tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65170342024-03-05T10:18:51.744-05:00The Flummery DigestAn Inclusive Litanysierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comBlogger3933125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-75102344748529287992008-10-27T19:23:00.000-04:002008-11-13T14:17:44.305-05:00Entropy. That's the idea I had in mind when formulating the following
introductory text that was long posted on the Flummery Digest's <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070210060622/http://www.praxagora.com/sierra/flum/index.htm">home page</a>:
<blockquote>
It has been said that politics is the art of the possible. It is also
the art of the silly and the dangerous.
<p>
I started collecting offbeat news items early in the '90s for my own
amusement and sanity, but it soon became my primary interest to
document the multifarious phenomena known as "political correctness."
I'm well aware of the tendency to define this term loosely to mean
"any closely held view of which I don't approve," and I'm not sure I'm
offering anything better here. Yet while I believe both Left and Right
entertain all sorts of smelly orthodoxies (to use Orwell's term),
self-styled progressives have always had particular trouble
recognizing limits to the sort of progress they seek. As a result,
traditional liberal expectations of government activity often slip the
tethers of plausibility.
<p>
The most notable PC enthusiasms—race, gender, sexual
"difference"—became popular at roughly the same time the Soviet
Union imploded, when talk of class differences became relatively
unpopular among leftists. There has been a corresponding de-emphasis
of human beings in favor of wildlife and the "environment," neither of
which can complain of unwelcome attention the way proletarians are
liable to these days. And faced with socialism's manifest failure,
many have even chosen to deny the importance of objective reality
altogether, adopting faddish nihilistic attitudes to conceal their
own strange form of gnosticism.
<p>
I aim to document a wide range of these often contradictory threads,
both in their speculative stages and once hardened into legal statutes
or informal, polite axioms. Astute readers may notice a similar
tension between my libertarian and conservative instincts. Yet while
PC tends to explore some of the fringe logical questions that are
routinely posed within the framework of a free society, I adapt that
approach by refocusing attention on the logical extremes of PC
itself. I'm optimistic at least that laughing at it may help diminish it.
<p>
I must warn you that if you are overly sensitive or if you identify
yourself closely with the fortunes of various grievance groups,
reading this anthology will not be cause for great joy. Even if that's
not the case and if you are as insensitive as I am, reading too much
in one sitting may still give you a bad case of the shakes. Medical
vaccinations involve a weak dose of a disabled form of a virus; a
political vaccination requires quite the opposite.
</blockquote>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-56304517315441116572008-10-26T19:21:00.006-04:002008-11-26T16:20:26.833-05:00Here's a selection of relevant FAQ questions I posted on the old Flummery Digest site in response to repeated email queries.
<blockquote>
<DL>
<P>
<DT>
<I>What's with the word "flummery"?</I>
<P>
<DD>
It's a perfectly acceptable word:
<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
flum-mery \'flem-(e-)re^-\
[W llymru]
(ca. 1623)
1a: a soft jelly or porridge made with flour or meal
1b: any of several sweet desserts
2: MUMMERY, MUMBO JUMBO
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
Perhaps more to the point:
<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
mum-mery \'mem-e-re^-\ pl -mer-ies
(1530)
1: a performance by mummers
2: a ridiculous, hypocritical, or pretentious ceremony or performance
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>
<DT>
<I>How about the word "litany"? Is the site supposed to be an
inclusive "prayer" or "appeal" or "supplication"?</I>
<P>
<DD>
How about "any long and tedious address or recital"? One of its most
popular usages, after all, is "litany of complaints," which is
rather what I had in mind. Also, a litany "is usually of a penitential
character." I rather like that.
<p>
<DT>
<I>Where does the term "political correctness" come from?</I>
<P>
<DD>
Richard Bernstein of the <I>New York Times</I> (author of
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679763988/qid=989619822/sr=1-1/ref=sc_b_1/107-8860689-4444530" TARGET=NEW>
<I>Dictatorship of Virtue</I></A>)
is generally credited with popularizing the term in a 1991 article,
but he certainly did not coin it.
<P>
I have heard—and I'm not sure it's true—that the term
"politically correct" (not the later "PC" acronym) originated among
American communists during the '30s. It may have arisen
from—<I>ahem</I>—"debate" between Stalinists and
Trotskyites as to which path was ideologically superior. For all I
know, it may have arisen as American shorthand used to track
increasingly indefensible gyrations in the Soviet party line around
the time of the Nazi/Soviet pact. (Memo to humanity: stop following
political philosophies that are closely identified with primary
colors. For one thing, "green" is synonymous with "naïve.")
<P>
Regardless, I have first-hand experience that the term "politically
correct" was originally non-pejorative, and was used <I>way</I> too
earnestly before becoming slathered with layers of irony. You might
have heard the phrase used to describe the <I>faux pas</I> you just
committed by failing to leave the toilet seat down for the next female
who chanced along. I clearly remember (from around 1989-1990) the term
"un-PC" being directed towards use of chopsticks, since they come
from trees, which of course grow in rainforests. In that sense, saying
something was "un-PC" was the equivalent of saying "<I>we</I> do
not approve" when the person speaking happens to be the Queen of
England. In that passive sense, it deflects open discussion and relies
on consensus as its authority. After all, it is not so much that we
don't <I>do</I> these things, it is that these things simply <I>aren't
done</I>.
<p>
<DT>
<I>I am a student, and I am writing a research paper on something
having to do with the material on your site. Can you tell me what I
should write about and do all my research for me?</I>
<P>
<DD>
The question answers itself.
<p>
<DT>
<I>Has PC affected you personally?</I>
<P>
<DD>
Not all that much, or at least not directly. At one point at
<A HREF="http://www.oreilly.com" TARGET=NEW>
O'Reilly</A>,
where I made part of my living editing and producing computer books,
some staff members once tried to implement a policy of alternating
male and female pronouns in different paragraphs to represent the
generic third person fairly, but I tried my best to ignore it. It
would get plenty absurd, too. I remember proofing one stretch of text
that oscillated so wildly between using 'her' and 'his' that what
should have been a clear exposition of the layering of graphic
interface elements sounded like some poor woman was having carnal
relations with an X Windows dialog box handler, with special emphasis
on its "widget." (That policy collapsed under its own weight.)
<P>
In fact, <I>most</I> people have not been fired, sued, or publicly
humiliated as a result of PC. Most people I've spoken with simply
regard it as a tax, with much the same grim sense of inevitability.
I try to ignore it in my everyday life, despite many provocations.
<p>
<DT>
<I>Where do all the circus graphics come from?</I>
<P>
<DD>
The monochrome images are from the public-domain Dover Pictorial
Archive, and may be copied freely. The color images on the September
2001 page, on the other hand, are all ripped off.
<p>
<DT>
<I>You say that you're conflicted, not sure whether you're a
libertarian or a conservative. Why?</I>
<P>
<DD>
A little personal history: I was brought up liberal (the Upper West
Side's default setting) and went through the usual inchoate radical
left-wing stage as a teenager. In the mid-'80s, I had what alcoholics
describe as a "moment of clarity" in which some of the basic laws of
economics suddenly became apparent, as if by burning bush. Injesting
modern-day liberalism was very much like eating bad meat, and while it
took a while, believe me, it came up all at once.
<P>
I was a big-L "Libertarian" for a little while, but did not find
them to be a serious political party. For one thing, they insisted
on running the publisher of <I>Screw</I>
magazine for political office in Florida. Aside from the unbelievably
bad judgement that represented, many Libertarians also confused the
issue with one of free speech, as if a (private!) political party were
obliged to promulgate any viewpoint whatsoever.
<P>
I recall objecting in an e-mail discussion forum that it was not the
business of a political party to contradict the sexual moral code of
the overwhelming majority of the population, to which a surprising
number of Libertarian activists responded Oh Yes It Was, and maybe
their personal moral code needs some overturning. I found it surreal
that the same bunch of people who constantly invoked Friedrich Hayek
on the state's inability to process price information better than free
markets ignored his more important insights into the pragmatic,
evolutionary nature of informal human custom. Libertarians seemed
almost Marxist in their willingness to overturn these long-though-out
customs in favor of their own rigid ideological preferences. For the
same reason, Libertarians are uncharacteristically utopian and
arrogant in thinking that their way is the best, which, come to think
of it, is also true of people who read way too much Ayn Rand. I'm
convinced that if you encountered the same bunch of people 50 years
ago, they'd be Trotskyites.
<P>
For a while I called myself a small-l libertarian, but even then I
found major problems with the political philosophy. Without getting
too long-winded about it, the problem is basically (a) little, if any,
reference to moral philosophy or anything that falls outside the
narrow realm of simple economic transaction, (b) isolationist foreign
policy advice from <I>Hell</I>, and (c) an extreme fetish with individual
rights to the exclusion of all other considerations. (For more on the
latter point, the book to read is William Donohue's
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076580722X/qid=990312345/sr=1-1/ref=sc_b_1/107-5803403-8989345" TARGET=NEW>
<I>Twilight of Liberty</I></A>,
a strong criticism of the ACLU that happens to apply to libertarians
as well.)
<P>
Which is not to say I feel completely comfortable calling myself
"conservative," but there you have it: a split personality.
Intellectually conservative, tempermentally liberal. And as you can
tell from the above yammering, my pronounced sense of political
identity has also long been something of a character flaw.
<p>
<DT>
<I>Did you leave anything out?</I>
<DD>
Since I rely mostly on print media, I occasionally miss broadcast
commentaries that would otherwise make the cut, but that take too long
to reproduce as text, and National Public Radio has been a
particularly rich source.
<P>
I remember during the Clinton impeachment, hearing an NPR
interview with Francine Du Plessix Gray, author of a
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140286772/qid=1002901262/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_10_2/107-0643775-6159736" TARGET=NEW>
biography of the Marquis De Sade</A>,
in which she compared the "persecution" of the famous... well...
<I>sadist</I> to the persecution of President Clinton. There was no
trace of irony in her voice whatsoever. I had to pull the car over.
The same thing happened more recently when a talk show host
commented on air that the poet Pablo Neruda "dabbled in politics."
<P>
I once heard another NPR interview with one of the actresses from the
TV comedy, "In Living Color," who complained that when she grew up she
only had a white doll to play with. At the time, there were a few
dolls available that were black like her, but these were clearly the
same white dolls, but that had only been painted over to be black.
Later in life, she said, other dolls became available that were
designed with African-American facial characteristics—no
elaboration there. She was gratified, she said, that they were "dolls
of color, rather than just colored dolls." (Again, I'm not sure if she
was simply fulfilling her role as comedienne.)
<P>
In general, I haven't wailed on NPR and PBS enough, though I should
say that the quality of their news reporting and choice of documentary
subjects has improved, probably as a result of the '94 Republican
Congressional takeover, and the inevitable incentive shift that
implies. Prior to that, they had very little bad to say about places
like Cuba, and very little good to say about Israel. Others argue
they are still intensely biased; I leave it to you to evaluate.) NPR
managed to inject every conceivable issue with liberal bias. In one
story about agricultural policy on "All Things Considered," the only
expert source they interviewed was perhaps the only economist in the
world who thought that farm subsidies were a good idea. (And
surprise!... he worked for the farm lobby.) Another story attacked
the <I>Christian Science Monitor</I> for bias because of the religious
institution that ran the paper. But NPR would constantly run horrific,
three-hankie stories about all the bad things that happen when you cut
social programs, but they never stated their own entrenched bias on
the subject—that they rely so heavily on government subsidies.
<p>
<DT>
<I>Are you really the "Original Blogger"?</I>
<P>
<DD>
Not really, but it's kind of fun to say so. "Blog" is just a silly
term anyway, since it represents a tautology. There's been plenty of
blog-like content long before the advent of the Web. Does residence on
the Web make it a blog? Likewise, I never specifically used "blog"
software [until adapting the archive in 2008], even though my form
of Internet-only content represents a kind of proto-blog. As far as I
can tell, the only difference is that blog entries are displayed in
strict reverse chronological order, while mine are pretty much random
for each month. Also, most blogs feature links to readers' comments
and trackbacks, whereas I don't care what you think and certainly
don't want it on my site.
<p>
</DL>
</blockquote>
Okay, that was a bit harsh. The only other FAQ item I'd add...
<p>
<blockquote>
<dl>
<DT>
<I>Is it true you were once plagiarized by Ann Coulter?</I>
<dd>
Apparently, <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/2005/coulter_caught_cribbing_column_720.htm">yes</a>.
</dl>
</blockquote>
Finally, here's one other personal anecdote that somehow
never made it into the <i>Digest</i>.
<p>
I have a friend who lives with her husband and two sons in a
rambling house in one of Boston's most affluent suburbs. Her husband
managed software projects at firms like Lotus and IBM, eventually
quitting to launch a startup that was quickly acquired by Abobe.
At the time, she was an editor at an influential technical
publishing firm, a position from which she was able to retire in her
mid-thirties because, frankly, they were doing very well.
<p>
One of their sons returned from kindergarden one day and expressed
great concern to his father about his employment status. "Please,
daddy," he would say, "please keep your job. I would be very sad if
you lost your job." He told his son that he had a job, a very good
job, and that everything was alright. Still, his son expressed ongoing
worry, and said something strange to the effect that he liked living
in a house and didn't like beans. After a few days of this, they
figured out the source of the tension. The boy's kindergarten class
had read aloud a book about a family struggling to make it by in some
marginal industry. After the father loses his job, they have to cut
their expenses dramatically, hence the reference to eating beans. With
barely enough left to eat, the family is then evicted from their
apartment, and have to live in their car, huddled under blankets
while seeking opportunities for migrant labor.
<p>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-52150260931084814672003-06-30T01:33:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:34:51.961-05:00Writing in the <i>National Review</i>,
Jay Nordlinger reports on the resurgence of efforts against the
fluoridation of water. Often thought of as a defining characteristic
of fringe right-wing groups such as the John Birch Society,
opposition to fluoridation has increasingly taken hold among leftist
environmentalists.
<p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRUWAzPGDUsrjhBjJ9PPVI_0jGGUBpc-mtHRvw6It3yXKl-xd845K93IUo7QUL40c2VdP9gbWQzM-Hw2bdIQAee9hz5IIu4ayXRpP5TrRrsRzGLXCIqsThaaFb5rFOm1cXHoH/s1600-h/C-bike02.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRUWAzPGDUsrjhBjJ9PPVI_0jGGUBpc-mtHRvw6It3yXKl-xd845K93IUo7QUL40c2VdP9gbWQzM-Hw2bdIQAee9hz5IIu4ayXRpP5TrRrsRzGLXCIqsThaaFb5rFOm1cXHoH/s320/C-bike02.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265428927945005986" /></a>
The founding members of the Fluoride Action Network—a
clearinghouse for anti-fluoride efforts—include the founder of
Friends of the Earth, the editor of <i>Coyote Nation</i>,
the publisher of <i>The Ecologist</i>, the co-founders of
GreenWatch, and even a past president of the Secular Franciscan Order.
Anti-fluoridation articles have appeared in magazines such as
<i>The Progressive</i> and <i>CovertAction Quarterly</i>,
the latter of which identified fluoridation as a capitalist plot. The
Berkeley-based Environmental News Network
has served as a hub of anti-fluoride activity. The
National Resources Defense Council
is also against it, along with many Sierra Club chapters.
<p>
These groups argue that fluoride is a pollutant, that there is
currently too much of it in various food products, that fluoride is
superfluous in fighting cavities (given that people practice good
hygiene and a adopt a good diet), and that it is an undemocratic
assault on individual preferences. While some have no objection to the
presence of fluoride in toothpaste, others blame fluoridation for
cancer, brittle bones, Alzheimer's disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
and hypothyroidism, with leads to weight gain, high blood pressure,
and heart disease. Supporters of fluoridation include the
American Dental Association, the Centers for Disease Control,
and the office of Surgeon General.
They argue that adding fluoride to drinking water is safe in small
amounts, and yields substantial benefits in dental health.
<p>
Efforts to discontinue or prevent fluoridation have been successful in
both Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, California; Ithaca, New York;
Worcester, Massachusetts; and much of the Pacific Northwest. An
anti-fluoridation referendum is to be voted on in Palo Alto, California.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('National Review, 6/30/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-49070433734990616332003-06-26T01:35:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:36:05.044-05:00Joel Brinkely of the <i>New York Times</i>
reports on the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of a
Texas state anti-sodomy law, June 26, 2003:
<blockquote>
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the dissent and took the unusual step of
reading it aloud from the bench this morning, saying "the court has
largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," while adding
that he personally has "nothing against homosexuals."
</blockquote>
Here are the words Scalia actually used:
<blockquote>
Let me be clear that I have nothing against homosexuals, or any
other group, promoting their agenda through normal democratic means.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('New York Times, 6/26/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-78497463504605610432003-06-25T01:37:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:38:21.329-05:00Despite the city's enormous deficit, New York's city council allocated
$75,000 to organize city residents in support of rent control, $27,900
of which was used to bus supporters to a rally in Albany.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('"Brickbats," Reason.com, 6/25/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-29379752665766067242003-06-24T01:32:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:32:48.739-05:00<i>New York Newsday</i>, June 24, 2003:
<blockquote>
Snoop Dogg isn't wild about "Girls Gone Wild" anymore.
<p>
The rapper, who appeared as the host on one of the raunchy strip
videos, told The Associated Press
he's done with the series because it doesn't feature women of color.
<p>
"If you notice, there hasn't been no girls of [ethnicity] at all on
none of those tapes," Snoop Dogg complained during a recent interview.
"No black girls, no Spanish girls—all white girls, and that [stuff]
ain't cool, because white girls ain't the only ho's that get wild."
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('New York Newsday, 6/24/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-82557117436268183332003-06-24T01:31:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:31:59.459-05:00Along with an accomplice, Deshon Rene Odom was arrested outside a
California bank they had just robbed carrying a loaded revolver. The
U.S. Ninth Court of Appeals reversed Odom's armed robbery conviction
because he "never intentionally displayed the gun." In his ruling,
Judge Richard R. Clifton inquires: "Can a bank robber with a
concealed gun who never mentions or insinuates having one, but who
displays it inadvertently, be convicted of armed bank robbery? We
believe the answer is no."
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Michael P. Tremoglie in FrontPageMagazine.com, 6/24/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-26770948577133962692003-06-23T01:39:00.001-04:002008-12-06T20:17:24.415-05:00Former Vermont governor and current presidential candidate Howard Dean, speaks with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" about his position on the death penalty, June 22, 2003:
<blockquote>
I think there may be one instance where just possibly it could be [a
deterrent] and that's the shooting of a police officer. If you're
about to pull a trigger on a guy who's in uniform and you know that
you're going to get the death penalty and if you don't pull the
trigger something different will happen, maybe that might save the
police officer's life.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Best of the Web Today, opinionjournal.com, 6/23/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-85739990318893970082003-06-22T01:37:00.002-04:002008-11-17T07:26:25.478-05:00After Florida's Manatee County school district added "sexual
preference" to the list of the school's forbidden discrimination
targets, gay groups complained that using the word "preference"
implies a choice or a potentially curable disorder.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Bradenton (Florida) Herald, 6/22/03;\nvia tonguetied.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-1530663127228134822003-06-19T01:38:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:38:51.255-05:00Two years after the "CBS Evening News" reported on how Eva
Baer-Schenkein couldn't afford to buy drugs for her osteoporosis
due to shortcomings of the Medicare program, ABC's
"World News Tonight" used the same woman in much the same story,
this time suffering from "hypertension and other health problems."
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Media Research Center, Cyber Alert, 6/19/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-17569594053857009992003-06-18T01:26:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:28:30.205-05:00Jim Fitzgerald of the Associated Press
reports on the 50th anniversary of the execution of Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, June 18,
2003:
<blockquote>
[T]he 50th anniversary has spiked interest. On Thursday night [Pete]
Seeger, Susan Sarandon, Harry Belafonte and other show business
activists... will appear at a benefit for the Rosenberg Fund for Children.
[The Rosenberg's son Robert] Meeropol runs the fund, which assists the
children of people imprisoned, harassed, attacked or fired for taking
a public stand.
<p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumeu0TsJ_4tg5NzvhxRvFL6dcjO6dikVn4BxGXIqKEJenXtnR39CWzYvd1ea_hrrTdnNlYkoMvGzCFmlNrqYHvCb8BHOumuHMj33BIq2wJLBfo52-BCBQZ8vSTJmrsWaSrTr2/s1600-h/C-wire05.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumeu0TsJ_4tg5NzvhxRvFL6dcjO6dikVn4BxGXIqKEJenXtnR39CWzYvd1ea_hrrTdnNlYkoMvGzCFmlNrqYHvCb8BHOumuHMj33BIq2wJLBfo52-BCBQZ8vSTJmrsWaSrTr2/s320/C-wire05.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265427320196638082" /></a>
Meeropol calls the foundation his "constructive revenge."
<p>
His memoir, "An Execution in the Family" is being published on the
anniversary. In it, he recounts his admittedly vague memories of
Rosenberg family life; his and his brother's adoption by Abel and Anne
Meeropol; his own studies of his parents' case, which opened him to
the possibility they may have been spies; and his difficulty in
understanding why parents of small children would engage in such risk.
<p>
But Meeropol is also suspicious that recently released evidence may be
government "disinformation."
<p>
"What a horror story it would be for me to accept it and then later
find out that I've spread their propaganda for them," he said. "I
couldn't live with myself."
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('AP, 6/18/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-10337925942945773782003-06-17T22:51:00.000-04:002008-11-10T22:52:57.692-05:00The <i>Chicago Tribune</i> reports on the difficulties faced by one of
the death row inmates, a double murderer, whose sentence was commuted
by Governor George Ryan, June 17, 2003:
<blockquote>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOyKixVkVt89QhMKcWGdPsAiB-dD86uHiq9sBHgjuQicW3fX4BEziH9Rjwk71RMfFgikYLXLNaZ_FCltLzN1inY_IMRwHjnC6XkWcfnXhaFBEgZgNmhcGqDxYTNbXrT_1s0k8/s1600-h/C-flyer02.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 115px; height: 88px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOyKixVkVt89QhMKcWGdPsAiB-dD86uHiq9sBHgjuQicW3fX4BEziH9Rjwk71RMfFgikYLXLNaZ_FCltLzN1inY_IMRwHjnC6XkWcfnXhaFBEgZgNmhcGqDxYTNbXrT_1s0k8/s320/C-flyer02.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267242806226456098" /></a>
Now, [Andre] Jones and the other inmates face the new reality of life
in the general prison population.
<p>
It is a far different world from a condemned unit and the certainty of
a date with execution: a place where increased freedom of movement
brings greater danger; where the camaraderie among the condemned is
shattered; where creature comforts such as almost-daily showers and
easy access to telephones are gone.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('via opinionjournal.com, Best of the Web Today, 6/17/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-41133823740816038992003-06-17T01:44:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:44:25.960-05:00In the midst of a series of lengthy strikes protesting a French
pension reform plan, Marseille city cleaners dealt with the stench
from piles of sun-baked garbage by applying lemon grass perfume.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Reuters, 6/17/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-11876329219548804812003-06-13T23:21:00.000-04:002008-10-26T23:22:02.956-04:00The <i>Sacramento Bee</i>
reports that, in the midst of a multibillion-dollar deficit, the
California legislature wrangled over the wording of a resolution
honoring Father's Day. Some legislators pushed for language so
expansive as to specify "single fathers, foster fathers, adoptive
fathers, biological fathers, stepfathers, families headed by two
fathers, grandfathers raising grandchildren, fathers in blended
households, and other non-traditional fathers."
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Sacramento Bee, 6/13/03;\nvia tonguetied.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-48693938771117676662003-06-12T22:53:00.000-04:002008-11-10T22:54:01.214-05:00A group of Louisiana cockfighters have sued to block a federal law
banning interstate commerce in fowls because they say it discriminates
against Cajuns and Hispanics, for whom they say the sport is integral
to their cultures.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Lafayette (Louisiana) Daily Advertiser;\nvia tonguetied.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-50949705272038679582003-06-12T22:51:00.000-04:002008-11-10T22:51:34.209-05:00Two schools in Mill Creek, Washington were locked down after a parent
spotted a 14-year-old boy carrying what turned out to be a prop gun
used in a Civil War presentation. The Associated Press reports: "What
the parent thought was a gun had a barrel made from two broomsticks
painted black with foil at the end and a block of wood covered in
wood-grain paper to resemble the butt." The boy is facing suspension.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('AP, 6/12/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-85761486788544964852003-06-12T01:30:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:31:13.339-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ85X3hhbGeL62S_grcwSBS5EYwLtt8fmQD5czSwUJNryn7aBRoj28QNTgFjrwO_zWYaq2JXuy4xtLLcXYZnEDuva34CbSALbUiQNlRz0V9MuTap-tCFngscyqOcmsXDQUbcWS/s1600-h/C-trapeze05.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 111px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ85X3hhbGeL62S_grcwSBS5EYwLtt8fmQD5czSwUJNryn7aBRoj28QNTgFjrwO_zWYaq2JXuy4xtLLcXYZnEDuva34CbSALbUiQNlRz0V9MuTap-tCFngscyqOcmsXDQUbcWS/s320/C-trapeze05.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265428198571972546" /></a>
Tinamarie Nicolo Dorfner of Moorestown, New Jersey, wrote an op-ed in
the <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>
explaining that during the seven months of her first pregnancy thus
far, she has had to change her obstetricians four times. The first
decided to stop delivering babies due to soaring malpractice insurance
costs. The second had to move his practice to Maine for the same
reason. She couldn't even get an appointment with the third because he
was forced to see so many patients to pay for his malpractice
premiums. The fourth is in a group practice, in which only three of
the six physicians continue to deliver babies because they can't
afford malpractice premiums for all of them.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Ralph Reiland on AmericanEnterprise.org, 6/12/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-36075374758821810382003-06-11T01:42:00.001-04:002008-11-07T13:22:26.734-05:00Fiachra Gibbons reports on the latest artistic forays of Damien Hirst
in the <i>Guardian</i> June 11, 2003:
<p>
<blockquote>
In a series of sculptures inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper,
which will be seen in London this autumn, Hirst will depict Jesus and
the apostles as 13 pingpong balls bobbing on spurting fountains of red
wine. A washing bowl to bathe Christ's feet will sit beneath their
Formica table.
<p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcH4xlzDBxSegDkBFU3qwDN07o8v5Y5pVcWvob1ll-vScC3npjZlgW3RVE2EQy3WUwBa-INj97gqBkSvXzER5Wmr2VhvA9JIaORKmm-I8g-MA97g_tvhV1wVbrGf8K6qoYL4w/s1600-h/C-horse01.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcH4xlzDBxSegDkBFU3qwDN07o8v5Y5pVcWvob1ll-vScC3npjZlgW3RVE2EQy3WUwBa-INj97gqBkSvXzER5Wmr2VhvA9JIaORKmm-I8g-MA97g_tvhV1wVbrGf8K6qoYL4w/s320/C-horse01.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265982694860864098" /></a>
Hirst had wanted the balls to bob on blood but opted for wine, with
all its symbolic echoes of the mass, in which Catholics believe wine
is turned into the blood of Christ.
<p>
If that were not strong enough meat for many Christians, it will sit
alongside a cow with six legs called In His Infinite Wisdom.
<p>
The fourth major piece in his next show at the White Cube gallery in
London in September will be The Death of the Saints and the Ascension
of Jesus, a sequence of "metaphorical" cabinets showing how Christ
and the disciples met their ends. A pickled bull's head will sit in
front of each cabinet.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>[Ed.: This exhibit of seemingly more spiritual material represents
the return of Hirst after a long bout of drunkedness, during which he
admitted to have assembled many of his earlier works. Looking back,
said Hirst, "I was a lunatic... there are things I have done which I
now think, 'What the hell was I thinking?' ... I remember once I
wanted to cover a pig in vibrators like a hedgehog. It was going to be
called Pork-u-pine. Thank God, I didn't do it. But some things like
that do get made."]</i>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Guardian, 6/11/03;\nvia AndrewSullivan.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-22321061810473477462003-06-09T01:42:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:42:28.851-05:00Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late Edition," June 8, 2003:
<blockquote>
A frenzied anticipation about New York Democratic senator and
former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book, "Living History."
That's out in bookstores tomorrow.
<p>
Some details already have been made public. She recounts how she
discovered the truth about her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky,
saying, and I'm quoting now, "I was dumbfounded, heartbroken and
outraged that I had believed him at all. As a wife, I wanted to wring
Bill's neck."
<p>
[I]s this a prelude to a presidential run at 2008?
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('via opinionjournal.com, Best of the Web Today, 6/9/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-8468401876265191342003-06-08T01:41:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:41:37.734-05:00The <i>New York Times</i>, June 8, 2003:
<blockquote>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-LHxd3Q53hLipDxZXwf1eWPmRvPhF2rkDwXXFW_zgWSlRG_wYKSVv-VU2NHSRNaDRZrHcE2KhwOIouH-fsTX8jR3JvtJ9HKDxx_AWUvYKzg0vz53v4_EjFIQOtcMj9UvkIsz/s1600-h/C-flyer05.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 96px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-LHxd3Q53hLipDxZXwf1eWPmRvPhF2rkDwXXFW_zgWSlRG_wYKSVv-VU2NHSRNaDRZrHcE2KhwOIouH-fsTX8jR3JvtJ9HKDxx_AWUvYKzg0vz53v4_EjFIQOtcMj9UvkIsz/s320/C-flyer05.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265430983434439570" /></a>
On a chilly and sodden afternoon last week, Christina Vrachnos braced
herself against the wind on Madison Avenue, and cast her eyes toward
the skies. "Is it global warming?" she wailed. "What is it? What
have we done to deserve this wretched weather?"
<p>
Ms. Vrachnos, who works in the marketing department of a financial
publishing company, had suited up to brave temperatures that had
dipped into the low 50's.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('New York Times, 6/8/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-20466439010458212022003-06-05T01:36:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:36:47.503-05:00After both <i>Time</i> and <i>Newsweek</i>
magazines ran cover photos of Caucasian women in surgical masks to
illustrate the threat of SARS, <i>Time</i>'s editor admitted he did
not use a photo of a Chinese woman in order to avoid stigmatizing
Asians unfairly.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Eric Burns on Foxnews.com, 6/5/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-77392233595946068612003-06-05T01:26:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:26:41.576-05:00<i>The Highlander</i>, student newspaper at the University of
California, Riverside, reports on a meeting of the student senate,
June 5, 2003:
<blockquote>
After some deliberation, and the decision to make it a closed ballot,
the senate voted to allocate $3,025 to Que onda Queers.
<p>
At the meeting, the senate also voted to approve a mural to be placed
in the Commons. There was some concern voiced by the senate about the
contents of the mural.
<p>
"I see some pilgrim invaders here," said Elisa Haro, academic
affairs director. "It kind of reminds me of my colonization, and I
don't like that."
<p>
The artist of the mural said that the pilgrim invaders were meant to
be Shakespearean actors and that he would try to make that more clear.
<p>
Other concerns with the mural included the depiction of white cranes,
which the senate demanded be changed to color cranes.
<p>
They were also concerned with the lack of a same sex couple depicted,
which the artist agreed to add. The senate voted to approve the mural
in light of the adjustments being made.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>[Ed.: At the same meeting, some demanded a safe house and a special
security detachment to protect "women of color" from harassment by
campus police and members of "the Greek community." The amount
demanded exceeded the entire budget available to the student
senate.]</i>
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('UC Riverside Highlander, 6/5/03;\nvia opinionjournal.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-72600554972157491062003-06-03T01:40:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:40:33.100-05:00A New Zealand lesbian who won a gay beauty contest she entered as a
way to shatter stereotypes was booed because she looked too straight.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('New Zealand Herald, 6/23/03;\nvia tonguetied.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-9091757722081725732003-06-03T01:39:00.000-04:002008-11-06T01:39:51.605-05:00After the Interior Department
announced a $317,000 grant to help preserve Boston's historic Old
North Church, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
objected that since the site is still "an active church," the grant
represents a violation of church/state separation.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Terry Eastland in the Dallas Morning News, 6/3/03')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517034.post-57469874554266650082003-05-30T02:08:00.000-04:002008-11-14T02:09:00.096-05:00Two student groups at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
were denied permission to roast a pig on campus because it may offend
vegetarians.
<p>
<a href="javascript:onClick=alert('Berkshire Eagle, 5/30/03;\nvia tonguetied.com')">†</a>sierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.com