Sad, sad news: Dean Barnett is gone
This is tragic and bitter news. Tragic because Dean was so young and full of life, and fought so hard against cystic fibrosis, and had so much left to do. Bitter because he was a friend.
Continue reading →Category Archives: People of interest
First interview with the unflappable First Dude
Okay, so I watched it. So sue me; I couldn’t resist. And I am here to declare that, in the Todd Palin interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox, it has been conclusively determined that Todd Palin, First Dude of … Continue reading →
Obama and McCain: it turns out they’re both lefties
It’s an odd fact that in recent decades a startling proportion of Presidents have been left-handed, and no one really has a clue why, although guesses abound. The list includes Truman, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II—as well … Continue reading →
Translation of the Karsenty decision
Richard Landes has put up a preliminary translation of the appeals court decision in the France2/Karsenty case. Enderlin certainly can’t be happy about this one. Good.
Continue reading →McCain: Scoop Jackson Republican?
In National Journal, Linda Douglass offers us a glimpse into a phase of McCain’s career I hadn’t previously known about. In the late 70s, he was the Navy’s liaison to the Senate, and it turns out to have been one … Continue reading →
Hillary channels Annie Oakley?
Obama sneered in response to Hillary’s claim to fond memories of being taught to shoot by her father at her grandfather’s cottage (near Scranton, PA, no less!), and of duck-hunting: Shame on her….She, how she values the second amendment, she’s … Continue reading →
Jefferson’s library recreated: rare books offer a glimpse into a rarer mind
Founding father and renaissance man Thomas Jefferson amassed a huge collection of books that became the basis for one of our early Libraries of Congress. Unfortunately, much of the collection was destroyed in a mid-nineteenth century fire, but intrepid librarians … Continue reading →
Maya Plisetskaya: a dancer like no other
How old do you think this woman is? Or this one (hint: it’s the same woman, around the same time)? Or how about this one? All three are pictures of Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. She’s eighty years old in the … Continue reading →
Bobby Fischer and the lunatic fringe of anti-Semitism and 9/11 truthers
Bobby Fischer, who put chess on the mainstream map for a while back in the early 70s, has died at the age of 64. Those of you too young to remember may find it odd that the nation was riveted … Continue reading →
Bhutto: into the jaws of death
The big news today seems to hardly be news at all. Like a tragic play you watch anyway, knowing it will not end well, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination—once by shooting and again by bombing, just to make certain—almost seems to have … Continue reading →
Bhutto’s back
After eight years of exile, Benazir Bhutto has returned to Pakistan in a deal brokered with President Musharraf. She’s talking the democracy talk as she walks the comeback walk: “Restoration of democracy is the only guarantee to the people’s progress … Continue reading →
RIP Claudia Taylor Johnson, aka Lady Bird
Lady Bird Johnson has died at the age of 94. I’ve referred to her by her given name in the title of this post, not just because I always thought her nickname silly, but because she did: Lady Bird Johnson … Continue reading →