A recent commenter, a teacher, asked for my recommendations for poems for 6th-8th graders to memorize. The thought appealed to me. But when I tried to tackle it, I realized it’s harder than it sounds. Poems with cadence and rhyme … Continue reading →
…when the San Francisco Chronicle gives it a tongue-lashing for publishing gossip. Ouch. The Chronicle adds: Regrettably, the Times left itself and our profession open to such allegations of bias by publishing soft-focus evidence of what would be an outrageous … Continue reading →
Just when I was thinking of taking a vow to refrain from bashing the NY Times so often (not because it’s improved—au contraire!—but because it’s getting a bit tedious to have to keep on pointing out its myriad flaws) the … Continue reading →
Despite the force of the Obama “Yes, we can” train (no mere “I think I can, I think I can” choo-choo for him!), it looks as though he may not get enough votes in the primaries to win the Democratic … Continue reading →
Those who know me well know that, although I have no special interest in medicine and never, never wanted to be a doctor, I have a strange quirk of mind that means I happen to remember medical facts and histories … Continue reading →
Fred Barnes seems to be channeling neo-neocon in his latest Weekly Standard article. Towards the end of his piece describing Iraq’s recent progress towards reaching those benchmarks we used to hear so much about, Barnes asks some of the same … Continue reading →
It’s a little late for Valentine’s Day, but The New Yorker has published this love letter to McCain by Ryan Lizza. Okay, maybe it’s not exactly a love letter; there’s a bit of criticism in there as well. But not … Continue reading →
I don’t know about you, but when I read this piece in the Times Online about Imad Mughniyeh’s (their spelling) assassination, I couldn’t help but feel it had just a smidgen of sympathy in it. Sympathy, that is, for the … Continue reading →
The NY Times salutes a subway notice demonstrating the proper use of the semicolon. Apparently it’s all too rare a sight nowadays; this bit of punctuation is generally considered an archaic has-been. Well, I protest; I must confess right here … Continue reading →
The Iraqi Parliament has passed some new and potentially significant laws. This particular event should have been the lead article on the front page of every newspaper. It should have been the big subject of all the talk shows. It … Continue reading →
As far as the recent horrific killings at Northern Illinois University go, I’ve said most of what I want to say before, here. As I wrote earlier in connection with the shootings Virginia Tech: Yes, a gun was involved here, … Continue reading →
from Dr. Sanity: You think it’s just a cartoon? Life imitates art. On my walk today I passed a house festooned with red paper hearts, about fifty of them, randomly placed. And then above the window, a big banner that … Continue reading →