tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152574312011-07-14T01:42:33.803-04:00News, Opinion, and the Usual Internet DriftwoodGreg Erkennoreply@blogger.comBlogger1161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-85197382794001701012010-03-23T22:35:00.001-04:002010-03-23T22:45:57.988-04:00

The Great Commuter marks the occasion (language warning!):

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-44523948263367249022010-03-22T01:23:00.001-04:002010-03-22T01:24:58.883-04:00

Fred Barnes on why the health care wars are just beginning.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-62793265379083912972010-03-22T01:16:00.001-04:002010-03-22T01:18:55.041-04:00

Ryan gets to the heart of the matter in laying out the case against the health care bill:

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-33142031439076056732009-07-23T14:43:00.004-04:002009-07-23T14:49:42.674-04:00

Somebody on the Dennis Miller radio show mentioned something about a giant floating garbage dump in the Atlantic which has collected due to ocean currents. I had to Wiki that one.Turns out its true; they call it the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," and it's estimated to be twice the size of Texas. If I understand correctly, it is largely bits of plastic, and has gradually formed because of ocean

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-65482695640633247272009-07-23T14:16:00.004-04:002009-07-23T14:28:19.451-04:00

Walter Mossberg, the venerable personal tech guy at the Wall St. Journal, likes the new Windows 7, which Microsoft is releasing on October 22nd. But while upgrading should be pretty smooth for Vista users, XP users like myself are out of luck:While this latest operating system stresses simplicity, the upgrade process will be anything but simple for the huge base of average consumers still using

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-46374382168549624252009-07-22T10:26:00.002-04:002009-07-22T10:30:11.525-04:00

From Wired News, a new look at Artificial Intelligence by "robo-ethicists.":Two years ago, a military robot used in the South African army killed nine soldiers after a malfunction. Earlier this year, a Swedish factory was fined after a robot machine injured one of the workers (though part of the blame was assigned to the worker). Robots have been found guilty of other smaller offenses such as an

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-27043836390799818332009-02-16T01:09:00.001-05:002009-02-16T01:14:07.194-05:00

Courtesy of The Onion:

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-48883580029740108402009-01-20T22:00:00.003-05:002009-01-21T16:14:00.945-05:00

I think this is a joke, like this one.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-40813182515516889182009-01-04T17:03:00.001-05:002009-01-04T17:05:06.781-05:00

Another video uploaded to my YouTube channel.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-2067796275149131262009-01-02T23:39:00.009-05:002009-01-02T23:48:40.562-05:00

I'll be uploading more videos to my YouTube channel (user name is GregErken).

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-42459954113687703452008-11-07T01:19:00.004-05:002008-11-07T01:41:12.415-05:00

Here at CounterProgramming, we want to reach out to President-Elect Obama in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation and work together to blah blah blah. Thus, I am pleased to report that only days after his election -- an election I strongly opposed -- I have already found an area of strong agreement with our incoming Chief Executive.In an interview a couple weeks ago with MTV, Obama made excellent

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-6390620945933070512008-11-07T00:28:00.006-05:002008-11-07T01:42:33.144-05:00

Truly incredible. To think that just during my lifetime, we have moved from a bitter battle over legal segregation to a convincing presidential victory for a black man, with support from three states of the old Confederacy.President Bush had some eloquent remarks outside the White House on the occasion:It will be a stirring sight to watch President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their beautiful

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-25639019579514778582008-11-07T00:16:00.003-05:002008-11-11T19:48:45.029-05:00

Looks like the mythical Youth Vote finally materialized. As National Review Online's Andy McCarthy notes:Preliminary indications are that the youth vote (ages 18-29) was way up: an increase of somewhere over 2.2 million (maybe way over) from 2004 (a year in which it was very high), and as much as 13% over 2000. The Left's dominance of the academy is now having a material impact on electoral

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-34953286146003259292008-11-04T16:41:00.004-05:002008-11-07T00:09:54.726-05:00

Poll workers told me turnout at my Northern Virginia precint (Falls Church) was heavy this morning, probably record-breaking. I voted at 4:00 PM, and there were no lines. Scanning my paper ballot, I laughed out loud when I saw the presidential lineup, which in addition to GOP and Dem included Independent (Nader), Green (McKinney), and Independent Green (Baldwin).Shades of the Judean People's

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-88909638235101588762008-10-14T10:58:00.001-04:002008-10-14T10:59:11.893-04:00

Hank Jr. comes out swingin'.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-34252434328202770872008-10-09T01:34:00.003-04:002008-10-09T01:35:59.180-04:00

Now this is what I call Straight Talk.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-68810309976542707892008-10-04T01:22:00.002-04:002008-10-04T01:35:04.172-04:00

Two of my least favorite people discuss Fannie/Freddie:

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-63243218679238642232008-10-03T01:15:00.004-04:002008-10-03T02:15:09.230-04:00

Below I note how a debate question to Obama or Biden about Bill Ayers is long overdue. Do we even have to wonder for a millisecond what would happen if a Republican had even a distant relationship with Timothy McVeigh? Trick question: that Republican wouldn't even be on the stage. He would long ago have been hounded out of his first race for dog catcher -- and justifiably so.It is truly sad and

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-88842437287859082802008-10-03T00:16:00.014-04:002008-10-03T02:57:40.338-04:00

1) I thought both candidates were at their best. Like the first McCain-Obama debate, there were no real gaffes (defined as an oops! immediately obvious to those watching, not the "fact checking" stuff the next day). Palin obviously exceeded expectations, but Biden also avoided his tendency to talk his way down the long and winding road, or say anything outright silly. Most likely, Biden will be

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-29980716766893610832008-09-30T19:47:00.004-04:002008-09-30T19:59:36.327-04:00

Mike Murphy has a funny piece in Time on debate prep. (H/t Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti)My favorite bit:Finally, the savvy viewer should remember that any moment that looks too perfect to be true probably isn't. I once worked on a campaign in which we made a big show of opening our secret debate-prep session to reporters. The highlight was the part when the candidate dramatically rejected

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-24200835726305928362008-09-15T03:02:00.004-04:002008-09-15T03:04:36.867-04:00

I just realized I now know more about the politics in Wassila, AK than I do about my town of Falls Church, VA.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-23515831501898510652008-09-11T00:48:00.005-04:002008-09-11T01:41:52.666-04:00

A major Democratic fundraiser described it a good bit more starkly afterdigesting the polls of recent days: “I’m so depressed. It’s happening again.It’s a nightmare.”Politico piece. Check out this graf:“The [Obama] campaign is beginning to look like other campaigns,” said a former top strategist for past Democratic presidential campaigns, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Obama is

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-50297730262088908342008-09-10T07:42:00.004-04:002008-09-10T07:46:33.195-04:00

I was hoping the McCain campaign wouldn't go this route.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-50877518870682652492008-09-08T00:32:00.002-04:002008-09-08T00:38:38.405-04:00

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews are out as election anchors, to be replaced by David Gregory, according to the New York Times.I love this bit:NBC Universal executives are also known to be concerned about the perception that MSNBC’s partisan tilt in prime time is bleeding into the rest of the programming day. On a recent Friday afternoon, a graphic labeled “Breaking News” asked: “How

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-52681572240764677162008-09-04T19:49:00.005-04:002008-09-05T01:16:20.264-04:00

PrestoPundit has video of Palin debating her two general election opponents in the 2006 Alaskan gubernatorial election.Note that you can use your left/right arrow keys to get to the good parts. She handles questions on rape/incest abortions and embryonic stem cell research with aplomb.Via NRO Corner.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-57531461029551082962008-09-04T17:29:00.002-04:002008-09-04T17:32:55.893-04:00

Didn't take long for something like this to show up! (original here).

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-40534367534002590492008-09-04T16:47:00.002-04:002008-09-04T16:50:03.545-04:00

He really cut Obama down to size last night, making good use of Barack's many "Present" votes in the IL legislature. I thought for sure Rudy was setting up this line:"So the choice is clear: "Present," or President."

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-70338375753793130492008-09-04T14:27:00.004-04:002008-09-09T05:23:24.091-04:00

Chris Matthews on Sarah Palin's speech:“At no time during her entire presentation, did I think of Hillary Clinton,” Matthews said. “They have nothing in common.”Um, yeah, safe to say I wasn't thinking at all of Hillary Clinton during Sarah's speech. Not one bit.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-24979514584232563752008-09-03T02:19:00.004-04:002008-09-03T02:25:26.449-04:00

The Reagan tribute video tonight at the GOP convention was... not as good as it could have been, or should have been, given its subject. I think the problem was the writing.The "B movie actor" line was graceless. And the line summing up his accomplishments was clumsy and missed a great opportunity. The before/after construction was something like "when he took office, unemployment was up,

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-67342878847733131222008-09-02T02:24:00.002-04:002008-09-02T02:33:48.966-04:00

Don't know how significant this might be, but after Palin was unveiled (but before the pregnancy story), I saw Susan Estrich on FOX and thought this revelation was interesting (close paraphrase):"I've heard from a lot women, and my email is split. There are of course lots of women saying Hillary supporters can't vote for a McCain-Palin ticket, she's anti-choice, we're not stupid enough to fall

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-60751280631972254392008-09-02T01:15:00.007-04:002008-09-02T02:34:42.579-04:00

From a George Will piece on political populism:A story, perhaps apocryphal but certainly plausible, is that a child once began a school essay with this sentence: "Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin he built himself."

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-73337834950067608372008-09-01T01:51:00.022-04:002008-09-05T02:02:29.773-04:00

The New Republic's Jonathan Chait's "quick response" to Sarah Palin's speech in Dayton:It sort of seemed like one of those regular person testimonials where somebody gets up and talks about their family and their blue-collar job -- except then she says that she's on the ticket. Maybe it will help McCain connect with blue-collar voters. Maybe she'll come off as someone you can't possibly imagine

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-75836187890834184942008-08-31T04:20:00.002-04:002008-08-31T04:25:23.243-04:00

It's interesting how Obama himself won't criticize Palin's experience. His surrogates are certainly taking their best shot at her, but Barry is of course in a bind on this one.From Ben Smith's blog at Politico:Asked at a press conference Saturday night to respond to McCain's argument that Palin has more executive experience than the Democratic ticket, Obama and Biden laughed. "I think you guys

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-29883714823993416352008-08-28T15:59:00.000-04:002008-08-28T16:00:05.506-04:00

Just read the text in red.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-60714199051136129022008-08-26T23:31:00.009-04:002008-09-03T02:45:47.356-04:00

Barack Obama routinely reminds us how low an opinion he has of the US as an actor on the world stage. He apologizes for our conduct, feels "embarrassed" around Europeans, etc.He hesitates to see the US as the "good guys" because "the danger of using good versus evil in the context of war is it may lead us to be not as critical as we should be about our own actions.”Yes, send these guys into

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-86706156184770606072008-08-25T20:37:00.002-04:002008-08-25T20:45:35.571-04:00

This new Obama ad is terrible. Why would he raise Bill Ayers?

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-63356676418751980502008-08-25T17:42:00.003-04:002008-08-25T17:54:53.979-04:00

Here's McCain's latest ad, using Hillary's words against Obama, similar to the Biden piece they posted on Saturday.I wasn't sure initially whether McCain's run-and-gun, wacky ads were going to be effective, but they seem to keep Barry on the defensive, so something must be working.McCain has surprised me with his new message discipline and those crazy, risky "celebrity" ads -- in both cases, he

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-63418066816121333122008-02-13T16:51:00.002-05:002008-02-13T17:03:36.564-05:00

In remarks to some reporters, McCain's manager Rick Davis said:"We've got to get the Republican Party excited about his candidacy," Davis said of McCain. "I think that’s one of the things that is probably more important for us to do than contrast with any of the Democrats. We have to show them that there’s a chance to succeed."As I have previously argued, I think Davis has that exactly backwards.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-62629643723254986302008-02-12T23:35:00.002-05:002008-02-12T23:44:06.548-05:00

Well, at least in the fevered mind of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, which made a little video broadcast on Iranian television. As summarized by Jim Geraghty at NRO's Campaign Spot:Courtesy of MEMRI, it was put together by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, and was broadcast on Iranian television, encouraging Iranians to report spies. It features a computer-generated "John McCain"

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-56937299439709844322008-02-07T02:03:00.000-05:002008-02-07T02:27:57.053-05:00

Kate O’Beirne & Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review Online:What McCain Should Say at CPACDemocrats think they have John McCain in a trap. He is going to have to spend the time immediately following his clinching of the nomination trying to win over Republican voters to his right. That’s time he won’t spend appealing to independent voters. He could even alienate those independents while courting

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-66053150770763155792008-02-06T09:50:00.000-05:002008-02-06T10:05:32.428-05:00

Not according to the latest USA/Gallup poll:McCain wins over Romney as the second choice of Huckabee voters by more than a 2 to 1 margin, 64% to 28%. Indeed, McCain beats Romney 42% to 24% with Huckabee in the race (Huckabee gets 18% of the vote, Ron Paul gets 5%, and Alan Keyes gets 2%). With a narrowed-down ballot focused just on McCain and Romney (forcing Huckabee voters to choose between the

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-87052124855137059642008-01-31T16:51:00.000-05:002008-01-31T17:19:48.104-05:00

From the WSJ we have Karl Rove's "New Rules For Politics," which includes some old rules he believes are proving true as well.Perhaps most interesting is Rove's analysis of the new media landscape:-Television ads don't matter as much as they used to. Going on the air with the earliest and most ads doesn't count for nearly as much as it once did. Campaigning this time has been so intense, long and

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-40980330053823468972008-01-30T01:21:00.000-05:002008-01-30T01:32:32.398-05:00

Politico has an interesting -- and depressing -- piece suggesting that "Rudy Giuliani's distant third-place finish in Florida may put an end to his bid for president, and it seems also to mark the beginning of the end of a period in Republican politics that began on Sept. 11, 2001." Giuliani's national celebrity was based on his steady, comforting appearance in Americans' living rooms amid the

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-33370779951696371222008-01-12T00:42:00.000-05:002008-01-12T00:46:35.844-05:00

According to Information Week, "spammers have a new way to vex computer users: printer hijacking."Building on the concept of cross-site scripting, whereby an attacker caninject malicious code in Web pages viewed by others, security researcher AaronWeaver has demonstrated how an attacker can inject spam messages into a Web site visitor's printer.Weaver's research is available in a paper published

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-84004322725519009972008-01-09T00:46:00.000-05:002008-01-09T00:47:51.172-05:00

Time has a terrific map of all the primaries across the country, with dates, delegates, etc.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-64923271808985720752008-01-08T23:17:00.000-05:002008-01-09T00:51:53.834-05:00

Putting Hillary's NH victory in perspective, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post writes:Crowds swelled at Obama events throughout New Hampshire and a sense ofinevitability seeped into the media coverage of the Democratic race. That would be the sense of inevitability that inevitably replaced the sense of inevitability that surrounded the Clinton campaign all last year.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-27713686795753799022008-01-08T15:42:00.001-05:002008-09-06T02:28:06.567-04:00

"You should make a conscious decision for words over deeds, for a feeling over the fact of change," Clinton said early this afternoon. "It's your country, you can do whatever you want, you own it ... You can make a judgment and it's your country, but don't go into this thing thinking there are no judgments and there's no decision to make."So said Bill Clinton to New Hampshire crowds after Obama's

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-16412107116316283052008-01-03T23:54:00.000-05:002008-01-04T00:08:14.533-05:00

I was wondering if the candidates could attend the Iowa carcasses, and the AP has the answer:Iowans rendered their judgments in meetings at 1,781 precincts from Adel to Zwingle, in schools, firehouses and community centers where the candidates themselves could not follow.Some hard numbers, as of late Thursday night:Projections estimated that 220,588 Democrats showed up on a cold midwinter's night

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-11232756775767680622007-12-18T15:41:00.000-05:002007-12-18T17:41:32.060-05:00

Saw "I Am Legend" last night. Mediocre. Charlton Heston's "The Omega Man" from 1971 is far superior."Legend" does some things well. Will Smith is always entertaining; yes, the FX are good, sometimes amazing, particularly the decayed New York City; and it is not nearly as violent or gruesome as it could have been. And while Smith finds himself in some cliched situations, the filmmakers thankfully

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-56260590557757251522007-12-18T15:27:00.000-05:002007-12-18T16:46:03.446-05:00

Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has signed on as executive producer for two movies based on "The Hobbit," J.R.R. Tolkien's prequel to the LOTR.Jackson had been fighting the LOTR producers, New Line Cinema, over profits from the trilogy, but they've apparently kissed and made up. They're looking for a director for the "Hobbit."The AP says "two "Hobbit" films are

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-47918893123961429792007-12-14T12:58:00.000-05:002007-12-14T13:07:54.244-05:00

Google has announced a "new, free tool that we are calling "knol", which stands for a unit of knowledge." Currently invitation-only, it sounds like a direct challenge to Wikipedia: "A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read."With perhaps a key difference:The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-67725383027774562512007-12-13T21:38:00.000-05:002007-12-14T13:14:44.386-05:00

Buried inside this Politico story on immigration politics and the GOP:A late October study by senior Democratic strategists Stan Greenberg, Al Quinlan and James Carville found that for independents — roughly a third of voters — the “top issue underlying the discontent is ‘our borders’ having been ‘left unprotected and illegal immigration’ growing.” The issue was cited by four in 10 independents,

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-10826111489201145242007-12-13T03:41:00.000-05:002007-12-14T07:33:42.651-05:00

Wow, the election coverage sure is reaching a frantic pace. Mike Huckabee is now apologizing to Mitt Romney for something he hasn't even said yet. His comments on Mormonism in a New York Times Magazine interview won't actually appear until this Sunday, but why wait? So the Huck started backpedaling on Wednesday, which is a brilliant technique for staying ahead of the curve when you think about it

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-18414562177281625552007-12-11T20:19:00.000-05:002007-12-14T13:12:49.499-05:00

Buzz Feed has a collection of reviews and video clips of the Led Zeppelin reunion gig.The band sounds pretty good, but Robert Plant's live voice long ago lost all those high notes. Same for Jagger, but Plant had further to fall and can't carry the bottom end very well. Not to beat up on Plant -- every one of those classic rock singers pretty much blew out his live voice many, many tours ago.The

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-67453313053171422292007-12-08T15:07:00.000-05:002007-12-09T23:38:57.452-05:00

Here is a delightfully snobby editorial from The New Republic about the widely reported decline in American's reading habits, and the parallel decline of serious book reviews in some quarters of journalism. Excerpts:In some quarters, the enemies of the printed book pretend that they are merely trying to save the book from the print--"the last bastion of analog," as Jeff Bezos ominously told a

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-56048685342783045952007-11-18T14:35:00.000-05:002007-11-18T14:39:54.238-05:00

This is a pretty good list, with comments by Atomic Trousers I heartily endorse.Via Jonah at the Corner.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-18347470209304285642007-11-13T01:01:00.000-05:002007-12-14T13:20:36.372-05:00

This bit from the Stump at New Republic about Tim Russert's worthless schtick says it all:I thought Obama held his own on "Meet the Press" yesterday, which is about the best one can hope for on that show. How we got to the point where one of the most important rituals in politics involves playing gotcha for an hour on network television is beyond me. It's a completely preposterous exercise, and

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-69661822121221648092007-11-12T14:55:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:02:27.975-05:00

11/12 wire story:Nigeria's 'Land of Twins' Baffles Fertility ExpertsIgbo-Ora, a sleepy farming community in southwest Nigeria, welcomes visitors with a sign proclaiming "The Land of Twins". "There is hardly a family here without a set of twins," said community leader Olayide kinyemi, a 71-year-old father of 12, as he settled a dispute between two neighbours. "My father had 10 sets, while I had

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-77178207713756055002007-11-06T19:40:00.000-05:002007-11-13T01:20:18.692-05:00

In an AP story about President Bush's reaction to the situation in Pakistan, his spokeswoman was quoted saying:"The president feels very strongly that President Musharraf knows exactly how hefeels about the situation," [Dana] Perino said.'No, we musn't talk about the president's feelings, and certainly not twice in one sentence. It's just not polite.Try this:"The president has made his position

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-6282481982831392152007-10-21T04:21:00.001-04:002007-10-21T04:21:05.187-04:00

"A battle between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo, and 2 crocodiles at a watering hole in South Africa's Kruger National Park while on safari."You gotta see this one.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-54555392411465708862007-10-19T21:47:00.000-04:002007-10-22T19:25:45.269-04:00

In the face of death threats and now a massive suicide bombing attack on Thursday targeting her transportation convoy, Bhutto is laying it on the line in the Washington Post:"We are prepared to risk our lives and we are prepared to risk our liberty, but we are not prepared to surrender our great nation to the militants."Seeking background and insight into this drama, I was surprised to see no

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-21605372360319551002007-10-18T21:54:00.000-04:002007-10-18T22:00:19.784-04:00

Deborah Kerr, 86, just passed away. She starred opposite Cary Grant in the best chick flick ever, "An Affair to Remember." Here is her Washington Post obituary. RIP

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-61519065363009389822007-10-17T00:11:00.000-04:002007-10-17T00:31:15.345-04:00

If you're about 35 or older, you grew up with Charles Schulz's comic strip "Peanuts." And if you didn't, well,According to David Michaelis' new biography, "Schulz and Peanuts," by 1971, Schulz had 100 million readers and the fourth-highest sales figures of any 20th century author.According to Salon's review of the biography, it's a warts-and-all kind of book. Just reading the review is enough

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-23090729601081065472007-10-17T00:08:00.000-04:002007-10-17T00:09:53.527-04:00

Rudy took the Alien Invasion question the other day from a young boy. Captured on video here.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-35483391983706891062007-10-16T23:58:00.000-04:002007-10-17T00:07:40.064-04:00

The opening line of this Washington Post story should make you want to read the whole thing:The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.Details on al-Qaeda

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-31557326241565998622007-10-02T23:45:00.000-04:002007-10-02T23:49:54.793-04:00

From The American comes this this item about Wikipedia's astonishing growth:There’s ample concern about the quality of Wikipedia, the Web-based encyclopedia which any reader can edit and whose entries top practically any Google search you do. But there’s no question about the quantity. The total database grows by tens of millions of words each month. A fast reader who never needs to sleep,

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-86461297575896879262007-09-14T02:42:00.000-04:002007-09-14T03:10:14.792-04:00

This video of a Britney Spears fan tearfully begging the media to "leave Britney alone!" is actually pretty disturbing.Seriously: the level of obsession and faux identification with a celebrity exhibited here reminds me of John Hinkley's fascination with Jodie Foster (he shot Ronald Reagan to impress her), Mark David Chapman's with John Lennon, and that of Yolanda Saldívar, the president of

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-24756699043426444482007-09-13T23:16:00.000-04:002007-09-13T23:28:26.949-04:00

Bill Kristol has a column in Time magazine that nicely summarizes the many new and unpredictable variables that may affect the 2008 presidential race.Such as:The leading Republican contenders are a Mormon from Massachusetts, a pro-choice New Yorker and a late-starting TV actor. Some Protestant churches teach that Mormonism is a cult. No pro-choice candidate has been able to compete seriously for

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-56393933681141241512007-08-02T01:44:00.000-04:002007-08-02T01:54:36.702-04:00

You might get a kick out of this exchange between Salon.com's advice columnist and a poor guy who's just trying to have a normal conversation with his wife on the stupid cell phone.You should also read the letters from readers in response, which contain some good advice and information. Such as:There are actual technical reasons for having problems with cellphones,particularly the digital variety

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-36068706107861213552007-07-19T15:46:00.000-04:002007-07-19T15:49:01.117-04:00

Now this is funny -- from the AP, 7/16/07:Man calls 911 to save him from police A 38-year-old man was arrested after he called 911 and told a dispatcher he was surrounded by police officers and needed help, authorities said.Police officers met Dana Farrell Shelton after being called to investigate a disturbance at a bar on Sunday but had found no problems and told him to move along.Shelton, who

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-59556960734116958542007-07-16T16:25:00.000-04:002007-07-19T15:50:20.165-04:00

Wow -- reporting on itself, the Los Angeles Times says:Amid a steep decline in revenue, the Los Angeles Times is planning to break with long-standing tradition by selling ads on its front page, Publisher David Hiller said Friday.When it happens, the newspaper will be the largest metropolitan paper in the country to place ads there.[...]The ads would be confined to the "brand-and-image" category,

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-9257711029778355352007-07-10T22:51:00.000-04:002007-07-10T23:09:33.753-04:00

"Family-values" Republican Senator David Vitter (LA) becomes the first pol ensared in the DC Madam scandal.OK, so a Christian Right politician is exposed as a hypocrite. Not exactly the first time this has happened (and no, I don't think it discredits the Christian Right). But the weird thing is this old quote from his wife Wendy, included in a Salon piece about Vitter:"I'm a lot more like Lorena

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-6999956440209739652007-07-10T20:58:00.000-04:002007-07-10T21:02:16.508-04:00

Some supposedly inside McCain scoop is reported here by Marc Ambinder in his Atlantic Monthly blog.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-60712275843088673192007-06-05T06:01:00.000-04:002007-06-06T06:49:39.208-04:00

Sen. Sam Brownback recently wrote a good piece in the New York Times explaining his views on faith, reason, science, and evolution. Since the evolution question came up again in tonight's Republican presidential debate, his key points are worth noting.Contrary to the chaos at the heart of the postmodern worldview, Brownback believes in an order and unity in the universe:The truths of science and

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-65356151322025207422007-05-28T01:03:00.000-04:002007-05-30T01:07:45.533-04:00

That is question I happened to hear put to two twenty-somethings over the weekend. Both were American citizens.Neither had any idea what the answer was. Both literally just shrugged their shoulders. That's the gesture you make when you not only don't know something, but you couldn't care less what the answer is. If you asked me what molecules could be found in zinc, I would shrug my shoulders. I

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-72610494560508348782007-05-22T06:40:00.000-04:002007-05-22T07:25:18.585-04:00

A friend alerted me to a piece by sci-fi author Charles Stross that discusses the likely implications of rapid advances in bandwidth, storage capacity, and related technologies. Some choice comments on ......Cell Phones:Now, we're still in the early stages of the uptake of mobile telephony, but some lessons are already becoming clear. Traditional fixed land-lines connect places, not people; you

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-46192129929093836822007-05-22T05:47:00.000-04:002007-05-22T06:40:20.890-04:00

I recently discovered Spamgourmet.com, and I simply must help publicize this service.Don't you hate having to provide your email address in order to register at some website, knowing that most likely you are just increasing the amount of spam you're going to get? Spamgourmet solves this problem completely. It's 100% effective, it's easy to use, there is nothing to install on your computer, and

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-74667243801006242352007-05-22T02:00:00.000-04:002007-05-22T02:28:18.668-04:00

J. R. R. Tokien's son Christopher has assembled some of his father's manuscripts and published a new book called "The Children of Hurin." In a review entitled "Tolkien's Christianity and the Pagan Tragedy," Spengler, the Asian Times pseudonymous writer who focuses on geopolitics, the clash of civilizations, and the "death of peoples," writes:In The Children of Hurin, a tragedy set some 6,000

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-8280319221919986672007-05-18T13:43:00.000-04:002007-10-23T03:07:16.623-04:00

Reacting to Senator Sam Brownback's performance in the second GOP presidential debate, David Frum wrote that "surely even pro-lifers must have been revolted by his answer to Wendell Goler's abortion question?" Brownback was asked to defend his position that abortion should not be allowed in cases of rape.Well, I'm one pro-lifer who thought Brownback's answer was pretty damn good, and showed a lot

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-1588249663436078362007-05-06T02:35:00.000-04:002007-05-09T08:48:46.422-04:00

I agree with consensus opinion on the first GOP debate: the clear loser was "moderator" Chris Matthews.If you missed the show, or for some reason need a reminder of how dumb his questions were, National Review has posted a video montage of the silliness.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-37257640295037882212007-05-03T22:43:00.000-04:002007-05-06T01:11:33.555-04:00

In tonight's Republican presidential debate, the candidates were asked about the potential for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. America's Mayor spoke thusly:"It would be OK to repeal it. It would be OK also if a strict constructionist viewed it as precedent." He also said that with regard to federal funding for abortion, he supports the Hyde Amendment, which currently bands federal

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-42311613151709592432007-05-02T02:18:00.000-04:002007-05-02T02:38:51.785-04:00

"The Da Vinci Code" was utter hogwash, but this Reuters story is pretty cool:Musicians unlock mystery melody in Scottish chapelA Scottish church which featured in the best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" has revealed another mystery hidden in secret code for almost 600 years. A father and son who became fascinated by symbols carved into the chapel's arches say they have deciphered a musical

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-34723237454296102722007-04-30T18:55:00.000-04:002007-05-09T08:49:45.166-04:00

National Review has a compelling editorial that pretty much dismantles George Tenet's new posture regarding the Iraq war intelligence.He's now claiming that his infamous "slam dunk" quote referred not to the intelligence itself, but to the public presentation of it. That's his defense? That he was uncertain of the intelligence, but told the president he was damn certain it could be sold to the

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-60855347196484538602007-04-29T01:24:00.000-04:002007-04-29T02:07:23.189-04:00

Unless you play a lot of online games, reading this Salon article on the issue of same-sex marriage in roleplaying games may be a bit a journey through the looking glass. The makers of an online "Lord of the Rings" game currently in beta have generated controversy by removing the ability to have your character marry another character of the same sex. In fact, they ended up "pulling the marriage

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-62468100358758202742007-04-27T02:47:00.000-04:002007-04-27T16:29:00.206-04:00

You heard it here first: Sheryl Crow will do a commercial for Charmin before long (a la Dan Quayle's potato chip spot).She's now claiming her proposed "one square per visit" policy was a joke.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-42736627229074787392007-04-27T02:38:00.000-04:002007-04-27T02:44:32.236-04:00

4/26 AP story:Immigration-related cases swamp courtsImmigration-related felony cases are swamping federal courts along theSouthwest border, forcing judges to handle hundreds more cases than their peerselsewhere. Judges in the five, mostly rural judicial districts on the bordercarry the heaviest felony caseloads in the nation. Each judge in New Mexico,which ranked first, handled an average of 397

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-67144305328223529342007-03-30T02:25:00.000-04:002007-03-30T02:29:15.542-04:00

I agree with David Frum: the story in the Capital Hill newspaper The Hill about how John McCain considered switching parties in 2001 should be bigger news.Tell me again, why are so many conservatives disappointed with the menu of candidates this year?

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-40453112151435310942007-02-22T03:12:00.000-05:002007-02-22T03:16:03.662-05:00

2/22 AP story:The rival presidential campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) traded accusations of nasty politics Wednesday over Hollywood donor David Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton but now supports his wife's top rival.The Clinton campaign demanded that Obama denounce comments made by the DreamWorks movie studio founder, who told New York Times

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-48532697368947857982007-02-21T06:38:00.000-05:002007-03-30T03:02:38.327-04:00

Somewhat interesting chart at Political Arithmetik comparing responses to poll questions over the years regarding our willingness to vote for a Baptist, Catholic, Jew, Mormon, Woman, Black, Atheist, or Homosexual for President.I say only somewhat interesting because abstract questions of this nature melt away in the face of an actual candidate seeking your vote. Even when polled on a specific

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-66308729142361109422007-02-19T20:23:00.000-05:002007-05-23T07:28:54.533-04:00

People that know me know why I have a, uh, personal interest in stories about people cutting off bits of their fingers. Now comes this AP story (wish I'd known about the pig bladder extract trick):Science finds new ways to regrow fingersResearchers are trying to find ways to regrow fingers — and someday, even limbs — with tricks that sound like magic spells from a Harry Potter novel.There's the

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-74167259607995613602007-02-12T03:47:00.000-05:002007-01-26T00:37:03.182-05:00

That's the title of an interesting article on Obama from Salon that recounts his losing congressional race in 2000, and how he rebounded from this defeat by transforming his political style and rhetoric. The gist:As a correspondent for the Chicago Reader, I covered Obama's 2000 campaignto unseat Bobby Rush, the ex-Black Panther who's been a Democratic congressmanfrom Chicago's South Side since

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-14667049787250617442007-01-22T03:20:00.000-05:002007-01-22T03:33:46.978-05:00

More interesting -- and welcome -- news on the music industry front, from a Jan. 21 Reuters story:Merlin, the new agency representing the world's independent music sector, has agreed a deal with digital music company Snocap which will allow its labels' music to be sold from Web sites such as MySpace. The group announced the deal at the annual MidemNet music conference in France, saying it would

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-31436718554280349002007-01-20T14:27:00.000-05:002007-01-20T14:54:05.586-05:00

Chris Anderson's Long Tail blog notes a BBC story that the British band Koopa "could become the first unsigned group to land a UK top 40 hit thanks to new chart rules. Chart rules were changed at the start of January to count all digital single sales, even if there is no CD version."Two other interesting points from the BBC article:These guys are no overnight sensation. They've been together for

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-70729610965485426422007-01-19T15:17:00.000-05:002007-01-19T15:21:46.187-05:00

Apparently not a joke, according to an article in the New York Sun:The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles themother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, orreligious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue andPrevention of Vice — the group of

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-70614038735738124192007-01-14T03:37:00.000-05:002007-01-19T15:22:53.495-05:00

"Put Your Records On" - yeah, that's the name of the tune, by Corinne Bailey Rae. I heard 15 seconds of her on NPR and then found an out-of-sync video at YouTube. Silly lyrics but the song is quite nice.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-44901156073042648422007-01-03T23:59:00.000-05:002007-01-04T16:37:53.719-05:00

I found an interesting essay by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus at First Things from several years ago on the question "Is Mormonism Christian?"As usual, Neuhaus sets the right tone:We are obliged to respect human dignity across the board, and to affirm common discernments of the truth wherever we find them. Where we disagree we should try to put the best possible construction on the position of the

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-51995637498470822832007-01-02T14:02:00.000-05:002007-01-04T16:38:48.563-05:00

Carol Iannone's comments over at NRO's PhiBetaCons blog on the way Saddam's execution was conducted sums up my feelings exactly:Despite what has been posted here on various arguments for the morality of executing Saddam, I am afraid that whatever value his death might have had for the new Iraq will be dissipated by the awful film of his last moments. There is good reason that we no longer have

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-2820180479005661532006-12-22T09:59:00.000-05:002006-12-22T10:01:57.051-05:00

... boxers or briefs?"I'm thinking boxers, 'cause they're roomier.Ideal for transporting briefs.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-42352243080480238442006-12-18T22:12:00.000-05:002006-12-18T22:21:23.920-05:00

[verbatim AFP story]India losing 7,000 unborn girls daily to selective abortionTue Dec 12, 2:34 PM ETIndia is losing almost 7,000 girls daily because of the traditional preference for sons which cause many people to abort female foetuses, the UNICEF said."India is one of the few countries worldwide with an adverse child sex ratio in favor of boys," the United Nations children's agency said in its

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15257431.post-39325249451042080712006-12-18T21:03:00.000-05:002006-12-18T21:16:43.305-05:00

Here is a useful piece by National Review Online's Byron York summarizing how Mitt Romney's past positions are haunting his current presidential run.Last week Romney had a Q&A session with NRO, conducted by friendly interviewer Kathryn Jean Lopez, covering this same turf.Put me down as highly suspicious of his timing.

Greg Erkennoreply@blogger.com0