Polymath's Guide to News and Ideas
Beware of Pity
NEW YORKER :In 1999, the Croatian novelist Slavenka Drakulić visited The Hague to observe the trials for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia... READ MORE
Snark Attack
NEW YORK MAGAZINE :You have to give David Denby credit for bravery: Writing a book titled Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation is like writing a book titled Keying My Car... READ MORE
Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza
SALON :Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel... READ MORE
'What happens in war happens'
GUARDIAN :In 2004, photographs of abuses at Abu Ghraib shocked the world. Seven people were charged, but the face of the scandal will always be Lynndie England... READ MORE
Top 10 Most Literate U.S. Cities
LIVESCIENCE : Once again, bookworms in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest have beaten out Yankee types to reach the very top of a researcher’s list of the most literate American cities... READ MORE
12 Elegant Examples of Evolution
WIRED SCIENCE :In preparation for Charles Darwin's upcoming 200th birthday, the editors of Nature compiled a selection of especially elegant and enlightening examples of evolution...READ MORE
Profile: Terry Pratchett
BBC NEWS :The author Terry Pratchett - whose novels have sold millions of copies worldwide - has been made a knight in the New Year Honours list... READ MORE
If Gaza falls . . .
LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS :Israel’s siege of Gaza began on 5 November, the day after an Israeli attack inside the strip, no doubt designed finally to undermine the truce between Israel and Hamas established last June... READ MORE
Wartime Lies
THE NEW REPUBLIC :On February 2, 2007, Herman Rosenblat's older brother Sam died. When he was on his deathbed, Herman went to visit him in the hospital in Florida... READ MORE
Wondrous Communications
AJBLOGCENTRAL :There are various consequence to being around academics so much, even when not at MLA. Here is one of them: regular exposure to commentary on journalism in which the vigor of perfect self-assurance is never dampened by a complete lack of knowledge... READ MORE