- Long Story: Short Pier critiques Paul Erdős. Well, sort of. Not really. Anyway, it’s a terrific post, and I’ve been meaning to link to it for ages now, so you should go read it. Especially if you’re interested in gender and household labor. Or mathematicians.
- Jack Bog provides an entertaining analysis of John Kerry’s tax return, and also at Bush’s and Cheney’s tax returns. Cheney’s is the most fun.
- Also via Jack Bog, Nine Reasons Not To Get Drunk. (Probably not utterly work-safe).
- An “Alas” reader emailed to ask me to link to Wildfire Jo, a blog by an English human rights activist living in Iraq. I’m doing so, not only because I mindlessly obey every whim of my readers, but because it’s a pretty amazing blog. Not good reading if you want to feel good about America’s foreign policy, though. Here’s a sample:
This time we walk away from the hospital towards the marines, just us and the loudspeaker, no ambulance, to try and talk to them properly. Slowly, slowly, we take steps, shouting that we’re unarmed, that we’re a relief team, that we’re trying to get supplies to the hospital.
Another two shots dissuade us. I’m furious. From behind the wall I inform them that their actions are in breach of the Geneva Conventions. “How would you feel if it was your sister in that hospital unable to get treated because some man with a gun wouldn’t let the medical supplies through.” David takes me away as I’m about to call down a plague of warts on their trigger fingers.
- Although it’s a little bit dated (i.e., 1996), there’s a lot of fascinating reading in this collection of essays about the most extreme pro-life activists. Frightening stuff.
- You know, before Bean told me about it, I was totally unfamiliar with Neurotically Yours, an animated series about a squirrel with an irritating high-pitched voice. So far my favorite is the Matrix parody.
- The Decembrist rips apart the idea of “Sex and the City Voters.” A sample:
This term is the most misleading phony-demographic since “NASCAR Dads,” for a very simple reason: The median income of never-married women 18-64 is $15,872. And that’s not $15,000 as in, an editorial assistant at a publishing house living with three roommates in a one-bedroom apartment in the West 80s, accumulating zany dating stories that they’ll all laugh about in five years. That’s $15,000 as in working two jobs that pay $6.50 an hour and driving a ten-year-old car. I never watched much of “Sex and the City” because we don’t have HBO, but I recall one episode where Carrie figured out how much she spent on shoes, and I believe it was that very same $15,000.
- While you’re visiting The Decembrist, be sure to read his explanation of why welfare policy is no longer very relevant. (Still damn useful for my friends on welfare, though.)
- As my friend Rob says, you think you got geek chops? You don’t have geek chops. This guy – he has geek chops.
- The Head Heeb argues, persuasively, that Bush’s support of Sharon shouldn’t be seen as that big a deal; it really does not represent any major change in US policy. Furthermore, given the choice between a Sharon-centrist coalition and a Sharon-far right coalition, we should prefer the former to win, and that’s what Bush’s support helped bring about.
When capitalized, "Sie" is the formal way to address adults of either gender in polite German. I majored in the…
Amp sez:
“I’m doing so, not only because I mindlessly obey every whim of my readers…”
Oh really? Then I command you to endorse this link!
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/
(Amp waves arms as if casting a magical spell).
“It is endorsed!”
Amp sez and gesturz:
“(Amp waves arms as if casting a magical spell).
“It is endorsed!”
Hmm, I feel a slight tingly sensation, and the link now has a distinct minty aftertaste. It must have indeed been endorsed!
Oh hey, thanks, Barry!
I’m still in the process of reading that Head Heeb article, but one problem I have with it so far:
One thing about diplomacy is it’s not just what you do, and that’s a small part of it. So much is what is said, officially. That’s why it was such a big deal when Nixon officially recognized the Communist government of China. It didn’t change our relationship with China in a substantial way, but it changed the way we treated China in the world stage. So in diplomacy a change of wording is quite significant.
Such changes aren’t always a bad thing, and in the case of Nixon and China, I’d say it was a good thing, but you can understand my cynicism when it comes from George W Bush, whose horrible handling of Iraq and everything else makes him possibly the worst diplomat we’ve had as head of state since George III.
You know, before Bean told me about it, I was totally unfamiliar with Neurotically Yours
In order to give credit where credit is due, I didn’t know about it myself before I read about it on One Good Thing.