Corps Voters, from the Washington Monthly. "For over two decades, the bond between the GOP and the U.S. military has been getting stronger. Since the invasion of Iraq, that may be changing."
Security collides with civil liberties, from the Sacramento Bee.
Inside Dope, from Forbes, about the Canadian marijuana industry.
Cute little Hawaiian hoary bat.
The story behind the $4000 rear derailleur.
Interesting product: fire protection gel.
An unfortunate quote from Bush's Oct. 28 press conference: "I'll say that the world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership, and America is more secure."
Japanese Workers Told From on High: Drop the Formality, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
Karl Marx, from Prospect magazine. "Marx will not take the blame for communism and the gulag. But he enjoys his continuing influence in the academy."
Punkin Chunkin world champion to defend title, from Boston.com. "Most people prefer them baked in pies or decoratively carved. But for Bruce Bradford, the preferred method of serving up pumpkin is to have it shot out of an air cannon." More about Punkin Chunkin.
Lawyer Friend Makes Strong Case for Nachos, from The Onion.
'Well, You Try To Reconstruct Iraq,' Says U.S. Defensive Dept., from The Onion.
Pope John Paul II: 25 Years of Laughs, from The Onion. " 'I can still remember seeing him do his classic "Galileo" bit in the early '90s,' said fellow comedian George Carlin, referring to the pope's 1992 declaration that the church erred in condemning Galileo. 'Here was this man, appearing on televisions around the world, making a proclamation that the sun does not move around the earth. I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks.' "
After Tony and Kofi fail, Brad and Jennifer try Mid-East diplomacy, from the Daily Telegraph.
How Urban Schools Keep Good Teachers at Bay, from the Washington Post.
A Willful Ignorance, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. "Mr. Bush's ignorance may reflect his lack of curiosity: 'The best way to get the news,' he says, 'is from objective sources. And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff.' Two words: emperor, clothes."
The Level of Discourse Continues to Slide, from The New York Times, courtesy of Tom M.
Ann Coulter Talking Action Figure
Black Like I Thought I Was, from AlterNet.
My Turn: How Do I Move On Without My Soulmate?, from Newsweek, courtesy of Robin.
The Paper Chase, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel, about the Collyer brothers.
Underdressed and Hot: Dolls Moms Don't Love, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
A Match Made in Heaven, If You Have Enough Yuan, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
Libertarians Pursue New Goal: State of Their Own, from The New York Times.
Fox News Threatened to Sue The Simpsons, from ICv2 News. (NB: The Simpsons airs on Fox.)
Dr. Sheagley prepares for a winter of tube-patching.
Have you told your mum yet?, from the Guardian. "How would you react if your 15-year-old son told you that he was gay? In this moving and highly personal account, one mother writes of her pride, shock and anxiety on the day it happened to her."
Barbie Liberation Organization.
Stiff discipline after UK schoolboys' Viagra prank, from Boston.com.
Given that the gay marriage issue may be hitting the Massachusetts legislature soon, here's an oldie but goodie. Privatize Marriage: A simple solution to the gay-marriage debate, from Slate.com, by Cato's David Boaz. "In the debate over whether to legalize gay marriage, both sides are missing the point. Why should the government be in the business of decreeing who can and cannot be married? Proponents of gay marriage see it as a civil-rights issue. Opponents see it as another example of minority 'rights' being imposed on the majority culture. But why should anyone have -- or need to have -- state sanction for a private relationship?"
Legal Research? Get Me Sushi, With Footnotes, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. Here's the "Sushi Memo" in all its glory. "The paralegal took to the task aggressively, interviewing lawyers and staff members at the firm, reading online and ZagatSurvey reviews, and producing a three-page opus with eight footnotes and two exhibits (two sets of menus). The memo concludes by expressing the hope that Ms. Parker will now be able to choose 'the restaurant from which your dinner will be ordered on a going-forward basis.' "
The General Who Roared , an opinion piece from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. "Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who has called the war on terrorism a 'Christian battle' and disparaged Muslims, should be dismissed from his post."
A quick vent: it took me an hour to drive the 18 miles to work this morning. If anyone should be freaked out by snow, it should be me! The girl from Hawaii! Why do people on 93 and 128 between Medford and Bedford forget how to drive whenever the weather gets bad? I am provoked to the point of suggesting regulation, if you can believe that: perhaps European-style driver's licensing requirements are in order? Apparently driver testing doesn't even include parallel parking these days.
Inside the New SAT Test, from Time.
The Stovepipe, by Seymour M. Hersh, from the New Yorker. "How conflicts between the Bush Administration and the intelligence community marred the reporting on Iraq's weapons."
CIA-Leak Scapegoat Still At Large, from The Onion.
Flügtag! from Ilana. "The first Flügtag took place in Austria in 1991. Since then, the dream of flying hand-made machines into unsuspecting bodies of water has spread like wildfire. From Ireland to San Francisco, inspired pilots have come out of the woodwork to construct their own outrageous craft. And while the flights have never been record-breaking, the pre-launch showmanship has always been unparalleled!"
Discovering America,one pie at a time, from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "Three years ago, [Bill] Windsor came up with the idea of journeying across America, visiting mostly small towns, collecting stories and eating pie." "An 11-year-old he met in an elevator sent him to Leonard's [for malasadas] on his last day in Hawaii. 'Since I started a doughnut franchise two years ago, I know doughnuts. These are without any question the best donuts that we've had on the trip, so I name them Best Donuts in America.' " More info on the Pie Trip here.
The Expanded Do-Not-Call List, from MarkFiore.com. More anti-Bush animation. And don't miss Grunt Vision Goggles, also from Fiore.
Curtains Ordered for Media Coverage of Returning Coffins, from the Washington Post. "To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases."
Chinese officials jerk away the welcome mat, from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. This is the fourth in a series of stories about traveling across the Pacific on a freighter.
George Bush's Freak Show, by Mark Fiore, from MotherJones.com. Courtesy of Rachel.
Chinese Space Program propaganda posters, posted by Stefan R. Landsberger at the urging of Rachel.
Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas, from The New York Times.
UCI bans disc brakes from 'cross events, from VeloNews.
Student told FBI he put bags with box cutters on planes in September, from Boston.com.
No Cure for Songs Stuck in Your Head, from AP.
Do Good Looks Equal Good Evaluations?, from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Encounter with Harold Bloom: Consistent Contrarian, from Boston.com. "The iconoclastic Yale scholar and critic is giving his personal papers and large library to a small Catholic college in Vermont."
Marchers a Feat of Precision, from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, about the Moanalua High School marching band.
Fighting the War at Home, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. I wish it were shocking to think that our government would send fake letters from soldiers in Iraq to newspapers.
New fad: Bullet hole stickers for cars, from msn.com, courtesy of Jennie D. She says, "This would totally give you street cred in Medford, which some of us desperately need."
Check out Mr. Winkle as he portrays the underdogs of history.
Our Way: Root and Hoot, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. "If God had meant for us to be happy, he would have had us born in Aspen. We know that every year the political center of gravity in this country moves farther south and west, because most voters do not appreciate the importance of sarcasm when selecting their leaders."
A used water bottle from the Sportsbook.com PRO Cycling Team recently sold for the princely sum of $34 on eBay...
Pity the Poor Alligator, Lost in All the Roar, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
For Those Believers, the Visions Endure, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel.
Part 'Amazing Race,' Part 'Where's Waldo?', from The New York Times. Urban Challenge Web site.
Life as a guinea pig, from Boston.com. "Boston offers opportunities for those willing to take risks in the name of science - and cash."
Mikes vs. bikes, from the LA Times. "Cyclists fail to see humor in DJs' calls for assaults."
Have you flown JetBlue? Check out this handy-dandy FOIA form from the ACLU.
'No Idea' About Leak Inquiry, from the Washington Post. " 'I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official,' the president said in response to a reporter's question. 'Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea.' "
Celine Dion Secluded in Lab Developing New Perfume, from The Onion.
CIA Leak Probed, from The Onion.
From the wreck of a car crash, Dear Leader's secret sex life is laid bare, from the Independent.
Cakey Vs. Fudgy, from the Washington Post. "Light, airy and crumbly? Or dense, moist and intensely chocolate? Which is the better brownie? No contest."
The Spy Next Door: Valerie Wilson, Ideal Mom, Was Also the Ideal Cover, from the Washington Post.
This Dave Barry column is gold. Pure gold. Thanks Kris! So what's their hang-up?, from the Miami Herald.
Mark A's section on Plame: A Question Of Naming Names: Journalists' Secrecy At Issue in Scandal, from the Washington Post. The original article from the WP, Mission to Niger. And finally, the Washington Monthly's Monday morning dialogue. "I'm not saying the Karl Rove wants to get this stuff off the front pages, but there's a giant hourglass in his office counting down the days until the Pope dies."
Iraq: What Went Wrong, By General Wesley K. Clark, from the New York Review of Books.
Liberty Island: Libertarians are increasingly isolated in the GOP. Will they bolt in 2004?, from The American Prospect. I didn't even know there were libertarians in the GOP. I thought they all threw their votes away like me.
WHOA! When physicists attack....
Need some Vote Ahnuld products?
Superintendent Who Blocked Gay Group Was Having Affair on School Property, from txtriangle.com.
Bra-less female voter forced to remove Ahnuld t-shirt to vote in CA election.
German men get own 'kindergarten' while women shop, from Boston.com.
Burlington Bashing, from the Washington Post, courtesy of Mark A.
For the News Leak, a Long if Not Honorable History, from the Washington Post, courtesy of Mark A.
A Nomad Among Nomads in Mongolia, from The New York Times.
Eyes Glaze Over With Krispy Kreme Coverage, from American Journalism Review, courtesy of Robin.
Whoa. There seems to be a rash of people in the media who think pro cyclists look okay with their shirts off (see also yesterday's entry with a photo of several Spanish pros from an ad campaign).
New Hampshire named Free State, from Boston.com. "A group of libertarians planning to bring 20,000 liberty-minded Americans to a 'free state' has selected New Hampshire for its revolution, a supporter said Wednesday." (This is the group led by 1997 Cato intern Dr. Jason Sorens.)
Other Dimensions? She's in Pursuit, from The New York Times, courtesy of Rachel. Adventures of a self-described "lab chick."
Free Mickey!, from Boston.com. "Disney has lobbied hard to keep its creations under copyright protection. But in the 1970s, a group of renegade cartoonists threatened to unleash the mouse."
Showdown, from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "There's a new can in town, and our tasting panel finds that while Spam is the sentimental favorite, the new kid is a contender."
Man breaks record by eating M&Ms with chopsticks, from Boston.com.
French firm disguises cigarette health warnings, from Boston.com.
Thai PM to send daughter to work at McDonald's, from Boston.com.
From Mike R: What do Spanish cyclists do on their rest day?