"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
In the news
When you have company it’s hard to make time for peripheral activities like blogging. But we did take time to fill out our ballots and mail them in, allowing us to smugly state: we voted. Control of congress will go to the party with the most energized voters. We’re energized. We hope you are too. […]
So the British foil another terror plot, one similar to a previous terror operation planned by Al Qaeda. I’ve said this before: Israel’s war with Hezbollah and Hamas aside, for Europe, the UK, and the USA, there’s one clear target in the war on terror. His name is Osama bin Laden. When are we going […]
When I post entries here, I categorize them: culture, current events, politics, motorcycling, flying, war, etc. Usually it’s a no-brainer. But sometimes I drift into areas that are more difficult to pin down. Example: suppose I write about the terrorist bombings in Mumbai and the frightening events in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon. How do I […]
Oh dear God . . . from Lawrence Kaplan at The National Review: Even by the degraded standards of everyday life in Baghdad, this report from CNN’s Nic Robertson comes as a shock: One international official told me of reports among his staff that a 15-year-old girl had been beheaded and a dog’s head sewn […]
This is revealing: “If the town complains and says no, the committee can ask the principal or the director of teachers to approach the teacher and say, ‘Look, this is not the subject to be taught here in this town, or in this place, because we know we have been humans from the beginning, ‘” […]
China heckler at White House prompts Bush apology. Okay, someone managed to get into the press stands and shout at Chinese President Hu Jintao. Isn’t this normal behavior in the United States of America? Isn’t this, in fact, constitutionally protected behavior? Maybe not: The Secret Service charged Wang with disorderly conduct under local statutes. The […]
A teacher’s assistant at a Florida school asks two men to move their car from the bus unloading zone. “We’re with Homeland Security,” they say, as they rough him up, handcuff him, and slam him against the side of their car – in front of schoolchildren and school employees. Here’s the link. I feel much […]
Yesterday I listened to an NPR report on sectarian violence in the Baghdad surburb of Amiriya. You can listen to it here, if you have the stomach for it. Among the incidents in the story, one stood out: a short interview with a Shiite resident of Amiriya named Al-Abadi, who said “I am scared all […]