I received a call at home Tuesday night from an outfit in Michigan whose name I do not recall saying they were looking for a certain number of registered voters to participate in a political focus group. I was initially inclined to tell them to go away but thought maybe it would be interesting [...]
While I still try to avoid politics here, sometimes it invades the realm I’m more intent on carving out. Via three percent, I learn of this story in Publishers Weekly:
President Bush’s proposed 2009 budget eliminates all the funding for Reading Is Fundamental’s book distribution program that has, since 1966, provided more than 325 million [...]
October 4, 2007 – 6:00 am
Please use your liberty to promote ours.
Aung San Suu Kyi, International Herald Tribune, Feb. 4, 1997
September 26, 2007 – 6:06 pm
As I noted in my last post, things here may have trended a bit toward the political recently. I even decided not to post the original draft of this last week. Yet more keeps popping up in the news that bewilders me — and resurrects that sinking feeling America is becoming more like [...]
September 25, 2007 – 7:43 am
I know things have leaned too much toward the political here recently but my recent comment about the O.J. Simpson book and the marketplace of ideas and events transpiring since then got me in a philosophic mode. It’s something I’ve contemplated before but I am becoming more and more convinced that one of the [...]
September 19, 2007 – 12:37 pm
Tim Johnson’s return to the U.S. Senate gave him a chance to perhaps undo what I consider one of his worst votes. He took advantage of that chance, at least on the surface.
In 2006, Johnson voted for the Military Commissions Act (and Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin was one of only 32 House Democrats to vote [...]
September 18, 2007 – 7:32 pm
By coincidence, coming on the heels of my post on the Camden 28 is news that 483 courtroom sketches from the 1969-70 Chicago Seven conspiracy trial have been acquired by the Chicago History Museum. (HT to BoingBoing.) The sketches, by Franklin McMahon, will eventually go on display at the museum. The Chicago [...]
September 17, 2007 – 7:54 pm
Bill Harlan caught something I missed. Turns out that Frank Pommersheim, from whom I took Indian Law at the USD Law School, and his wife, Anne Dunham, are two of the “Camden 28.”
For those not familiar with the term, the Camden 28 refers to 28 individuals who were arrested for breaking into a [...]
September 13, 2007 – 12:49 pm
A recent and relatively intense disagreement between the discs in my lumbar spine and the rest of my body has kept me laying low and prevented finalizing various posts (not to mention how drowsy the combination of muscle relaxers and pain makes you). That said, I had to comment on this because it’s another [...]
September 10, 2007 – 7:57 am
As Bush continues try to use September 11 as a political Kevlar vest (no doubt the timing of Gen. Petraeus’ “surge” report is mere coincidence), it’s refreshing to see others, from the area blogosphere to national columnists, are attacking the lock box Bush and the right would love to keep the tragedy in. I’ve [...]
August 29, 2007 – 12:46 pm
Maybe it’s just proof of comparably bent minds, but I’m happy to see someone else had the very thought I did when I heard about Alberto Gonazles’ resignation.
I cannot comment on Tim Johnson’s appearance or medical status, since I did not attend Tuesday’s rally and did not watch the Nightline program. That said, I [...]
August 25, 2007 – 11:25 am
This was initially simply an item amidst some forthcoming marginalia but the more I read, the more exasperated and offended I became.
David Newquist expresses the reaction I had on picking up the paper this morning and then catching up the whining, dismay and concern in the SD blogosphere (where the number of posts indicates PP [...]
August 20, 2007 – 8:51 pm
A brief deviation into the political because it reflects some of the societal and legal ramifications of post-9/11 thought in America.
I’ll admit I’m a bit behind on this, simply noting the vote when it occurred. But Sam Hurst, a RCJ citizen columnist , prompted me with his thoughts on U.S. Rep. Herseth-Sandlin’s vote on [...]
August 8, 2007 – 12:52 pm
I saw at the end of my daily e-mail from the NYT that this is the 34th anniversary of Richard Nixon announcing his resignation. I remember exactly where I was when watching his speech and that the owner of the place bought beers for the house at its conclusion.
Nixon was an essential player in [...]
There’s been a variety of talk about post-9/11 literature in the U.S. Several novels, most recently Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, have explored the territory. Still, two recent releases by British SF authors Brian Aldiss and Ken MacLeod made me realize they seem to be most directly addressing and questioning the impact of 9/11 [...]
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