tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96714542011-06-08T00:05:39.884-05:00Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1155263528463590892006-08-10T21:28:00.000-05:002006-08-10T21:32:08.476-05:00

Apparently Norwegian fjords are suffering from a Soviet-introduced invasive species. Doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that this is the rather gargantuan king crab we're talking about here.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1152836744796605362006-07-13T19:18:00.000-05:002006-07-13T19:25:44.813-05:00

Courtesy of The Plank, I see that some public-service minded blogger out there has gone to the trouble of remixing Senator Ted Stevens' rather confused comments on that internet thing into a not otherwise notable electronica track. I'm already getting nostalgic for the days of the Singing Senators.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1152576208180723912006-07-10T18:26:00.000-05:002006-07-10T19:03:28.196-05:00

That's what Robert Zubrin, the (IMHO) brilliant former NASA and Martin Marietta engineer, thinks our country needs to become in order to free ourselves from dependence on morally and economically costly middle eastern oil. Zubrin outlines his case for massive legislative support of ethanol/methanol fueled cars in an old issue of The American Enterprise I've been trying to find for a week or

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1151636231015529812006-06-29T20:46:00.000-05:002006-06-29T21:58:13.806-05:00

Tuesday's Times Science section had the good judgement to publish an article about one of my favorite engineering proposals of all time: regulating the Earth's climate by building a giant diverging Fresnel lens at the Earth-Sol system's L1 Lagrange point. By rotating the lens you can control what percent (up to a maximum of maybe .01%, depending on just how big and how divergent this lens is) of

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1151042503759764462006-06-23T00:22:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:19:15.220-05:00

I tend not to post about the corruption in the GOP because 1) I have nothing new to add and 2) Nick can usually give better insights based on his, well, close connections. But I just had to take quick note of this gem.The Abramoff corruption scandal is growing larger and larger, with former White House aide David Safavian found guilty yesterday of obstruction of justice and lying. He's just

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1150991755638670982006-06-22T10:01:00.000-05:002006-06-22T10:55:55.690-05:00

Normally I'd be happy when legislation backed by the president was blocked in Congress. Normally I'd be extra pleased to find out that the delay in voting was due to a disagreement within the GOP representitives, a sign that the DeLay days of ironclad party discipline are over. But normally Bush isn't pushing legislation in agreement with almost unanimous Democratic support.Working at the

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1145651060226648082006-04-21T15:21:00.000-05:002006-04-21T15:24:20.240-05:00

It's been a while since I've had a post devoted to full-throated criticism of the U.N, and unfortunately I don't have the time to write one of those right now, so I think I'll let this Haaretz article on the "election of Iran to U.N. disarmament panel" speak for itself.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1141597288585229312006-03-05T16:21:00.000-05:002006-03-05T17:21:28.663-05:00

For the past few weeks the Washington Monthly has had a fascinating series on that rarest of things - good news from Iraq. You can read Jonathan Dworkin's reporting on his travels through northern Iraq here. As an account of one of the few tasks the U.S. has actually succeeded at in Iraq, the series is quite interesting, but I think Dworkin is leaning toward the wrong conclusions based on his

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1138635606106056832006-01-30T10:23:00.000-05:002006-01-31T12:39:53.253-05:00

Well just when you think the right to lifers can't get any more ridiculous with some of their extremist positions, you read articles like this. Basically, the premise is that doctors, nurses, and pharmacists would have to violate their core moral beliefs in order to do something like allowing a woman to obtain birth control or the morning after pill. This violates their "core" beliefs because of

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1135210415103276952005-12-21T19:00:00.000-05:002005-12-21T19:16:16.363-05:00

Since even the most distinguished apologists for authoritarianism don't bother trying to repair Josef Stalin's reputation, I figured it would be pretty hard to pull off. But recent reports seem to indicate that the USSR's scientist-in-chief "ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes." Just how evil can a guy who reminds us of cherished childhood

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1134722615659763532005-12-16T03:40:00.000-05:002005-12-16T03:43:35.683-05:00

National Review breaks its self-imposed vow of silence on the many ethical and procedural problems of the 109th Congress with, well, a surprisingly good editorial. It's worth a read, as is the bill proposed by Barney Frank which NR approvingly cites.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1133804219384994592005-12-05T11:51:00.000-05:002005-12-05T12:36:59.426-05:00

At least, that's the conclusion I reached after reading two articles, one in the Times, one in the Post, neither of which usually look approvingly on policies of assimilation. The first one has the more serious topic of honor killings and pro-9/11 demonstrations in the impoverished suburbs of Berlin. The second one has the funnier topic of the Red Cross apologizing to various ethnic pressure

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1132252551145578712005-11-17T12:59:00.000-05:002005-11-17T13:35:51.163-05:00

This may be getting a little old hat for him, but John McCain has again laid out the definitive case against legalizing torture. His piece pretty much encapsulates my views (particularly as regards the worthlessness of the ticking time bomb example) on the subject, so I don't have anything terribly insightful to add. It's worth a read, though.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1130471706454237112005-10-27T22:48:00.000-05:002005-10-27T22:55:06.483-05:00

...a sigh of relief.Maybe they finally did the math and figured out that Harriet Miers' cronyism and danger to the republic coefficients were several orders of magnitude higher than her qualifications.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1130096381909211902005-10-23T13:56:00.001-05:002005-10-23T15:53:01.536-05:00

To George Will, for today's incisive column on the Miers nomination. Towards the end of his piece he hits the right notes on the obligations of those Democratic senators wishing to make an issue of Bush administration cronyism in the future.Still, Miers must begin with 22 Democratic votes against her. Surely no Democrat can retain a shred of self-respect if, having voted against John Roberts, he

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1127936991858058402005-09-28T13:52:00.000-05:002005-10-18T11:21:48.810-05:00

Longtime readers of this blog may remember that redistricting reform is a bit of a pet issue for me, so hopefully it won't come as too much of a surprise that I think Matthew Yglesias's contrarian approach to the subject is rather incorrect. Yglesias states thatAs a general matter, gerrymandering is less important to the declining competitiveness of congressional elections than is generally

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1127339494046670752005-09-21T16:28:00.000-05:002005-09-21T19:28:01.416-05:00

He's everywhere. Just last week I saw his iconic picture a half dozen times just walking around class, and everytime I see him, I can't help but cringe. I'm talking about Che Guevara and the ubiquitious woodprint like image plastered on t-shirts and all things capitalistic everywhere. I can't help but wonder if these fellow college students really comprehend the shirt they have chosen to wear.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1127092394213889552005-09-18T20:01:00.000-05:002005-09-18T20:13:14.223-05:00

This chart, I think, settles pretty decisively the question of whether the UN is systematically biased against Israel. The UN Human Rights Commission has taken more than twice as many actions against Israel as it has against the literally genocidal governments of the Congo and Sudan, over four times as many actions against Israel as against China and Iran, and perhaps most amazingly over ten

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1126800020764652622005-09-15T10:49:00.000-05:002005-09-15T11:00:20.810-05:00

Why exactly are so many of the largest blogs conservative? The Ecosystem shows that in the top 10, you have Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Captain's Quarters, Power Line, Little Green Footballs, The Drudge Report. Why don't other major liberal blogs (with the exception of Daily Kos) manage to have the same output? I just find it a little strange. Conservative radio dominance is one thing,

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1126118533331970462005-09-07T13:25:00.000-05:002005-09-10T10:19:01.900-05:00

Jonah Goldberg, usually quite a candid writer, seems to have donned his disingenuous cap for this Corner post:I could swear Hillary had some sort of gaffe -- defined as accidentally telling the truth -- in which she told an audience that she didn't trust the people to behave responsibly or to spend their money the right way or something like that. I remember we talked about it in the Corner at

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1125082535365308262005-08-26T13:33:00.000-05:002005-08-26T13:57:43.053-05:00

It seems that both Weekly Standard writer Hugh Hewitt and the influential conservative blog Powerline have taken notice of the fact that Ellsworth Air Force base in South Dakota has been spared from the current round of Pentagon base-closings. As Paul Mirengoff of Powerline puts it, John Thune's crusade to save South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force base has succeeded . The base closing commission

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1124665465965041282005-08-21T18:04:00.000-05:002005-08-27T23:33:29.810-05:00

I'd like to follow up Jesse's post with a few interesting links regarding Intelligent Design.First off, you have to check out the hubbub over at boingboing regarding pastafarianism.Pastafarianism The point of this satire is not to debunk any kind of theism, but rather to posit that theism belongs in a realm outside of public education and rigorous, logical thought. I think that's a reasonable

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1124586441952164542005-08-20T19:25:00.000-05:002005-08-20T20:14:25.766-05:00

With the current Intelligent Design push in our country (mostly in the south/midwest) various politicians have come out in favor of teaching a baseless theory to our youth. The most recent one is Bill Frist, of whom we were so proud for supporting Stem Cell research. Personally, if I didn't find the whole idea laughable, I'd be more offended at the way the Christian right is attacking science.

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1124008554103641332005-08-14T03:04:00.000-05:002005-08-14T03:35:55.536-05:00

Since Renaissance Men seems to be back up and running, I might as well jump on the bandwagon and start posting again.Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum recently posted quotes from two different Bush Administration Officials, one from 2002 and one from 2005. The first I recognized from an excellent Ron Suskind article in the NYTimes Magazine discussing Bush's reliance on faith to guide his decisions.

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1123770471209106852005-08-11T09:06:00.000-05:002005-08-11T09:28:52.390-05:00

Courtesy of Dan Drezner, it seems that Dr. James Dobson has deigned to make his "definitive explanation...regarding the origins of homosexuality" available to all, presumably as some sort of public health measure. Seriously though, this is really funny.Mark is in desperate need of professional help, but he is unlikely to get it. His parents apparently don't know about his travail, and the pastor

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1123598141199290032005-08-09T09:00:00.000-05:002005-08-09T09:56:17.036-05:00

Robert P. George, Princeton professor and member of the President's Council on Bioethics has resolved the thorniest political issue of the past thirty years. It turns out that the only three logically consistent positions on abortion are 1. a willfully ignorant inability to acknowledge the moral differences between humans and jellyfish; 2. the dogmatic pro-life position shared by most of his

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1123526831874454162005-08-08T13:15:00.000-05:002005-08-09T08:58:56.013-05:00

Yesterday, the WaPo revealed to the world that terrorists use the internet to communicate. So, a large, geographically dispersed group of people use the internet to communicate. I'm not quite sure if this should qualify as front page news. I mean, is "Terrorists using pens and paper to record their evil plans" news? Hardly. Unfortunately, a great deal of people are confused by modern technology,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1123097339545809882005-08-03T13:46:00.000-05:002005-08-03T19:16:33.170-05:00

This NYT article talks about how news organizations are just now starting to think about the fact that they aren't keeping sources secret whenever they are at the computer. I'm appalled at the total lack of concern the journalism community has for the technology they are essentially abusing. They are completely ignoring the vast array of tools at their disposal that would help them enourmously in

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1123053218448488782005-08-03T00:32:00.000-05:002005-08-03T02:13:38.456-05:00

Charles Krauthammer recently wrote an op-ed ["Give Grandma a Pass; Politically Correct Screening Won't Catch Jihadists"] in the post supporting racial profiling for the purpose of weeding out terrorists. Krauthammer makes the case that too much time is wasted on patting down 83 year old grandmothers, and that we should just focus on who we all know to be the real potential terrorists.Assuaging

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1122561453418552642005-07-28T09:34:00.000-05:002005-07-28T09:39:49.216-05:00

And perhaps a sign that Japan's problems may go deeper than cronyism in the banking industry.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1122490603254320562005-07-27T13:41:00.000-05:002005-07-27T13:56:43.260-05:00

Via the AP, the Guardian reported yesterday that new anti-torture amendments introduced in committee by Senators McCain and Graham to a large defense spending bill have attracted a surprising amount of Republican support. The whole article's worth reading, but here's a relevant excerpt:One of McCain's amendments would make interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual - and any

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1122389614096237592005-07-26T09:26:00.000-05:002005-07-26T09:53:34.103-05:00

Looks like that energy bill is about to make it through Congress:WASHINGTON, Tuesday, July 26 - House and Senate negotiators came to agreement on broad energy legislation early today, hoping they have put together an overhaul of national energy policy that can clear Congress after years of stalemate."We hope to have the bill on the House floor on Wednesday and I think the Senate is going to put

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1122164792074619562005-07-23T18:33:00.000-05:002005-07-23T19:26:32.080-05:00

Surprise! The major focal point of the upcoming confirmation process about John Roberts might not be about abortion? I really couldn't believe this article when I read it the other day--not because I disagree with the content, but rather the attitude that it should be assumed that abortion will be the #1 issue for the nomination process. It gets people agitated enough to start sending money to

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1121919578778320392005-07-20T22:20:00.000-05:002005-07-20T23:25:22.333-05:00

Sandra Day O'Connor's letter to the President annoucing her retirement seemed to portend an epic conflict in the Senate. Many anxiously awaited President Bush's nomination, with names ranging from Alberto Gonzales to Roy Moore (the "Ten Commandments" Judge) being tossed about the political landscape. E.J. Dionne Jr. wrote in the Washington Post on July 9th a column titled "Let's Have This Fight,"

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1113851804549289032005-04-18T13:53:00.000-05:002005-04-18T14:16:44.550-05:00

If this story is true, we could be seeing a revolution in our knowledge of classical literature and civilization within a couple of years.Now, in a breakthrough described as the classical equivalent of finding the holy grail, Oxford University scientists have employed infra-red technology to open up the hoard, known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and with it the prospect that hundreds of lost Greek

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1113634308739970032005-04-16T00:54:00.000-05:002005-04-16T01:53:33.586-05:00

The list of unbelievable quotes continues. With Tom DeLay being attacked from both sides, he has given us a number of amusing and appalling quotes, not least of which was his comment against the judiciary (Taken from The Washington Post): DeLay created a furor last month by saying that "the time will come" for federal judges who refused to restore the brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding tube "

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1113346496550813972005-04-12T16:30:00.000-05:002005-04-13T02:02:18.016-05:00

So despite Chris' public service announcement, I was hit by a corrupted registry file... and lost use of my laptop for a while. My files are all gone except for the few I was able to rescue. Fortunately, I was able to get it running again, and the worst news is that my post is a couple days late.In an April 5th op-ed piece which is, alas, now in archive, Paul Krugman examined the liberal

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1112726405554722292005-04-05T13:35:00.001-05:002005-04-05T14:39:36.773-05:00

As a supporter of a gasoline tax, I grimace but pay willingly every time I fill my tank. Unfortunately, what is good for the country (less dependence on middle-eastern theocracies) or the world (lower emissions) is not always good for politics. With looming environmental problems not getting any better and oil prices at a new high, what was President Bush's solution? Drill for oil in Alaska. In a

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1112709644631162872005-04-05T08:59:00.000-05:002005-04-05T11:12:07.996-05:00

From Bill O'Reilly, March 13, 2003:"Summing up, Jacques Chirac is our enemy, and the pope, well, I don't know what to think."-------------------------------------------Chris will now hijack Nick's post and add some brief blogging to it (no time for a real post with two exams, a paper, a project, and of course, a story to promote on campus.) I've been so disconnected from the world in the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111905420471456502005-03-27T01:22:00.000-05:002005-03-27T02:28:40.956-05:00

Extra extra, hear all about it! The following is an article that The Diamondback, ostensibly a voice for the student body at Maryland, has refused to publish. Initially, they expressed great interest in publishing my story, and at least one high level editor remarked that it was going to be one of the "hottest" stories of the semester. However, due to the entrenched bureaucracy at the paper, the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111871656924932702005-03-26T14:46:00.000-05:002005-03-26T16:14:16.930-05:00

Although the Schiavo case has already led to a figurative war between the two ever-separating cultures in America, there's a growing chance of a non-figurative war, which is getting almost no news coverage. The possibly of armed conflict in Taiwan has been mostly overlooked, probably because there haven't been any significant events. Well, the million-strong Taiwanese protest of new Chinese

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111532146746741382005-03-25T01:06:00.000-05:002005-03-25T17:05:45.306-05:00

Nick and I attended Tuesday's Brookings discussion on "The Impact of the New Media" moderated by E.J. Dionne Jr. of WaPo and Brookings with panelists Jodie Allen of the Pew Research Center, Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette, Jack Shafer of Slate, and Andrew Sullivan of The New Republic, Time, and of course his own blog.In keeping with the spirit of the topic of discussion, the event was "live-blogged" by

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111728418046894972005-03-25T00:16:00.000-05:002005-03-25T00:26:58.046-05:00

This is not your normal post of sorts, but it's a worthwhile update nonetheless. I awoke yesterday morning to a hard drive failure on my computer. While I do have two hard drives, they were set up in a RAID 0 striped array which allows for much higher performance. However, since the data is striped across both disks, if one goes, the whole array goes down with it. I've since spent countless hours

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111686573787562562005-03-24T12:20:00.000-05:002005-03-25T00:14:39.976-05:00

As a child, I grew up reading One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, and other Dr. Seuss books. Not only did his zany creativity and the colorful illustrations make reading his books quietly a pleasure, it was always as much fun to say the words aloud as it was to read them. I still remember reading about Sneetches, Ooblecks, the Lorax, or the Yuzz-a-ma-Tuzz. Dr. Seuss' ability

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111647966567973582005-03-24T01:31:00.000-05:002005-03-24T11:33:53.270-05:00

In a new article in Time magazine, we get a glimpse into Tom DeLay's head. Hoping to tap into the public outcry (among the religious portion of America, at least) at the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube, he asked people to help support him amid the current ethical accusations directed at him. "It is more than just Terri Schiavo. This is a critical issue for people in this position, and it

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111460534154065692005-03-21T20:58:00.000-05:002005-03-21T22:07:32.966-05:00

A regular dilemma for unilateral separation supporters like myself is the possibility that Israel's construction of the fence is generating more terrorism than it needs to. The necessity of a barrier similar in scope to Israel's current one has, I think, been empirically demonstrated by the collapse of the second intifada since its high point prior to construction of the fence; and also by the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111369556204551732005-03-20T19:11:00.000-05:002005-03-20T20:57:01.746-05:00

Given the media coverage and the extreme actions currently being undertaken by the legislature, one would think that the death of Terry Schiavo seriously threatens our Republic to such an extent as to create a precedent that destroys the principle of separation of powers:QUESTION: What does that concept do the regular give and take between the court systems, the idea of comity and cooperation

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111180604831996962005-03-18T15:18:00.000-05:002005-03-18T16:33:18.113-05:00

In the same vein as my last post, I'm overcome with sad smugness. Not only has Hillary made a push to find middle ground on the abortion issue, but she discovered that there IS no middle ground to be found.The measure offered by Sen. Hillary Clinton and Minority Leader Harry Reid entitled Prevention First would try to do just that: prevent unwanted pregnancies by funding family planning

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111171474330140082005-03-18T12:57:00.000-05:002005-03-18T13:48:01.443-05:00

Well, a little while back, I expressed the sentiment that compromise was necessary, and that it would have to be found on economic issues. My reasoning was that since the country was so divided on social issues (abortion, gay marriages, place of religion in government) but both sides seemed to have common ground on the economic debate. Thus it was with a certain sense of satisfaction when Matt

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1111019385250783312005-03-16T19:00:00.000-05:002005-03-16T19:29:45.550-05:00

Usually Nick would be the one touting science news, but since he's busy with exams and papers, I figured I might as well.A recent University of Illinois experiement (reported in the New York Times) has made a startling (to me, at least) discovery on the topic of fusion. The scientists took a jar of sulfuric acid and passed sound waves of over 18,000 cycles/second through it. The vibrations

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1110934341299000502005-03-15T18:50:00.000-05:002005-03-15T21:21:09.493-05:00

Last I heard, every piece of scientific evidence points to the evolutionary process. From carbon dating to archeology digs to biology studies in the Galapagos, our findings all make a literal interpretation of the bible difficult. But even with the Scopes Trial 80 years behind us, there's a new push to teach creationism in schools. I'm all choked up, but I can't tell if I want to laugh or cry."

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1110831599886710642005-03-14T15:07:00.000-05:002005-03-14T15:19:59.890-05:00

At least according to some early reports, it appears that today's anti-Syrian protests in Beirut easily surpassed in size Hezbollah's recent pro-Syrian protest (which consisted itself of perhaps 500,000 protestors), and may have included up to 1.3 million Lebanese. One fact that I think a lot of people have overlooked amid the increasingly regular, hundreds-of-thousands strong demonstrations of

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1110766604686470632005-03-13T19:26:00.000-05:002005-03-13T21:32:52.740-05:00

While perusing Matt Yglesias's blog, I couldn't help but notice that one of his titles looked startling familiar... I can't imagine that Matt reads the Renaissance Men, so we can only assume he's aware of Bismarck's famous quote. However, even without the title grabbing my attention, the content of his entry sparked my interest."The real world, obviously, involves political constraints on what's

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1110695845065940912005-03-12T23:56:00.000-05:002005-03-13T19:26:27.626-05:00

If you have enough political consciousness to read this, you're aware that we're in a deeply divided country. Heck, you're aware of the divide if you have any consciousness at all. However, there's also a divide in the Democratic National Party, the outcome of which will affect the course of our nation's politics.I speak, of course, of the Frequently Asked Question: "How can democrats win next

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1110409461705746022005-03-09T17:43:00.000-05:002005-03-09T19:11:25.696-05:00

Well, the Russian government finally has something to celebrate with regards to its occupation of Chechnya:Russian special forces killed the leader of Chechnya's separatists, Aslan Maskhadov, on Tuesday in a raid that gave the Kremlin a rare victory in a bloody war that has killed tens of thousands and spawned a wave of terrorist attacks across Russia in recent years.The real question here,

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109802919314202942005-03-03T22:41:00.000-05:002005-03-07T10:35:04.593-05:00

Some say 2003 was the "year of the blog," but I would counter that blogs have gained a great deal of important notoriety as of late. Renaissance Men started in late 2004, for example. Case in point.But seriously, from Dan Rather to Eason Jordan or Jeff Gannon, blogs have rapidly tackled issues that some wonder whether or not the Old Media would have ever caught. Of course, in all of the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109799442126172132005-03-02T15:37:00.000-05:002005-03-02T22:09:06.663-05:00

Up until the 2004 election, the only context in which I'd heard the word 'mandate' used was Might and Magic 6: Mandate of Heaven. Immediately after he won the election, Bush claimed that by reelecting him, the people had reaffirmed his policies, most notably on Iraq. I think Roger Simon sums up my view the best, making some good points and pointing to a National Annenberg Election Survey pointing

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109720568926105452005-03-01T18:29:00.000-05:002005-03-01T18:42:48.930-05:00

The Supreme Court ruled today in a 5-4 decision that the execution of killers under 18 is unconstitutional, citing the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This ends the practice in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Texas and

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109527635750210122005-02-27T12:52:00.000-05:002005-02-27T13:09:01.950-05:00

Following on the heels of Saudi Arabia's first election since 1963, the Kingdom's Prince Faisal has publicly stated that the next round of balloting there will be open to both genders:Even the commissioner of elections has said that he is going to propose that they vote. So I am assuming that they will vote in the next election, and that is going to be good for the election, because I think women

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109200478165518452005-02-23T17:42:00.000-05:002005-02-23T18:19:38.400-05:00

Well, Howard Dean came up to Ithaca today to talk about his agenda as newly-elected DNC chair. This is the second occasion on which I've heard him speak, and both times I've been struck by how much more comfortable he seems when fielding questions from (and more often than not actively arguing with) an audience member, than when he's delivering some variant on a stump speech.On more substantive

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109189397135109962005-02-23T14:37:00.000-05:002005-02-23T15:12:44.446-05:00

Although I'm usually not a huge fan of UNC's newspaper, the Daily Tarheel, I have to give them credit for bringing this story to my attention. "[North Carolina]'s General Assembly should replicate Maryland legislation that would raise registration fees for super-sized sport utility vehicles."To be honest, the legislation was news to me. The AP reported the story a week ago. Apparently Maryland

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109142197403858762005-02-23T00:36:00.000-05:002005-02-23T03:21:30.530-05:00

The Dynamic Duo has struck again, brining justice and reason to an otherwise troubled world!... But seriously, when Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman work together, I listen to what they have to say. If I don't have the time to listen/read the details of their joint work, it's usually a good guess that I'd agree. In the past, they've tried to introduce a gun-control bill (decried by the NRA

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109110507471292282005-02-22T16:47:00.000-05:002005-02-23T02:28:25.660-05:00

Last week, news broke that ChoicePoint had been conned into giving up thousands of California citizens' personal financial records including their Social Security numbers along with detailed Credit Reports and other information to ID theft artists in a hugely elaborate scheme defrauding a very large number of people. However, it looks like this outbreak was not solely contained to California. In

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1109055321020545002005-02-22T01:14:00.000-05:002005-02-22T02:11:45.273-05:00

Every time I hear news about Russia these days, I think back to that Simpson's episode where the Russian ambassador pushes a button and in effect reveals that Russia has reverted back to communism. Perhaps I'm being too negative, but I'm half expecting that button to be pushed any day now. Al Jazeera picked up an AP story about the Russian Defence Ministry's lauching of Zvezda (Star), a new

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1108836284640931542005-02-19T12:14:00.000-05:002005-02-19T13:10:00.756-05:00

Our friend Marty has issued a damning assestment of the current state of liberalism. How damning? His phrases include "bookless," "uninspired," and "patronizing." Liberalism has entered a dark time, one that Peretz likens to conservatism during the 60s. He touches on many issues, ranging from China's growing power to Affirmative Action. His last paragraph, however, makes a very biting statement

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1108681495147901532005-02-17T17:52:00.000-05:002005-02-17T18:05:30.066-05:00

...or possibly just asexual anaerobic bacteria. At least, that's what two NASA scientists seem to think. The evidence? A correlation between water vapor and methane density in the martian atmosphere, indicating perhaps that both come from a commmon souce - underground Martian aquifers. And on Earth, at least, the main emitter of methane is primitive bacteria. In all likelihood, direct

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1108585706142866892005-02-16T15:12:00.000-05:002005-02-16T15:52:05.343-05:00

In a (subscriber only) article in TNR on Valentine's Day, Gregg Easterbrook takes the media to task for ignoring the Bush Administration's efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Easterbrook writes that a search of "Nexis by New Republic super-intern T.A. Frank, no American newspaper put Bush's methane regulation initiative on the front page when the agreement was announced; most said nothing

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1108534555850110742005-02-16T00:28:00.000-05:002005-02-16T02:32:50.136-05:00

In an attempt to bring our blog out of what we've begun affectionately calling "The Stone Age," I set aside some time, got a subscription to Atlantic Monthly, and started writing. (Sleep? who needs sleep?)While individual events are more immediate, the overall tactics of politics is always interesting. Immediately after November 2nd, political commentators began examining and questioning the

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1108239288354607362005-02-12T14:40:00.000-05:002005-02-12T16:16:27.576-05:00

This past week voters in Saudi Arabia cast their first ballots since 1963, in a story overshadowed by the afterglow of the Iraqi elections. A victory for the Bush doctrine? Not quite...RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 10 -- Saudi Arabia began its tentative experiment in democracy Thursday as thousands of men filed into schools, government offices and streetside tents to cast what for many were the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1107726235999548702005-02-06T14:28:00.000-05:002005-02-06T16:44:26.743-05:00

I haven't been very complimentary to the Bush administration as of late but they certainly do deserve some credit for this. The money saved by reducing these subsidies is substantial - $500 million a year - if not large enough to affect the deficit, but more importantly this measure is targeted at large, generally corporate farms. Despite the claims of farm subsidy advocates, it is the largest

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1107383092908336062005-02-02T17:00:00.000-05:002005-02-02T19:01:03.626-05:00

Well, I just finished reading our president's new favorite book (Natan Sharansky's "The Case for Democracy," for those who missed the many Times/Post articles describing Bush's endorsement of it). A couple of things come to mind. Based purely on what I'd heard of it from the Times and the inside cover, I was expecting an almost absolutist defense of democracy - a book pretty much in direct

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1107295588227759312005-02-01T16:28:00.000-05:002005-02-01T17:17:06.160-05:00

First off, I need to apologize for the recent lack of posting on my part, but things have been a bit busier now that school is back in session. However, I can guarantee that we have not yet gone the way of Andrew Sullivan. Of course, some people might want us to stop blogging as they believe we are in fact worse than convicts (yep, that's right, convicts come after Renaissance Men.) Humorous

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1107232516044333582005-01-31T23:03:00.000-05:002005-01-31T23:47:33.903-05:00

Stories like this one always bring to mind the oft-repeated saying, "the children are our future." However, I never quite imagined it to be Orwell's future. In the largest study of its kind, the University of Connecticut surveyed "100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators at 544 public and private high schools" on their attitudes towards the First Amendment. "When

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106946586751619742005-01-28T23:41:00.000-05:002005-01-29T01:51:47.170-05:00

It seems that the editors of the National Review have concluded that for any sort of legitimacy to come out of their still-being-disputed gubernatorial election, the residents of Washington State are going to have to take away the win from Democratic candidate Christine Gregoire (who after several rounds of recounting has a lead of about 120), and hold a statewide revote. As NRO puts it, Dino

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106701380510294672005-01-25T19:46:00.000-05:002005-01-25T20:27:11.443-05:00

For two days in a row now, the New York Times has run front page stories hopeful about the outcome of the Iraqi elections. The first, on the secular leanings of the main Shiite political parties, sounds pretty promising. The fact that the leader of the prominent Islamic Dawa party is unreservedly stating "there will be no turbans in the government" is cause enough for some optimism. The

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106507158202008582005-01-23T13:48:00.002-05:002005-01-23T14:13:18.290-05:00

Now, normally I'm all for the Army's research into non-lethal weapons. For example, I think the microwave guns we may be deploying to Iraq in the near future are a very promising (and morally acceptable) way to deal with insurgencies that use civilian populations as their cover. However, I can't help but feel that we made the right decision in nixing our research into "an aphrodisiac to spur

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106374204831782762005-01-22T01:03:00.000-05:002005-02-02T20:02:37.356-05:00

Well, our recent trip to Brookings was the first time we did some kind of actual physical reporting on an event. Perhaps this will become somewhat of a regularity as Chris and I (along with Josh, an active reader/commenter) went last Tuesday to go see The Atlantic's "Real State of the Union" at Georgetown University. The night was pretty eventful, but I'll skip the Scientological temples and S+M

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106191945393318562005-01-19T22:25:00.000-05:002005-01-19T23:05:44.870-05:00

We are now 11 days away from the Iraqi Elections. After the Inauguration, I expect the elections to become the news item for the next two weeks or so. One of the best sources of information for Iraq related news is the New Republic Blog "Iraq'd" by Spencer Ackerman. Today we learn that the Kurds are essentially guaranteed control of Kirkuk, the "Jerusalem of the Kurds." While this may stop the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106188115929302762005-01-19T20:22:00.000-05:002005-01-19T21:34:35.800-05:00

In a Nation article last week, Stephen Cohen argued that the Cold War's "manichean, double-standard thinking" is making a return in the American foreign policy establishment, manifesting itself specifically in American consternation over the first round of voting (the fraudulent one) in Ukraine. There are more specifics in this piece than I want to get into, but I'll quote one line that I think

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1106086241148682342005-01-18T17:02:00.000-05:002005-01-19T01:11:34.063-05:00

What if there were a way that we could safely and effectively reduce unwanted pregnancies and therefore reduce abortions as well? Well, there is a way, but access to it right now is prescription only as a result of some unfounded arguments by opponents of the drug. Although the FDA initially rejected the application to make Plan B an over the counter drug, Barr pharmaceuticals is trying again.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105998422038268022005-01-17T16:43:00.000-05:002005-01-18T10:19:45.793-05:00

I've just completed a preliminary redesign. Don't be surprised if you see more template changes as the group may decide to change to a different template in the near future. In any case, I felt that the old black background was difficult to read and hard on the eyes. I hope you all like the new template. You'll also find that we've started linking to some useful News/Commentary sites as well as

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105920005887114322005-01-16T18:33:00.000-05:002005-01-16T19:21:20.553-05:00

Thursday of last week brought an excellent column by Peter Beinart, editor of The New Republic. Addressing the topic of redistricting reform, Beinart inadvertantly reveals he's been cribbing ideas from everyone's favorite new blog. Seriously though, it's a good article, and I'm glad to see this proposal getting some more media attention. Like me, Beinart's hopeful about this: "And the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105861579837809322005-01-16T01:55:00.000-05:002005-01-16T03:55:09.166-05:00

Music listeners around the entire Washington D.C. metropolitan area, and in fact the nation, were shocked to find out that the legendary WHFS changed its tune from rock to Spanish pop music. The station, owned by Infinity broadcasting (one of the very few large corporate holders of FM radio stations and a subdivision of Viacom) abrubtly changed format due to an ever diminishing audience and a

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105685094896578362005-01-14T01:32:00.000-05:002005-01-14T01:49:55.966-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up uncharacteristically early to attend the Brookings Institution's symposium on reforming Social Security with Kyle. As the name suggests, the event was organized around the presentation of different proposals for dealing with Social Security's coming fiscal woes. The panel of speakers consisted of Jeff Brown, a professor of finance at Urbana-Champaign and advocate of

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105578597541945672005-01-12T18:21:00.000-05:002005-01-13T00:36:15.213-05:00

I really don't believe that it does, and I've yet to be persuaded otherwise. Anne Applebaum's Op-ed today in the Washington Post (or WaPo, as the blogosphere has come to call it) weighs in: "The question has been asked many times since Sept. 11, 2001....I've heard it said that the Syrians and the Egyptians 'really know how to get these things done.' I've heard the Israelis mentioned, without

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105551010666833422005-01-12T11:18:00.000-05:002005-01-12T12:38:23.000-05:00

Orrin Hatch, former Senate Judiciary committee chair, has a lengthy editorial in the National Review today arguing for a parliamentary rules change to end our current "political and constitutional crisis that undermines democracy, the judiciary, the Senate, and the Constitution." He is referring here to the Senate Democrats' tactic of filibustering those judicial nominees they most object to.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105426456899440512005-01-11T01:22:00.001-05:002005-01-11T02:35:22.763-05:00

Since apparently people are intimidated by the thought of signing in to comment (or don't care) we four are the only ones commenting. So I thought I'd make this an official post, even though it's in relation to Nick's Post a few days ago relating to whether the United States is giving enough humanitarian aid in light of the recent Tsunami. Nick is quite right in saying that when you look at our

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105421109735674812005-01-10T22:18:00.000-05:002005-01-12T18:13:10.963-05:00

Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has been declared the victor in the recent Palestinian elections, reportedly garnering 62.3% of the vote. Although a margin of victory like that would spell a mandate for any U.S. president-elect, one must take into account the fact that Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, boycotted the elections, despite the best efforts of Richard Gere. Most

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105341392760382802005-01-10T13:54:00.000-05:002005-01-11T00:27:55.770-05:00

In a recent Prospect article Robert Kuttner argues, among other things, that corporate tax loopholes are bad policy, that the Bush administration likes tax cuts a little too much, and that the tsunami is a major disaster that requires a serious response from first-world nations. Bold points all, but what gets to me about this piece is the assumption that the US is unique as a miser among first

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105347361638147292005-01-10T03:08:00.000-05:002005-01-10T03:56:47.146-05:00

As a firm supporter of education reform, and especially coming from a large public high school, I have a very personal bone to pick with No Child Left Behind. From the very beginning it was touted as an excellent system which had worked wonders for areas of Texas. It was adopted nation-wide, expecting such improvements as were induced in Texas. It later came out that the results were found to be

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105221582857154052005-01-08T16:59:00.000-05:002005-01-15T14:45:41.916-05:00

Powell avoids calling the situation in Darfur genocide. Instead, he referred to it as a "difficult, terrible conflict." Last night I went to go see Hotel Rwanda with several friends including Kyle. Afterwards Kyle and I (still in shock from the movie) were commenting on how it made us hate the international community for not intervening. One of the many powerful scenes in the movie is when the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105081891627873682005-01-07T01:49:00.000-05:002005-01-07T02:22:39.140-05:00

Arnold's back, and this legislative sesson he's armed for bear. In his January 5th State of the Union address, the Governator became the only nationally recognized pol to address an aspect of domestic policy as pressing as it is underrecognized - redistricting reform. That last link is to a Brookings Institution draft (couldn't find the final study online, sorry) which gives a pretty good

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1105062673454110622005-01-06T20:25:00.000-05:002005-01-06T20:51:13.453-05:00

Working special events in the Library of Congress affords special opportunities and insights into American Politics, such as attending the Black Caucus, a Democratic caucus, a members-only GOP senators' meeting, and speeches by Obama. Although I officially did NOT hear anything from within the GOP meeting, I continue to be amazed at the degree of "Us vs. Them" sentiment in American politics. I've

Jessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04635845636096485202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1104853565737135962005-01-04T10:37:00.000-05:002005-01-04T12:06:00.400-05:00

As I read the paper this morning, I was hit by a surprising volly of two big backsteps by the Republican leadership and a big hit against the conventional wisdom that Gonzalez will be confirmed to Attorney General without much of a problem. A Social Security analyst for the Heritage Foundation says: "If this was a case of just price indexing and doing nothing else, frankly, some of the [opponents

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04191310775696546716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1104472521162821962004-12-31T01:41:00.000-05:002004-12-31T02:00:51.530-05:00

This January 14th, I'm going to be taking a break from the usual Benedict Arnold birthday festivities so I can watch the news for something just as important - the best chance we have to learn about how common extraterrestrial life is, for at least a decade. To elaborate: in fifteen days, the laws of orbital mechanics will reach their inexorable conclusion, and the freefalling Huygens probe will

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1104264618938343572004-12-28T14:37:00.000-05:002004-12-28T15:15:50.963-05:00

Well, it looks like Yushchenko is the winner of Ukraine's revote - and by a rather impressive margin (51 to 44). Barring the increasingly unlikely prospect of a last-minute power play by the current administration there, this election marks a real victory for Ukraine's opposition. This seems to be the outcome that most in America have been hoping for - myself included. And while I'm pretty

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1104049918548021922004-12-26T02:58:00.000-05:002004-12-26T17:24:30.346-05:00

Michael Kinsley, the opinion editor for the Lost Angeles Times, has been trying to get people to find flaws in his proof of how Social Security privitization cannot work. But, as Kinsley explains in the Sunday Outlook section of the Washington Post, there have been no satisfactory challenges to his theorem. The silence, as they say, is deafening. It appears that no one has been able to counter

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1103870769661851652004-12-24T01:22:00.000-05:002004-12-24T02:30:16.966-05:00

I think Russian President Vladimir Putin could have tried a little harder to disguise the recent state seizure of a major private corporation. Said seizure entered its final stages last Sunday, when a mysterious Russian front company "registered in a grocery store and cafe in the town of Tver" purchased the Yuganskneftegaz oil fields for $9.4 billion. But since the government-controlled energy

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1103766821475259312004-12-22T19:47:00.000-05:002004-12-22T20:53:41.476-05:00

CNN reported today that a guerilla radio station broadcasting in the DC area has been calling for protests to occur during the week leading up to the January 20th inauguration of President Bush. According to the report, ANSWER (who else?) is planning to hold a protest along Pennslyvania Avenue, with another group planning to literally turn its back to the President during the ceremony. Thanks

Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01782123847715517146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9671454.post-1103567589534160842004-12-20T13:39:00.000-05:002004-12-20T13:41:00.323-05:00

Today George Bush reiterated his pledge to cut the deficit in half within five years. Even overlooking the Bush administration's track record on deficit reduction, there's still little reason to assume that this promise is going to be anything like fulfilled come 2009. In the same speech, Bush later explained that his "tough budget" would "provide every tool and resource to the military," while

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032233337966299265noreply@blogger.com2