems that the Praetorian courts overflowed their banks in the opposite direction, and, while sparing of injuctions, openly invaded the province of the legislature. Upon a

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1097877247366926282004-10-15T17:42:00.000-04:002004-10-17T23:27:16.703-04:00

It's a beautiful day out. I mean a really stunning fall evening - warm sun, brilliant colors on the trees, bright blue sky. And I carried a big golf umbrella on my walk home. But that's not the nerdy academic moment. My excuse for that outfit is that, well, it looked like it might rain before I got to the rare books room to read 19th century legal treatises at 8:30 this morning. But that's not

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1097859721421988612004-10-15T13:02:00.000-04:002004-10-15T13:02:01.423-04:00

There's a tight relationship for me between blogging and being an aspiring academic. I write for lots of reasons, but a big one is the hope that someone will find what I write worth reading. One of the great fears of academics, I think, is that we do nothing but, as a friend once said, spend our time painting the corner of a dark closet. You write stuff and it just sort of disappears into the

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1097804868803918062004-10-14T21:45:00.000-04:002004-10-14T21:47:48.803-04:00

but football season is back on, baby. Rock and roll.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1097780193112151412004-10-14T14:56:00.000-04:002004-10-14T14:57:34.863-04:00

While it is the case that my current employment takes up less of my time than did my stint as a good ole corporate lawyer, I have to say that I still don't have so much time that I would write this. That said, it is worth reading for a laugh.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1097593981935872642004-10-12T11:13:00.000-04:002004-10-12T11:27:12.196-04:00

This article points out that "only around 4 percent of the 2.5 million Europeans in uniform were available for missions beyond their borders." Sad - and further evidence that even if our allies wished to help us in military operations, they are largely incapable of doing so.

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1096988407348770982004-10-05T11:00:00.000-04:002004-10-05T11:00:07.346-04:00

Something the French do right: coffee.

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1096976774037125592004-10-05T07:28:00.000-04:002004-10-05T07:46:14.036-04:00

I've tried to ignore the Presidental race because there's nothing I can do about it, I already have my mind made up, and most of it is just, well, ridiculous. Thank goodness I'm not in a swing state, where it'd be worse. But even here, it's hard to miss, especially the debates and the excitement among many that Kerry won it. You'll be unsurprised to hear that kind of talk makes me unhappy, so

Tom Sawyernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263968.post-1096821695522198692004-10-03T13:41:00.000-04:002004-10-12T12:51:05.546-04:00

You may have seen this link from John O'Sullivan on Volokh Conspiracy, but I wanted to comment on it, in light of Tom Sawyer's recent pointer about Sudan serving on the Human Rights Commission. In arguing for a robust response to terrorism, O'Sullivan writes that: "[Revenge] will inevitably — and arguably rightly — become the resort of decent people when law and government fail to deliver

KJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09012039856665926978noreply@blogger.com0