Solitude and Hope: Y'all Come Visit!

NOBLE PEACE PRIZE AWARDED TO ANTI-POVERTY PIONEER

Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank have been awarded The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Yunus, an economist, founded the bank, which is one of the pioneers of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor in Bangladesh. The bank is renowned for lending money to the least well-off, especially women, so that they can launch their own businesses. Yunus, 65, is the first Noble Prize winner from Bangladesh, a poverty-stricken nation of about 141 million people.

For complete story, please go to: Nobel Peace Prize

Gary Webb: How The Noble Fourth Estate Killed One of Its Own

2006-10-09T07:37:00.000-05:00

A college dropout with twenty years of reporting experience, Gary Webb broke the biggest story of his career in August 1996, when he published “Dark Alliance,” a three-part series for the San Jose Mercury News that linked the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to America’s crack-cocaine explosion via the Nicaraguan contras, a right-wing army that aimed to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government during the 1980s. Many reporters had written about the CIA’s collusion with contra drug smugglers, but nobody had ever discovered where those drugs ended up once they reached American soil. “Dark Alliance” provided the first dramatic answer to that mystery.

But in the months following its publication, the story was subjected to ferocious attacks by the nation’s biggest newspapers. Soon Webb found himself out of a job. After being assigned to a tiny regional bureau, Webb quit the newspaper and was never allowed to work in daily journalism again. On December 10, 2004, Webb committed suicide.

Read the entire story at: Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities

Mourning the Amish Tragedy

2006-10-07T17:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone is very strongly encouraged to read the entire article, which is deeply compassionate:

The very touching article in its entirety, Mourning the Amish Tragedy, can be viewed at Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities. That article also presents an extremely moving Photographic Essay entitled Mourning the Tragedy

Frank Kameny: Unknown Human Rights Pioneer Honored

2006-10-07T17:52:00.000-05:00

Frank Kameny: Human Rights Pioneer

Forty years ago, civil-rights pioneer, Frank Kameny, came to the aid of a frightened Library of Congress employee who was accused of “enjoying” the embrace of men. Kameny ended up being fired himself by the Federal Government for being gay.

Undaunted, he continued to fight for justice and equality with a tenacity and integrity that inspired many others to follow in his footsteps. This demonstrates that the gay rights movement actually pre-dated the New Left. Kameny’s courage helped start that human rights movement, leading to the achievement of the freedoms that many now enjoy.

On Oct. 6th, that same Library of Congress accepted Kameny’s papers and cemented his place in history’s pages. Professional archivists will now painstakingly sort thousands of documents, the gift of Charles Francis’s Kameny Project, which raised $75,000 to purchase and donate them,ensuring their availability to generations of students of U.S. civil rights. There is no better record of the torment that gays endured at the hands of their government in the 1950s and 1960s. And there could have been no finer tribute to Kameny than the ceremony at the Library. There weren't any dry eyes in the house after Frank accepted the tributes and took his seat.

The entire article is available for viewers at: Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities

Amish Girls Murdered in one-Room Schoolhouse

2006-10-03T17:04:00.000-05:00

Readers can view the complete, very disturbing article, accompanied by many photographs, at: Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities.

Wofford College: The Classical "Old Main"

2006-08-13T18:43:00.000-05:00

I've noticed that my web site recently has had a number of visitors living in South Carolina. As an expression of gratitude to them, I'm posting this collection of thirteen pictures, many of which are of one of my favorite things in South Carolina, the historic "Old Main" building on the campus of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The first two are "logo-type" images. The third picture is of an oil painting of "Old Main." The fourth is an image of "old Main" during the winter season. The fifth image is an etching of The Main Building (Old Main) on Wofford College's campus. The sixth is from a rare postcard (I think from the early 1900s), and the following one is a recherche, campus landscape daguerreotype, again from the early 1900s or before. The following three are, again images of "Old Main." The next two pictures are of the newer Franklin Olin Building for academics and techology. The last is an image of the very first diploma awarded by the college. It was awarded to Samuel Dibble in 1856, who went on to represent South Carolina in the United States Congress.

A Spartanburg landmark since its construction between 1851 and 1854, "Old Main" was designed by the noted Charleston architect Edward C. Jones. The original architect's sketches, donated to the college in 1902 by Julia Chreitzberg, show that Jones conceived one of the most ambitious projects ever built in the classical Italianate style, then popular throughout the South for academic and other public buildings.

Wofford is one of only a handful of colleges and universities in the United States that were founded prior to the Civil War, which still operates and remains on its original campus. The Wofford College campus has been named a National Historic District. It has five of the six original college buildings, all of which are in use today for various purposes. The beauty of its campus has resulted in its designation as an officially registered South Carolina arboretum.

Wofford is presently becoming known in the wider academic world as a true "Phoenix rising from the ashes." It was devastated by the loss of almost its entire endowment as a result of the Civil War. However, despite its meager financial resources, Wofford proudly struggled through the next twelve decades to provide an academically challenging education to its small student body. One illustration of the sterling academic quality maintained by the college is the fact that forty-two Wofford alumni have gone on to serve as college and university presidents.

For example, through the years Wofford graduates and faculty have included the Founders or Presidents/Chancellors of Duke University, Vanderbilt University, The Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Southern Methodist University, Hendrix College, Randolph-Macon College and Mary Washington College. A former President of the college went on to become the President of Southern Methodist University, Drew University and, finally, Chancellor of The University of North Carolina (as well as head of the entire University of North Carolina educational system).

Today, gaining increasing national recognition as an academic "jewel" in the South, its endowment has been increasing rapidly and a significant new endowment drive has recently been inaugurated. There has been an unprecedented acceleration of the restoration and construction of student residence, academic, recreation and sports facilities. It is also presently distinguished by being the smallest college in the nation with sports teams competing (quite successfully) in NCAA Division I athletics.

Academically, Wofford has been focusing upon a significant expansion of its faculty, with new faculty members currently being drawn to teach at the college from some of the most prestigious universities in the country. For many years, Wofford served students who came, for the most part, from South Carolina and its immediate surrounding areas. Presently, it's become quite competitive in attracting exceptionally talented students from across the nation, as well as from abroad.

Intaminatus Fulget Honoribus
Shining with Untarnished Honor

Views from Our Windows: An Update

2006-08-13T16:37:00.000-05:00

An Update: More Views From Our Windows

Andrew Sullivan has observed that he gets to read some of the smartest emails on the web, “but you don't get to know who your fellow-readers are, where they live, what they do, what they see as they look out their window each morning.” Isn’t this also true for most of us on the web? Last year, a posting that I made here, The Dawn, conveyed a similar theme.

In response to this sense of internet opaqueness and anonymity, Sullivan began an on-line project called “The Window Project.” He asked his readers to get out their digital cameras and take pictures of the views from their windows, from the living room window, bathroom window, car-window or even from an office window. One of the window pictures, a post-Katrina photograph, is especially touching for me, evoking sad memories about and feelings for New Orleans.

To view a very large number of the most striking photographs from The Windows Project, please visit the Project Update at my companion website:

Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities

Absolutely Free Applications: On-Line Office Suites And Other Programs For Your Use !!

2006-07-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

With so many free on-line applications being developed, it is quite useful to consider some of the primary elements of Office Suites currently available on the Web. Who, among the big or small companies, is currently providing the best examples? Here I describe some of the contenders for outstanding free, on-line collaborative Office tools.

ThinkFree

This office suite is one of my favorites!! ThinkFree is said by many to be the leader in next-generation of productivity solutions for platform independent, anytime, anywhere-computing. ThinkFree usability extends beyond PCs and is perfect for Internet-connected devices, including thin client and mobile computing platforms.

The award-winning ThinkFree Office is a Microsoft Office compatible application suite comprised of word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation graphics software-all usable online at absolutely no cost to you.

ThinkFree Office is automatically installed and upgraded over the Web and features integrated, Internet-based file sharing and storage as well as end-to-end security. Built for cross-platform functionality, ThinkFree Office is compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Unix and Linux systems.

It comes with a gigabyte of free online space and offers word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. ThinkFree takes a bit longer to load, but it has a large number of a bunch editing tools. Both the icons and toolbar emulate MS Office. An additional feature, which I especially like, allows you to publish your document (with pictures and links) as a post to your own blog.

Link To: THINKFREE

Open Office

Open Office is one of the most highly touted free office applications. OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. It is compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use and distribute to others.

Link To: OPEN OFFICE

Zoho Writer

This is another of my favorite free on-line word processors!! You can access, edit and share documents from anywhere. Documents can be created, edited and re-formatted using their WYSIWYG editor; this word processor also provides for collaborative editing of documents, multiple users can work on a document simultaneously

Load your existing documents

With Zoho Writer, you can import Microsoft Word (DOC), Open Office text (ODT & SXW), HTML, RTF, JPG, GIF & PNG files, and generate PDF/DOC/ODT. You can also export documents created in Zoho Writer as PDF, DOC, ODT, SXW, RTF, HTML & text files

Again, one of my favorite features is that with Zoho Writer, you can directly post documents (with images, pictures and links) directly to your blogs (including WordPress, Blogger, TypePad and Live Journal).

Link To: ZOHO WRITER

Zoho Show

Zoho Show allows you to access, import, and edit presentations from anywhere. You can Load your existing presentations, the application can import Microsoft PowerPoint(.ppt, .pps) or OpenOffice Presentation(.sxi).

You can build and edit presentations on-the-fly using WYSIWYG editor. You can use Zoho Show for remote presentations. Zoho Show helps giving remote presentations with complete control for the presenter. The presenter can see the participants in the presentation. It has Flickr integration allowing you to pull publicly shared images from your Flickr account into your presentation.

Zoho Show is ideal for sales persons, business owners, teachers, students, freelancers ... and for just anybody else who wants to create presentations online.

Link To: ZOHO SHOW

Zoho Sheet

Zoho Sheet is an on-line spreadsheet, which allows for: number formatting, sorting and the insertion of comments. With Zoho Sheet, you can import and export Excel files and share sheets with multiple people to view or edit the same spreadsheet.

It supports more than 300 functions. You can create bar/line/pie 2D/3D charts and publish the charts in your websites/blogs.

Link To: ZOHO SHEET

Zoho Polls

Want to decide on something? Use Zoho Polls to narrow down your choices and get opinion from others. As with all the applications listed here, it is 100% free!!

Link To: ZOHO POLLS

ajaxWrite

ajaxWrite is a web-based word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word and other standard document formats. Anytime you need to open, read or write a word processor file, simply point your Firefox browser to www.ajaxwrite.com and in seconds a full-featured program will be available for you to open, edit, print and save.

ajaxWrite has been designed to look like Microsoft Word, making it easy for anyone to start using it without needing to learn a new program. ajaxWrite also handles all the popular document formats, so it is easy to share your files and collaborate with your co-workers and friends. Once finished with your document, you can easily save your work right to your hard drive. This keeps you organized and works in the same way that you are already accustomed to.

ajaxWrite works from a Firefox web browser on any operating system and on any device, no matter where you are or what computer you are using. In addition, because the application itself lives on the web, we handle the updates automatically so that you don't have to deal with costly upgrades or being stuck with old versions.

Link To: ajaxWrite

Eyespot

Bloggers are remixing videos by several emerging bands, and then posting the mash-ups online at Eyespot to share with the world. What makes this site different from others is that here the art form is legal.

Link To: EYESPOT

ajaxTunes

ajaxTunes is a web-based music player that lets you play high-quality streaming music straight from the Internet on any computer. It gives you all the basic controls (pause, fast-forward, rewind, selecting play list or artists) in a mini layout that won't clog up your desktop.

Try ajaxTunes immediately, it has been preloaded with a demo account containing songs from more than 25 artists. You can also create your own locker, add your own music collection and choose from over 40,000 songs to add to your personal play lists.

Link To : ajaxTUNES

ajaxXLS

ajaxXLS Viewer is a web-based spreadsheet viewer that allows you to easily open any .xls file within your Firefox browser. Compatibility with Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice allows ajaxXLS to preserve all your common cell formatting categories such as text styles, decimals, currencies, dates, and times as well as formulas, backgrounds and borders from the original documents.

The ajaxXLS web-based editor is still in the early stages of development. With it, you can write, edit and save standard spreadsheet files to your local machine. If you would like to try the sneak peak pre-release version of the ajaxXLS editor, please visit the link below.

Link To: ajaxXLS

gOffice: Web Office Suite

gOFFICE is a free online application offers desktop publishing and word processing, and spreadsheet applications

GOFFICE makes extensive use of XML, which makes it easier to define and transfer data between applications. This turned out to be important for gOFFICE's feature to convert a document into a PDF file.

Link To: gOFFICE

iRows

iRows provides easy data management. You can edit, compute, chart, sort, dynamic web data and more. Display your spreadsheet on any web site, change it here, and all sites change automatically.

Link To: iROWS

PDF Online

As a web based service, PDF Online allows you to quickly generate PDF documents from your PC, Mac, or Linux, from your home, your office or anywhere in the world.

Link To: PDF ONLINE

Thumbstacks

With Thumbstacks.com, you can make presentations, like slideshows, or outlines, right in your web browser. When you are done, you can share your presentations with anyone, anywhere, just by sending them a link.

Link To: THUMBSTACKS

Empressr

Empressr is the first Ajax/Flash-based web application that lets you create, share and store presentations online. It goes beyond current presentation applications by enabling you to incorporate rich media features, like streaming video and animation, to create and share the most dynamic presentations possible. With Empressr, all you need is a web browser to easily: create rich media presentations, share them with a client or team members, and store/access them at any time from any computer.

Link To: EMPRESSR

Zooomr

A step ahead of Flickr!! With Zooomr, photos are no longer just photos, they are emotions, ideas, and stories meant to be shared and explored. Zooomr helps you share them with the world. Here's how: you can show your favorite photos to the entire world in anyone's language, actually put your photos on the map, add sound to your photos.

Link To: ZOOOMR

Blogger Trades One Tiny Red Paper Clip For A Whole House !!

2006-07-11T02:50:00.000-05:00

Read All About This Amazing Story At My Companion Website: Et Cetera

Kyle MacDonald started out a post on his blog by stating:

This red paperclip is currently sitting on my desk next to my computer. I want to trade this paperclip with you for something bigger or better, maybe a pen, a spoon, or perhaps a boot. If you promise to make the trade I will come and visit you, wherever you are, to trade. So, if you have something bigger or better than a red paperclip to trade, email me with the details atoneredpaperclip@gmail.com. Hope to trade with you soon! Kyle. P. S. I'm going to make a continuous chain of 'up trades' until I get a house. Or an Island. Or a house on an island. You get the idea.

See a video of the CNN report on his feat here: CNN: One Red Paper Clip

Taking a paper clip and turning it into a house might sound like some over-the-top corny magic trick. But one year ago, the 26-year-old blogger from Montreal actually set out to do it, hoping to trade one red paper clip for something and that thing for something else, over and over again until, he dreamed, he just might end up with a house. Kyle MacDonald, it turns out, has actually pulled it off!! On Wednesday the journey is will come to an end just as MacDonald had dreamed: he will become the proud owner of a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot home provided by the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan!!!

"Et Cetera" Climbs To Very Top of BlogWorld!!

2006-07-03T15:32:00.000-05:00

My companion website, Et Cetera: Public and Private Curiosities, has quickly become The World's 4th Fastest Growing WordPress Website! Please Visit To Check It Out!!

Oh, my goodness...what a totally unexpected surprise!! It's just been one little website hoping to be a small voice for the lives and rights of everyday people everywhere. My very deep gratitude to all of you readers--I really am quite "Wilde at Heart" right now!! (And trying hard not to give in to a bit of narcissistic grandiosity as a compensatory defense against an ever so slight, transient and uncharacteristic lack of self-confidence). So...thanks...thanks...thanks....

The World"s Fastest Growing WordPress.com Blogs:

1. MyScribbles: Write-ups of an Afghan

2. Marketallica

3. Yet another digital life

4. Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities

5. Giggle Water Review

6. LDS Patriot

7. Laksa Diaries

Happy Independence Day: Heartlifting Comments from Andrew Sullivan

2006-07-03T03:21:00.000-05:00

I hope that readers found my earlier article that celebrated the courage of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and underscored the pivotal importance of the Hamdan decision to be of some value. Along this same line, Andrew Sullivan posted a brief note this morning on The Daily Dish for his readers. Sullivan's note is, in itself, a "4th of July" gift:

The De-Throning of King George

My reflections on the Hamdan decision in the Sunday Times of London are here. Money quote:

"America is not in essence a geographical entity. When it was founded, it occupied a fraction of the land it now does. Nor is it defined by an ethnic group or a royal line. Its core is essentially a piece of paper, a written constitution, a formal set of procedures designed, before everything else, to protect individual liberty. At the heart of that liberty is the right to a fair trial and the insistence that nobody — especially not the president — can take that away."

Happy Independence Day. It came early this year.

And from Me to Sullivan: Sometimes You Are Just the Best!

Independence Day: President Bush Wages Patriotic War on Man-Flag Marriages

2006-07-03T03:16:00.000-05:00

Bush Declares Opposition to Marriages Between a Man and a Flag

In a recent article by Andy Borowitz in Truthdig, it was reported that, as a definitive act of Independence Day Patriotism, President George W. Bush has proposed a constitutional amendment banning marriages between a man and a flag. Many important political observers believe that The President's amendment will become the critical issue, which will lead Republicans to a dramatic sweep of the 2006 midterm elections. According to the Borowitz report:

In a nationally televised address from the Oval Office, the president said that the proposed amendment was intended to protect two embattled American institutions: traditional marriage and the American flag.“We must define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and not between a man and a flag,” Mr. Bush said. “Additionally, just as we seek to protect flags from being burned, we must protect them from being married.”

The president’s proposal seemed intended to cause trouble among congressional Democrats, many of whom have no stated opinion on the issue of man-flag unions.

But 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was quick out of the box in response to the president’s speech, telling reporters, “Before the end of the day, I intend to have at least three or four different positions on this issue.”

On the other side of the aisle, Mr. Bush’s proposed amendment received immediate support from Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who suggested expanding its scope to ban marriage between a man and any inanimate object.

“We should not only forbid marriage between a man and a flag, we should also forbid it between a man and an inflatable love-doll,” he said, adding quickly, “Not that I know about that sort of thing.”

So that all of you have a chance to see just what these Flag-Marrying characters really look like, pictured below are two men who are very highly suspected by the FBI, CIA and NIA of being Married to Flags at this very moment:

I, hereby pledge allegiance that I, personally, will never, never, ever marry a flag or any other inanimate object, including plastic inflatable love-dolls. Thank you, Mr. President, for standing firm for our American tradition of moral values!

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: An American Hero

2006-07-03T03:12:00.000-05:00

Supreme Court Strikes Down President Bush's Threats to American Civil Liberties

All freedom-loving Americans should salute the courage of 86-year-old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the majority opinion in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that was announced on Thursday. The ruling boldly and irrecovably struck down the military tribunals Bush set up to try Guantanamo detainees. But of far more importance, according to Jack M. Balkin, The Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment and Director, The Information Society Project at Yale Law School, this decision “effectively undermines the Administration’s strongest claims about Presidential power.” Further, this Supreme Court ruling may well constitute the legal framework necessary to halt the more egregious of Bush’s civil liberties-infringing programs—like warrantless wiretapping and holding terrorism suspects without trial.

Not any longer! A lot of those legal opinions became inoperative as of 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

And without the cover of the now-discredited theory of sweeping unilateral executive power, the criminal law of the United States is again in control. Walter Dellinger, Professor of Law at Duke University , described this Supreme Court decision as, " The most important decision on presidential power. Ever." He went on to explain:

Today the court holds that common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions applies to the conflict against al-Qaida. As Justice Kennedy expressly notes in his (controlling) concurring opinion, Section 2441 of the U.S. Criminal Code defines a "war crime" as including any conduct "which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the international conventions signed at Geneva." And the statute makes any "war crime"—when committed by any member of the U.S. Armed Forces, or against any member of the U.S. Armed Forces, or against a U.S. national—punishable by life imprisonment, or in certain cases, by death. Now that the fig leaf of untenable legal opinions has been stripped away, there will be great resistance by covered officials to complying with directives that may violate such a serious federal criminal statute.

Hadji Girl: The Executioner's Song

2006-06-15T00:54:00.000-05:00

Pete Blackwell, in a posting on Parenthetical Remarks, recently reported to his readers that:

[Andrew],Sullivan [wrote] about a disturbing video that has popped up on YouTube showing an American Marine "letting off steam" by singing a song about killing two little Iraqi girls to a group of cheering soldiers. One of Sullivan's readers, an American Muslim, responds by saying he understands "that this is gallows humor," but it doesn't reflect too well on our men in uniform (to put it mildly).

It's a magnanimous response, but he's got it wrong. It's not gallows humor when you're the executioner.

In an update today, Sullivan writes:

Several readers have said I misunderstod the lyrics of the song, for which the Marine has now apologized. Listening closely again, I think I did - thanks to a much better video recording of the performance....My mistake. But even [after hearing the better recording], this Marine's tale is of grabbing an innocent little girl as a human shield, and laughing maniacally as "blood sprayed between her eyes." And if you watch the video again, you'll see a broad smile flicker across the guy's face as he sings about the little girl's face being blown apart.

Windows To Our Souls: Daily Life in America

2006-06-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

Views From Our Windows

Andrew Sullivan has observed that he gets to read some of the smartest emails on the web, “but you don't get to know who your fellow-readers are, where they live, what they do, what they see as they look out their window each morning.” Isn’t this also true for most of us on the web? Last year, a posting that I made here, The Dawn, conveyed a similar theme.

In response to this sense of internet opaqueness and anonymity, Sullivan began an on-line project called “The Window Project.” He asked his readers to get out their digital cameras and take pictures of the views from their windows, from the living room window, bathroom window, car-window or even from an office window. Here are a just few of the window views that have been posted on his blog. The first window picture is the most emotionally touching for me, evoking sad memories about and feelings for New Orleans. Many of the other window pictures can be seen on Sullivan’s website.

Bush: Addicted to Words

2006-06-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

Addicted to Words

The BBC News published an interesting article today. The extract below describes the unsettling disconnect between what Bush says, versus what he actually manages to do:

As I listened to him I suddenly had my own revelation.

George Bush's principal problem is not that he can't articulate what's on his mind. It's that he sometimes says it all too well. (I can only remember one line from that world-class word schmoozer Bill Clinton and it was a disclaimer about Miss Lewinsky which the former president probably wished no one had remembered!)

President Bush leaves after delivering remarks on the Marriage Protection Act in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Bush: Man of Words, Not Much Action

But vintage Bush lines like "axis of evil", "our mission is to end tyranny in our world", "America is addicted to oil", and "We are in a conflict between good and evil and America will call evil by its name!" do stick in my mind.

They are pithy phrases written for a transformational president, who underpins his policies with his faith.

They are crafted by a brilliant team of speech-writers, inspired by the Bible and meticulously approved by the man who has to deliver them. And because they can be remembered they hold up all too well to scrutiny or derision.

The "axis of evil" has been turned by the Economist into the "axis of feeble".

If America calls evil by its name, what does it call Abu Ghraib or Haditha? If it is addicted to oil what is the addict-in-chief doing to give his voters the cold turkey of recovery?

If it is committed to ending tyranny, why is America making friends with Colonel Gaddafi or allowing Egypt to get away with oppression?

And if President Bush is committed to defending "marriage as the most important institution in the history of mankind", what is he doing to lower the divorce rate or, for that matter, to bring about a constitutional amendment?

In his second term, the Decider (as he recently referred to himself) looks as if he's addicted to words. Not the kind of thing you'd expect from a swashbuckling Texan!

Gay Marriage: U. S. Senate Spanks Bush

2006-06-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

As expected, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, rebuffing both President Bush, the Republican Party, the religious right and the general social conservative movement. After two days of emotional argument, the U. S. Senate voted 49 to 48 to shut off debate on a call to bring the amendment to the floor. The total fell well short of the 60 votes needed to actually end debate, let alone the 67 votes required to approve a constitutional amendment. The decision effectively killed the issue in the Senate.

Democratic critics of the proposal said that President Bush had advanced it to rally conservative voters, substantials numbers of whom have been drifting away from supporing him. Many observers have contended that Bush's focus upon the gay marriage issue was an attempt to divert the public's attention away from the disasters associated with the war in Iraq, our rapidly rising level of national debt, criticisms of federal domestic spying programs and soaring energy bills. In addition, many have said that the proposal was tantamount to writing discrimination into the Constitution.

Saul Bellow: Collection Given to The University of Chicago

2006-06-10T18:28:00.000-05:00

The University of Chicago has acquired the remaining professional papers from the estate of one of the most celebrated modern novelists, the late Saul Bellow, who was also a University faculty member. The acquisition, which will be combined with the University's existing Bellow Archive, is in accordance with Bellow's own wishes and brings his professional papers to one location.

“Saul Bellow's writings and teaching influenced and benefited generations of students here, and they had the same effect on sophisticated readers around the world. It is both an honor and most fitting that his papers have found their final home in our library archives,” said Provost Richard Saller.

“We are thrilled that the University of Chicago has acquired the additional Saul Bellow papers,” said Judith Nadler, Library Director. “The papers will be a significant resource for scholars and a source of civic and institutional pride.”

“There is a wonderful symmetry to having all the Bellow papers housed at the University of Chicago; an idea which I am sure would give Saul great pleasure,” said Walter Pozen, the Executor of the Bellow Estate.

Bellow, a faculty member at the University for more than 30 years, was one of the most influential novelists of the 20th century. He centered his fictional universe in Chicago and authored more than a dozen critically acclaimed novels and works of nonfiction, including Herzog, Humboldt's Gift, Mr. Sammler's Planet and The Adventures of Augie March.

He was also one of the most honored writers of his era; Bellow won the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, a Pulitzer Prize, three National Book Awards and a Presidential medal.

The collection includes previously held manuscripts of published works that will be immediately available to scholars, as well as notes, letters and other items that will become available in later years, pursuant to the agreement between the University and the Estate of Saul Bellow.

“Preserving Saul Bellow's papers in one location is a tremendous gain for scholarship,” said Alice Schreyer, Director of the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago Library. “Researchers will be able to study Bellow's development over the entire course of his literary career. Especially because he recorded early ideas and drafts in spiral-bound notebooks, the archive affords an extraordinary window into Bellow's genius for language, storytelling and insight into human nature.”

Bellow, who died April 5, 2005, was the Raymond W. and Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and English Language & Literature at the University and taught at the University from 1962 to 1993. He served as Chairman of Social Thought from 1970 to 1976. He also attended the University as an undergraduate in the 1930s.

On Passive Resignation

2006-06-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

People come into and leave the world alone, and that what passes in between for communication with others is at best a sometime thing and more often an exercise in mutual misunderstanding. Language, memory and that dubious entity known as personality are chimerical and elusive, Pesimistic resignation is perhaps too stately a name for this attitude; there is too much amusement and/or weariness in the acceptance of it.

Think of it more as a not entirely gloomy philosophical resignation.

Anonynous.

Demotivators

2006-06-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

"Psychology tells us that motivation, true, lasting and motivation, can only come from within. Common sense tells us it can’t be manufactured or productized. So how is it that a multi-billion dollar industry thrives through the sale of motivational commodities and services? Because, in our world of instant gratification, people desperately want to believe that there are simple solutions to complex problems. And when desperation has disposable income, market opportunities abound. AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That’s why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators, so that you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!"

E.L. Kersten, Ph.D
Despair.com

President Bush: Quote of the Day

2006-06-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day:

"I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel I owe anybody an explanation."

Gay Marriage: Bush's Cynical Ploy

2006-06-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

Bush's Amateur Theatricks

Some commentators are saying that President Bush's current push for the Federal Marriage Amendment, as well as his soon to come focus upon judicial appointments, are just calulated political ploys by him to deflect public interest away from the Iraq War debacle, the soaring national debt, and rapidly increasing energy, gas and oil costs. Of course, in addition to this attempt to blind us from the dangerous failures that Bush and his administration have brought upon us, it is also a tactical move to win back some of the conservative and evangelical constituencies that he is presently losing. The underhanded nature of this strategy is revealed by considering that President Bush reiterated his support Monday for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, even though it has little chance of passage. Bush's speech came just as the Senate was set to open three days of debate on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment.

Moderate law professor Ann Althouse quotes this comment from Sen. Ted Kennedy: "A vote for this amendment is a vote for bigotry pure and simple." Althouse sees it somewhat differently: "I'd say it's a vote for political gain, whichever side you're voting on, and it's not the least bit pure, though it is rather simple."

Whether the President really personally wants a gay-marriage amendment is also being questioned. Just last year, Bush said he saw no reason to push for a constitutional amendment, since it had no chance in the Senate while the "Defense of Marriage Act" remained on the books. The act allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Today, The Huffington Post pointed to a Newsweek article where an unnamed friend of President Bush stated, "I don't think he gives a s**t about it. He never talks about this stuff." That, combined with the fact a two-thirds majority is required for passage has a growing number of Americans seeing an extremely transparent, last-ditch attempt to boost Bush's public approval ratings, thereby hoping to increase the Republican's chances in the midterm elections this fall.

"Bush is trying to appease angry conservatives and Christians by pushing this amendment," writes Christian ex-liberal La Shawn Barber. "It's an empty and meaningless gesture because the thing will never be ratified."

A note published in Salon has observed: Hey, don't be sad. This is what politicians do. They suss out our cheapest, most irrational fears and stoke them into barnfires that blot out everything that really matters, from Iraq and Iran to, let's see, government corruption. But all is not lost. We're smarter than that. Our politicians want us dumb and angry, but we grow more tolerant.

Another article in Salon on Tuesday, June 5th, described Monday's opening Senate political campaign against gay marriage as a curiously bizarre affair. Michael Scherer wrote, "There is something queer about this week's Senate crusade to outlaw gay marriage. If you listen closely, the leaders who oppose single-sex unions refuse to talk about gay people. They talk about activist judges, welfare rolls, the rights of voters and the birthrate of single mothers in Scandinavia. But there is not a gay man, a lesbian woman or a bisexual teenager in the mix."

The Chelsea Hotel: A Grand Dame

2006-06-07T07:26:00.000-05:00

The Chelsea Hotel

"Blog It Forward"

What's this all about? Just choose a website/blog (or two or three) that you expecially like and post an article on your own site about why you feel that they are noteworthy. Why do you like them? Why are they given that special place of prominence in your thinking about bloggers? Are they funny? Are they wise? Do they provide you with valuable internet resources? Are they just too "good looking" for people to pass by? Take a little time to let your friends and other people know about them!!!At the same time, you could send a note to the author(s) whose site(s) you enjoy, letting him/her know that you've shared their site with others.It just just might "make their day" to see their name in the spotlight! Remember, by doing this you can help to extend friendly feelings on the internet, and in these times there can never be too much love amongst bloggers here in the cyberworld.

Please read and pass along to your friends my own Blog It Forward of the Day: Living with Legends: The Chelsea Hotel

The Hotel Chelsea

A Rest Stop for Rare Individuals

The Chelsea Hotel is a well-known residence for artists, musicians, and writers in the neighborhood of Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City. The building is located on 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The hotel welcomes guests, but is primarily known for its long-term residents, past and present. The hotel has always been a center of artistic and bohemian activity and it houses artwork created by many of the artists who have lived or visited here. The hotel was the first building to be listed by New York City as a cultural preservation site and historic building of note.

An excellent history of the building that now houses the Hotel Chelsea describes how it originally was built in 1883 as a private apartment cooperative that opened in 1884. It was the tallest building in New York until 1902. At the time Chelsea, and particularly the street on which the hotel was located, was the center of New York's Theater District. However, within a few years the combination of economic worries and the relocation of the theaters bankrupted the Chelsea cooperative. In 1905, the building was purchased and opened as a hotel. It is perhaps most well known to the public as the hotel where Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols lived and allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen to death at 11 a.m. on October 12th, 1978.

People who live/have lived at the Hotel Chelsea

The Chelsea Hotel

Writers and Thinkers

Art in the Staircase at The Chelsea

During its lifetime, The Chelsea Hotel has served as a cauldren of creative activity. It has provided a home to many great writers and thinkers, including Mark Twain, O. Henry, Dylan Thomas, Arthur C. Clarke, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Leonard Cohen, Arthur Miller, Quentin Crisp, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg, Brendan Behan, Robert Oppenheimer, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir.

Arthur Miller, the great American playwrite, wrote an absorbing, emotional piece entitled The Chelsea Affect that described life at the hotel during the years he lived there. He had initially moved into the hotel right after his divorce from Marilyn Monroe, hoping to be able to escape from the public eye for awhile. Of course, his privacy was short-lived, but he stayed on for years. During that time, he continued to write (he wrote most of After the Fall there). Miller remarried and began to raise his first child there, later describing how his daughter had her first baths in his small apartment's kitchen sink.

Actors and Film Directors

The hotel has been a home to actors and film directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Miloš Forman, Lillie Langtry, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper, Uma Thurman, Jane Fonda and Gaby Hoffmann.

Musicians

Much of Hotel Chelsea's history has been colored by the musicians who have resided there. Some of the most prominent names include Patti Smith, Virgil Thomson, Dee Dee Ramone of The Ramones, Henri Chopin, John Cale, Édith Piaf, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Sid Vicious, Ryan Adams, Jobriath, Rufus Wainwright and Anthony Kiedis. In April 2003 Pete Doherty and Carl Barat of The Libertines recorded the original "Babyshambles" sessions at Hotel Chelsea.

Visual artists

The hotel has featured and collected the work of the many visual artists who have passed through. Brett Whiteley, Christo, Richard Bernstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Robert Crumb, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Vali Myers (artist) and Henri Cartier-Bresson have all spent time at Hotel Chelsea.

A Room for Rent at The Chelsea

The Warhol "Superstars"

The Chelsea Hotel is often associated with the "Warhol Superstars," because he directed The Chelsea Girls, a film about his Factory regulars and their lives at the hotel. Chelsea residents from the Andy Warhol scene included Viva, Ultra Violet, Holly Woodlawn, Edie Sedgwick, Andrea Feldman, Nico, Paul America, and Brigid Berlin.

Piquant Media Bites

"The building sits on 23rd Street with the air of a great dame who finds herself in the midst of a party of her social inferiors but instead of complaining decides to join right in the fun." --The New York Times

"I stay at the Chelsea because I like the creative atmosphere, the thick walls, the high ceilings, the friendly people. You know, some people think that all sorts of wild things are always happening at the Chelsea, but I find it so peaceful. You can have 150% privacy." --Milos Forman

"The Chelsea has always been a sort of Tower of Babel of creativity and bad behavior. Some of the world's most gifted and most destructive minds have called 222 West 23rd Street home." --The International Herald Tribune

"You meet people from all over the world on this international bohemian circuit, and they say "see you at the Chelsea." It's as if we have a kind of date there."--Jakov Lind

"The Chelsea Hotel may be one of the few civilized places in New York, if we mean by civilized freedom of the spirit, tolerance of differences, creativity, and art."--Richard R. Lingeman, The New York Times Book Review

"Everybody knows about it. Everybody knows it's a different kind of place, from the moment they walk in the door. The lobby looks like an art galley or museum. You have the feeling that there's something different from this hotel--you don't even have the feeling of a hotel, more that you're walking into a place that is history."--Stanley Bard

"Jake Baker could have lived at any hotel. He lived in the Chelsea. He liked it; in fact, he loved the Chelsea. He used to sit in the lobby and watch people coming in and out."--James T. Ferrell

Massacres in Iraq

2006-06-03T00:30:00.000-05:00

Evidence begins to accumulate that appears to support charges that U. S. troops deliberately shot and killed 11 people, including children and an elderly grandmother, in the town of Ishaqui (Iraq) in March 2006. The U. S. had previously stated that only four people had died, and the event earlier had been described as only a standard military operation.

The new allegations have come in the wake of the alleged massacre in Haditha (Iraq), where U. S. marines are suspected of killing up to 24 Iraqi civilians in November 2005 and of covering up the deaths.

A spokesman for U. S. forces in Iraq has stated that an inquiry is under way. The incident is being investigated by the Pentagon.

The Internet's Growing Political Influence

2006-06-02T00:58:00.000-05:00

There is wonderful news today about Glenn Greenwald, which also represents yet another sign of the growing, persuasive influence of writers on the internet. On the same day of the announcement that Andrew Sullivan's blog had reached over 2,000,000 readers during May, it was reported that Greenwald's book, How Would a Patriot Act, has just made the New York Times' Best-Seller List. In addition, sales of his book is now within the Top-100 of all books sold by Amazon.com. Greenwald is a writer who has mainly reached a readership through his blog, Unclaimed Territory.

Background notes describe Greenwald as a constitutional law attorney and widely-read political blogger. He has written for American Conservative Magazine and appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, including C-Span's Washington Journal, Air America's Majority Report and Public Radio International's To the Point. His reporting and analysis have been credited in The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Salon, Slate and a variety of other print and online publications.

The Political Power of the Internet

2006-06-01T01:20:00.000-05:00

Andrew Sullivan provided an update today to Jonathan Alter's article about the potential political power of the internet. Sullivan noted that:

"Bob Wright describes how a combination of a) a third party in laptop (such as the effort reported by Jon Alter) and b) a timely dropping-out could lead to a quasi-parliamentary negotiated government and radical, elite-driven reforms. ... The semi-paralyzing complexity comes when there isn't one party in a laptop but five of them."

Sullivan is referring to a video discussion between Robert Wrightwood and Micky Kaus on Bloggingheads.t.v. Take a look at their discussion and see whether you can figure out the point that they're trying to make. I hardly can!

Bush III: Extending the Dynasty?

2006-05-30T01:02:00.000-05:00

Bush III? Continue the dynasty? Those are the questions some Republicans are asking themselves as political talk emerges yet again about President George W. Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The chief driver of the buzz is the current occupant of the White House, who has said twice this month that his younger brother would make "a great president."

Republican party leaders continue to talk seriously about a continuation of the dynasty, a Bush III administration, with Jeb as a candidate in 2012 or 2016, when the memory of the current president's dismal poll ratings will be less of a factor. That, you will recall, is exactly what happened the last time around. The first President Bush's unpopularity at the end of his term in 1992 did not hurt his eldest son when he ran for president eight years later.

"Look, I think he'd be a great president," the current President Bush said in response to a question about Jeb in Chicago last week. Less than two weeks before, the president was more expansive in an interview with a group of Florida newspaper reporters. According to the St. Petersburg Times, President Bush said he had "pushed" his brother "fairly hard about what he intends to do" and that his political future "is very bright, if he chooses to have a political future."

However, the president added that "I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not." Jeb, who was always considered the most likely to succeed in politics, was the original family favorite to run for president. But in a turn of events that has become a political parable, or debacle, George surprised even his mother by upsetting Texas Governor Ann Richards in 1994. That same year, Jeb lost by two percentage points to Florida Governor Lawton Chiles. Jeb easily returned to beat Buddy McKay in 1998, but by then his brother was already in line for the White House.

Memorial Day Memories: Remorse

2006-05-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

They are at rest
Earth may run red with other wars — they are at peace
In the midst of battles, in the roar of conflicts
They found the serenity of death.

In Loving Memory of:
My Grandfather (World War I)
My Father (World War II, The Vietnam War)

War: The Freud-Einstein Letters

2006-05-29T01:42:00.000-05:00

Freud and Einstein: Why War?

The thoughts involved my last the few postings have somehow led my thinking to this question: Why War? This reminded me of the letters between Freud and Einstein investigating the nature of war, thus hoping (although not optimistically) that we might find the means to prevent.

The letters were published as a very limited edition monograph (2,000 copies), entitled Why War? Careful readers of the Freud letters contained within that monograph will especially note that Freud conceptualized his professional identity here as a psychologist, rather than as a psychoanalyst.

I find the conclusion of the correspondences to be extremely striking. Specifically, the conclusion of their investigation into the causes of war was that its root lay in psychosis, and that war is a clear example of collective psychosis:

Because man has within him a lust for hatred and destruction. In normal times this passion exists in a latent state, it emerges only in unusual circumstances; but it is a comparatively easy task to call it into play and raise it to the power of a collective psychosis. Here lies, perhaps, the crux of all the complex factors we are considering, an enigma that only the expert in the lore of human instincts can resolve.

And so we come to our last question. Is it possible to control man's mental evolution so as to make him proof against the psychosis of hate and destructiveness?

The Internet: New Technology and American Politics

2006-05-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

Politics and The Internet

Jonathan Alter has recently discussed the potentially powerful effects of the internet upon future presidential elections. In his Newsweek article, A New Open-Source Politics, Alter writes that:

Bob Schieffer of CBS News made a good point on The Charlie Rose Show last week. He said that successful presidents have all skillfully exploited the dominant medium of their times. The Founders were eloquent writers in the age of pamphleteering. Franklin D. Roosevelt restored hope in 1933 by mastering radio. And John F. Kennedy was the first president elected because of his understanding of television.

Will 2008 bring the first Internet president? Last time, Howard Dean and later John Kerry showed that the whole idea of "early money" is now obsolete in presidential politics. The Internet lets candidates who catch fire raise millions in small donations practically overnight. That’s why all the talk of Hillary Clinton’s "war chest" making her the front runner for 2008 is the most hackneyed punditry around. Money from wealthy donors remains the essential ingredient in most state and local campaigns, but "free media" shapes the outcome of presidential races, and the Internet is the freest media of all.

No one knows exactly where technology is taking politics, but we’re beginning to see some clues. For starters, the longtime stranglehold of media consultants may be over. In 2008, any presidential candidate with half a brain will let a thousand ad ideas bloom (or stream) online and televise only those that are popular downloads. Deferring to "the wisdom of crowds" will be cheaper and more effective.

Excerpt From:
Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
June 5, 2006

Blog It Forward!!

2006-05-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

BlogitForward

"Blog It Forward"

What’s this all about? Well, just choose one of your favorite blogs/websites (or two or three) and take a little time to post an article on your own site, describing some of the reasons that lead you to feel that they are especially noteworthy. Why do you like them? Why are they given that special place of prominence for you? Are they funny? Are they wise? Do they provide you with valuable resources? Are they just "too good looking" to pass by? Let all of your friends and readers know about them.

At the same time, you might send an email to the author(s) of the site(s), letting them know that you've shared their site with your readers, let others know about them. For example, in the case of the site that I'm recommending and describing below, you can send an email to Andrew Sullivan at: andrewmsullivan@aol.com.

It just just might "make their day” to see their name in the spotlight! Remember, by taking just a little time to do this, you can help to extend friendly feelings across the internet, and in these times there can never be too much love amongst bloggers here in cyberworld.

Please read and pass along to your friends my own Blog It Forward of the Day:

Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.
Emails to: andrewmsullivan@aol.com

Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Daily Dish, enjoys an international readership. His writings are considered to reflect one of the more rational and moderate conservative voices to be found on the internet. In more recent times, many of his articles have served as a major alert about and source of strong opposition to corruption in and increasing abuse of power by the Bush administration. Sullivan's sophisticated internet writings have always strongly supported the prohibition of any form of political/social discrimination based upon gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. As an added bonus, readers will find links to a number of valuable reading resources on his site.

Sullivan's Background

Andrew Sullivan graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took a First in Modern History and Modern Languages. In 1984, he won a Harkness Fellowship to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and earned a Masters degree in Public Administration in 1986. While at Harvard, he was best known for acting, appearing as Hamlet, Alan in Peter Shaffer's Equus, and Mozart in Shaffer's Amadeus.

Subsequently, Sullivan worked as an Associate Editor at The New Republic, editing and writing for both the political and literary sections of the magazine, while free-lancing for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph and Esquire magazine. In 1989, he received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, where he was awarded the Government Department Prize for a dissertation in political science. In 1990, he returned to Washington, D.C., where he free-lanced for The Telegraph and started a monthly column for Esquire. He was soon back at The New Republic as Deputy Editor; in June 1991, at the age of 27, he was appointed Acting Editor. In October, he took over as editor, and presided over 250 issues of The New Republic, resigning in May 1996. During his tenure , The New Republic's circulation grew to well over 100,000 and its advertising revenues grew by 76 percent. The magazine also won three National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, Reporting, and Public Interest.

Sullivan's editorship at TNR was often turbulent, controversial and pioneering. Under his direction, the magazine expanded its focus beyond politics to cover such topics as the future of hip-hop, same-sex marriage, and affirmative action in the newsroom. The magazine campaigned for early intervention in Bosnia, for homosexual equality, and against affirmative action. TNR also published the first public discussion of The Bell Curve, the explosive 1995 book on IQ. In 1996, Sullivan was named Editor of the Year by Adweek magazine.

In the early 1990s, Sullivan became known for being openly gay, and for pioneering such issues as gays in the military and same-sex marriage. His 1993 TNR essay, The Politics of Homosexuality, was credited by The Nation magazine as the most influential article of the decade in gay rights. His 1995 book, Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality, was published to positive reviews, became one of the best-selling books on gay rights, and was translated into five languages. He followed it with a reader, Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con, and testified before Congress on the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. His second book, Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival, was published in 1998 in the United States and Britain. It was a synthesis of three essays on the plague of AIDS, homosexuality and psycho-therapy, and the virtue of friendship. Sullivan tested positive for HIV in 1993, and remains in good health.

In the late 1990s, Sullivan worked as a contributing writer and columnist for The New York Times Magazine, a regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review, and a weekly columnist for The Sunday Times of London. His New York Times cover-stories, When Plagues End, a description of the changing AIDS epidemic in 1996, and The Scolds, an analysis of the decline of American conservatism in 1998, became national talking points. His 1999 essay, What's So Bad About Hate, is included in the Best American Essays of 1999. His 2000 cover story on testosterone, Why Men Are Different, provoked a flurry of controversy, as well as a cover-story in Time, and a documentary on the Discovery channel. Since 2002, Sullivan has been a columnist for Time Magazine, and a regular guest on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher and NBC's Chris Matthews' Show.

In the summer of 2000, Sullivan became one of the first mainstream journalists to experiment with blogging, and soon developed a large online readership with andrewsullivan.com's Daily Dish. In January 2006, Sullivan took his blog to Time.com's home-page where he now writes daily. He remains a Senior Editor at The New Republic.

Research at Chicago

2006-05-27T12:58:00.000-05:00

The University of Chicago

Research at Chicago introduces all of you to the people and ideas that make the University of Chicago an unusually rich intellectual community and one of the premier centers of research and learning. Through interviews, lectures, news stories and multimedia presentations, Research at Chicago shares the knowledge of research findings and provides a greater understanding of the innovative work taking place across the disciplines on campus and around the world.

Research at Chicago is produced by the Office of the Vice-President for Research and for Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University Provost’s Office, the University News Office and a variety of university research centers. The content included on the frequently updated website has been selected from recent publications, press releases, newspapers and websites produced by the University of Chicago. It covers important contributions in the areas of Humanities & Religion, Society & Law, Science & Medicine, and Business & Economics. Contributions are presented as online news articles and research papers, as well as in audio and video formats.

The NSA, Spying and Freedom: Public Concerns

2006-05-26T05:40:00.000-05:00

The NSA, Spying and Freedom

The chart above indicates the estimated level of interest or concern, over time, in issues related to the the National Security Agency, Spying and Freedom of Speech.

The National Security Agency= Blue
Spying= Red
Freedoms= Orange

In this comparison, the interest in and concerns about recent activities of the federal National Security Agency was by far greater in all of the rated top cities in the United States.

The a closer and more detailed view of this data is available at Google Trends.

Solitude and Hope: Y'all Come Visit!

Tino - The Blogger Links Benefactor - I Link To Blogs For Free: 2000 Bloggers

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 24, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 23, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 17, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 16, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 13, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 11, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 8, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 3, 2007

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 2, 2007!!

THE DAILY SCOOP: January 1, 2007!!

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 31, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 30, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 29, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: DECEMBER 25, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 17, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 10, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 7, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: December 3, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: November 29, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: November 23, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: NOVEMBER 20, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: November 19, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: November 18, 2006

THE DAILY SCOOP: November 15, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 14, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 11, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 10, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 9, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 6, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 5, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: November 3, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: NOVEMBER 1, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: OCTOBER 29, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: OCTOBER 27, 2006

TODAY'S DAILY SCOOP: October 26, 2006

Nobel Peace Prize is Announced