I finally jumped on the bandwagon-train and got a blog.
Hawaii Mourns Troops Killed in Chopper Crash, from NPR. I'm not embarrassed to say this made me cry in the car from the combination of feeling so sad for the families of the marines who were killed and intensely missing Hawaii (even though I don't actually like Hawaii).
Dick Cheney, Dressing Down: Parka, Ski Cap at Odds With Solemnity of Auschwitz Ceremony, from the Washington Post, courtesy of Alison.
66° North Iceland, courtesy of Brad. Brad writes: "We're all laughing here at the office about the friendly-looking models they've chosen to be the faces of the Iceland Naturally PR campaign. 66° North is one of the primary sponsors."
U.S. Children Still Traumatized One Year After Seeing Partially Exposed Breast On TV, from The Onion.
24 Update, from Dave Barry's Blog.
Justice Scalia: The Charm Offensive: The Supreme Court Justice is vying for the chief's seat on the bench, from Slate.com.
Taser's Biggest Liability, from the Motley Fool, courtesy of Ed. Ed writes: "This is from everyone's favorite personal finance web site and an NPR contributer. Now, stories of crooked businessmen and mobsters are a dime a dozen, but consider this: Our president nominated this guy to a cabinet position. That's not just a lack of due diligence or knowledge of 'homeland security.' That's a complete disdain for law and order (I'm not talking about TV). I guess 'ownership society' means 'society of owners' (even if they stole what they own.)"
Abuse of Trust: The POW scandal you haven't yet heard about, from Slate.com.
Indecent News, from Reason.com. "Now, CNN's on cable, obviously, but I wonder: If this were network news airing the same feed and someone complained, could they be held liable by the FCC just for running live footage from a public event?"
Study Cites Human Failings in Election Day Poll System, from The New York Times.
Coronation Notes: We Still Heart Chris Matthews, from Wonkette.com.
Live-Blogging the Coronation, from Wonkette.com.
Transcript: Boxer, Rice Exchange Pointed Words, from Information Clearing House. Said Dr. Rice: "We knew that he [Saddam Hussein] was an implacable enemy of the United States who did cavort with terrorists." Oh no! Say it ain't so! (I heard about it on the Daily Show.)
The Sheaglinator just returned from San Diego and a trip to Sea World. Apparently, Sea World now features a show that includes trained cats. "Venture into the tail-chasing, ruckus-raising world of your pet in SeaWorld's all-new Pets Rule! Dogs dance, cats cavort and birds flock. Even a potbellied pig gets into the act." Did you know that cats cavort? Does that make them terrorists? That would explain a lot about Lola.
The wherefores and whys of women in science, from Asymmetrical Information.
Boycott, But Wisely!, from Pete Lit.
The Boondocks comic strip for today.
Action at Unofficial Inaugural Events, from The New York Times, featuring some strange little elephants. Courtesy of Wonkette.
Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge, from The New York Times, courtesy of Alison.
Darth Tater: The dark side of Mr. Potato Head, from CNN.com.
Ball Gowns and Hospital Gowns, from Military Week. "The 25,000 mentally or physically injured who have been returned from what we now understand as the unnecessary but politically-demanded recreational fields of battle in Iraq are not dancing on air."
The Coming Wars: What the Pentagon can now do in secret, from The New Yorker.
How Condoleezza Rice became the most powerful woman in the world, from the Guardian.
"Unforeseen circumstances" (or maybe she meant "unacknowledged warnings"?), from low culture.
Rice and Dice: John Kerry nails Condoleezza Rice on Iraq, from Slate.com.
Bland Justice: The Supreme Court, now as ever, follows the national consensus, from Slate.com.
Titanic in 30 Seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies), from AngryAlien.com. WATCH THIS!
Did You Watch American Idol last night?, from Dave Barry's Blog. "Neither did we! We would never waste our time watching that crap. We much prefer reading Proust. But that one contestant? The large blond woman who was a really really really bad singer, even by American Idol standards, and heard voices in her head? Whoa."
Have you been wondering how much the war in Iraq costs? Check out CostOfWar.com.
Faces of the Fallen: U.S. Fatalities in Iraq, from the Washington Post.
Inauguration Report, by Dave Barry.
Laura Bush Defends Gala in Time of War and Disaster, from The New York Times. "I think it's also good for Washington's economy..." Oh yeah, except for that $11.9 million that D.C. is supposed to take away from homeland security projects to pay for inauguration-related expenses. Take that, D.C.! That's what you get for voting Kerry.
Diversity on Campus? There Is None, from The American Enterprise, courtesy of Heather. Great article, though of course I disagree with characterizing Libertarians as a party of the right. I suppose it makes sense if you consider gay marriage and the legalization of drugs and prostitution to be conservative issues. In my own experience, the article's main premise is generally true. Some examples: as an undergrad, my thesis advisor told me I needed to make my thesis "more feminist." And then in grad school, my Latin professor was nearly denied tenure because "we already have lots of white men on the faculty." The woman who tried to deny him tenure was in charge of the first-year writing program and spent her time with the new TAs role-playing about how to handle improbable racist incidents in the classroom instead of, you know, teaching us how to teach.
Woman eats 6-pound burger in 3 hours, from Boston.com. Don't forget the 5 pounds of fixings.
Craigslist Circles the Globe With Online Classifieds, One City at a Time, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
Dave Barry: Elegy for the humorist, from Slate.com. Can New York Save Itself?, from DaveBarry.com.
N Korea wages war on long hair, from the BBC.
How Sweden Tweaked the Washington Consensus, from Dissent Magazine. This is a really thought-provoking article on Sweden's economy.
Call Us Crazy, but We See a Buddy Movie Here, from The New York Times. "Another surprise: Mr. Moore and Mel Gibson, whose "Passion of the Christ' won for motion picture drama, are fans of each other's work."
Super Size Us, from Reason's Hit & Run.
Who Needs Harvard? Why big corporations are hiring fewer Ivy Leaguers, from Slate.com.
Rebranding Physics = Making Einstein Youth Friendly, from Boston.com. "Einstein Year was launched in Britain this month at a youth-driven ceremony at London's Science Museum where a BMX stunt rider performed an 'Einstein flip,' said to be the first bicycle stunt to be designed by a physicist."
Maybe Hannibal wasn't so horrible, from the Christian Science Monitor.
A Man in a Pickle Jumps Into the Brine, from The New York Times, courtesy of Brad.
Funny quote from today's Cary Tennis column in Salon: "Cats are fairly simple people. They are self-interested economic actors with fur."
Judge orders removal of evolution stickers from textbooks in Georgia school district, from Boston.com, courtesy of Andrea.
Pundit for Hire: Please, Mr. President, I can shill for you, too!, from Boston.com.
How much do I love Mark A? "We got honked at in the parking lot for not driving fast enough by some cell-chatting fleabag in a monster SUV. Bumper sticker: 'Support our troops so I can fill my irresponsible light truck with gas!' "
Do as I say, and as I do, which is what I think, and do, not say. I think, from low culture.
Iraq weapons hunt is officially over, from the Seattle Times.
Motor mouths: Success and spinoffs put Magliozzi brothers of 'Car Talk' in the driver's seat, from Boston.com.
Get Smart! The Supreme Court asks whether the CIA can stiff its aging spies, from Slate.com.
Dispatch From Banda Aceh: The incredible generosity of the tsunami's survivors, from Slate.com.
Battle Lessons: What the generals don't know, from The New Yorker. If you only read one of today's articles, this should be it.
Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored, from The New York Times.
Pyramid Scheme, from low culture. "Credit Guy Womack (no relation) for even further lowering the bar on the bullshit we can expect from defense attorneys. As lawyer for Charles Graner, the alleged ringleader of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, Womack yesterday offered a defense that managed to be at once offensive, incredible and troglodytic."
Linguists Gone Wild! Why "wardrobe malfunction" wasn't the Word of the Year, from Slate.com.
John Locke Lite: The strange philosophy of a "left libertarian", by Tom G. Palmer, from Reason.com. (I'm a Tom Palmer fan. When I was an intern at Cato, we cast him as John Galt in our theoretical movie production of "Atlas Shrugged." Gillian Anderson would of course play Dagny Taggart. Hank Reardon -- Harrison Ford. Etc. I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into my nerdy summer intern days.)
Do Commandos Go Commando? Soldiers and their skivvies, from Slate.com.
Katie Couric: America's Sweetheart -- with a Heart of Stone!, from Wonkette.
W's iPod Playlist, from Wonkette.
U.S. Tells D.C. to Pay Inaugural Expenses: Other Security Projects Would Lose $11.9 Million, from the Washington Post.
Despite false claim, his star rises: Former Bush aide eyed for State job, from Boston.com. This is about Robert Joseph.
Top Ten Shows on the New Gay Cable Network, from the Late Show with David Letterman.
Send a Message to God: He has gone too far this time, from Slate.com.
No Armstrong Williams Left Behind, from Wonkette.com.
Exit, Snarling, from The New York Times, courtesy of Brad. "As it turns out, an important moment in the annals of modern culture may have occurred when Jon Stewart of Comedy Central went on CNN's 'Crossfire' last October and decided to be serious."
Bush 'the king' blows $50m on coronation, from the Guardian, courtesy of Josh.
To Try to Net Killer, Police Ask a Small Town's Men for DNA, from The New York Times, courtesy of Mark A.
Positive numbers, fuzzy math, and well-spun figures, from low culture. "There's an undeniable buzz in the air as January 30th, the date of the upcoming Iraqi elections, rapidly approaches."
Army Reserve vs. National Guard: What's the difference, anyway?, from Slate.com.
The New Blue Federalists: The case for liberal federalism, from Slate.com.
Undiplomatic Immunity: Did Al Gonzales say the president can authorize torture?, from Slate.com.
Propaganda vs. Journalism, from Reason's Hit & Run.
And Justice for All ( a review of recent books on affirmative action), from The Nation.
The Dark Secrets of Highway Numbering, from CoolGov.
Warning: You'll be sorry if you do that, from AP. "The Wacky Warning Label Contest is in its eighth year."
Index of Economic Freedom: Hail Estonia! But America drops out of the top 10, from the Wall Street Journal.
President Bush and Abortion, from Chronicles Magazine.
Interstate Highways in Hawaii? Are they Crazy?, from CoolGov.
Enormous Bureaucracy Seeks Skilled Manager: Who should be the next secretary of homeland security?, from Slate.com.
The Grate Amrican Dreem, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
George W. Bush's Split Allegiance, from Wonkette.com. "UT fan or Satan's minion? Can't he be both?"
'I'm Going to Learn', from NEWSWEEK, courtesy of Mark A. "First, the blame. Then, the healing. In a new book, NEWSWEEK talks exclusively with John Kerry about why he lost -- and looks at his plans for another run."
The 13 Best Movies of 2004, from Slate.com. "Charlie Kaufman's remarriage flick, Metallica's rock therapy, and a final raspberry for Lars von Trier."
The Secret Vice of Power Women, from Slate.com. "(Note: In the marital relations system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the wives who watch Law & Order obsessively, and the husbands who don't. This is their story. Ka-chunk.)"
Inside the Leviathan, from The New York Review of Books. "The report estimates that a two-hundred-employee Wal-Mart store costs federal taxpayers $420,000 a year, or about $2,103 per Wal-Mart employee. That translates into a total annual welfare bill of $2.5 billion for Wal-Mart's 1.2 million US employees."
Requiem for a Cop: Jerry Orbach's wry, deadpan style came to define Law & Order, from Slate.com.