The Conservatives Want Him, Um, Out The Wall Street Journal has called for Larry Craig's resignation.

Senator Craig was elected by the people of Idaho, and it is properly a matter between them and him whether he should finish his term. We agree, however, with those in his party who want the Senator to forgo re-election next year. The Republican Party needs to get its house in order. It is a mess. And that cleanup should include the living room, the library, the front porch and, we daresay, the restroom.

Ouch.  ¶ 9:17 AM 7 comments   

  How Sweep It Is Did someone say sweep? The Yankees beat the Red Sox, again, and cut Boston's lead to five.  ¶ 9:13 AM 3 comments   

  Crowded House Goes Green The New Zealanders again show the environmental commitment typical of that nation. They post this on their home page:

Crowded House have teamed up with non-profit environmental group Reverb to descrease their carbon footprint while on tour. As well as working with Reverb to minimise and offset all of the estimated CO2 emissions on their tour, Crowded House are using B20 BioDiesel on their tour busses.

Fans can do their bit too by offsetting the impact of their own travel to the shows. "Time to Change" stickers, available at merchandise booths at the shows for a $5 donation, include a carbon credit equivalent to 150 miles of driving to help towards neutralising the CO2 your journey to the concert created. Click here for more details, and to find out what you can do to combat climate change.

Good on ya, mates.

Here's an idea: Why don't the Democratic presidential candidates, who with their private jets leave a considerable carbon footprint, do the same?  ¶ 9:08 AM 9 comments   

  Will Yale Get Bigger? Yale president Rick Levin is considering adding some 200 students a year to Yale's freshman classes, Bloomberg's Brian Sullivan reports.

``The principal reason for moving up is that we are turning down so many great kids,'' Levin said. ``The applicant pool is so much larger, and selectivity is so much greater.''

... Harvard isn't considering adding undergraduates, spokesman Robert Mitchell said.

But that's not really true, is it? Isn't boosting undergraduates one option of the Allston plan?  ¶ 8:39 AM 3 comments   

  They Found One! The good news: A Chinese scientist spotted and filmed a baji, or river dolphin, proving that there is at least one left.

The bad news: It won't make any difference. Whether there are one or a few, there aren't enough to save the species.





"We have to accept the fact, that the Baiji is functionally extinct. It is a tragedy, a loss not only for China, but for the entire world," said August Pfluger, a noted Baiji expert and head of baiji.org, a group that seeks to protect the dolphin.   ¶ 8:00 AM 0 comments   

  Friday about 4:30 While the New York Times reports that fellow Republicans think Larry Craig should resign, the Washington Post takes us deep inside the anonymous world of bathroom sex.

While the Craig case has created another political scandal, with two Republican senators yesterday calling for his resignation, it has also pulled back the curtain on a sexual practice that takes place furtively, in the most public of places, and on the police stings designed to rout it.

The article gives new meaning to the three-second rule, which most people would probably associate with the amount of time you can leave dropped food on the floor and still eat it....

Meanwhile, the Times says that Craig has been stripped of his committee seniority, meaning he's now basically in his first week as a senator, in terms of seniority. Read that as an attempt to embarrass him into resigning.

Also, it is my completely unscientific sense that the phrase "wide stance" has entered the lexicon as a source of considerable humor.

Here, for example, the New York Post, in its "Are You a Gay Senator" test*, asks, "Do you take a 'wide stance' in public bathrooms?"

Will Craig resign?

My guess? Yes, on the day and time indicated above.

Will the Republican Party use this sad story as an opportunity to reconsider its hateful positions towards gay people, many of whom happen to be Republican?

Not a chance.
______________________________________________________________


  ¶ 7:40 AM 0 comments   

  Quote of the Day "Man, at that age, I'll be cutting grass in my backyard."
—David Ortiz on the 45-year-old Roger Clemens, as the Yankees beat the Red Sox! the Yankees beat the Red Sox! again.  ¶ 7:34 AM 3 comments   

  What's Wrong with Boise? I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho! Jiminy!

—Larry Craig, yesterday
  ¶ 11:13 AM 6 comments   

  Headline of the Day Larry Craig: Still Not Gay
—The Washington Post

Despite a published report that he once fellated a man in a bathroom in Washington's Union Station, Larry Craig insisted yesterday that he isn't gay.

"I'm not gay," he said.

This despite the fact that in 1999, during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Craig said—and I promise, I'm not making this up—

It's a, 'Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You're a naughty boy.' The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy. I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.

Um...senator? You're gay.
  ¶ 8:27 AM 20 comments   

  Quote of the Day
“Put on a nice outfit and some makeup and you’re the bomb.”
—Maria Sharapova  ¶ 8:15 AM 3 comments   

  Okay, It's Only One Game, But... ...the Yankees win! The Yankees win!

(Don't expect similar treatment tomorrow, Boston fans, if the Sox win tonight....)  ¶ 8:11 AM 1 comments   

  W&M; Get Reviewed In the New York Sun, Ira Stoll reviews "The Israel Lobby."

The professors write that "anti-Semitism indulges in various forms of stereotyping and implies that Jews should be viewed with suspicion or contempt, while seeking to deny them the ability to participate fully and freely in all realms of society." They are at pains to emphasize that "the lobby is defined not by ethnicity or religion but by a political agenda." Then they proceed to jump in and do exactly what they say anti-Semites do.

Meanwhile, in The New Yorker, David Remnick has a take that reflects his greatest, perhaps his only weakness as a writer: His desire to be universally liked.

Mearsheimer and Walt are not anti-Semites or racists. They are serious scholars, and there is no reason to doubt their sincerity.

This is a bit of a bizarre couplet, perhaps the only place in Remnick's piece where he argues by assertion rather than accretion—and by misdirection: No one has accused W&M; of insincerity. To W&M's critics, it is their sincerity that is the problem.

Remnick then continues in a less forgiving manner.

But their announced objectives have been badly undermined by the contours of their argument—a prosecutor’s brief that depicts Israel as a singularly pernicious force in world affairs. Mearsheimer and Walt have not entirely forgotten their professional duties, and they periodically signal their awareness of certain complexities. But their conclusions are unmistakable: Israel and its lobbyists bear a great deal of blame for the loss of American direction, treasure, and even blood.

I do not mean to accuse W&M; of anti-Semitism, a subject on which my expertise is more than limited. And yet, I wonder why Remnick is so quick to absolve them of the charge, when the seed of it lies within his own words: though W&M "periodically signal their awareness of certain complexities," they still paint a picture of Israel as the Great Satan in American foreign policy. In other words, they sometimes try to be scholarly, but more often resort to stereotyping. Why could that be?

Remnick's answer lies in his concluding words:

“The Israel Lobby” is a phenomenon of its moment. The duplicitous and manipulative arguments for invading Iraq put forward by the Bush Administration, the general inability of the press to upend those duplicities, the triumphalist illusions, the miserable performance of the military strategists, the arrogance of the Pentagon, the stifling of dissent within the military and the government, the moral disaster of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, the rise of an intractable civil war, and now an incapacity to deal with the singular winner of the war, Iran—all of this has left Americans furious and demanding explanations. Mearsheimer and Walt provide one: the Israel lobby. In this respect, their account is not so much a diagnosis of our polarized era as a symptom of it.

Put more bluntly, Remnick's argument is that, in a time of fear and anxiety, W&M are irrationally blaming the Jews and their Torah-carriers. I don't know if that's anti-Semitism, but nothing within Remnick's argument rules it out.  ¶ 7:35 AM 5 comments   

  So Much for That Attempt at Media Manipulation Walking into the Union Square Barnes & Noble tonight, I saw a bunch of copies of "The Israel Lobby" sitting on a table, which would suggest that either Farrar, Strauss & Giroux has abandoned its embargo idea, or that Farrar, Strauss and Giroux isn't very good at embargoing things.  ¶ 11:27 PM 2 comments   

  Should Harvard Give Away Money? Professors concerned about the widening money gap between Harvard and everywhere else are proposing some novel ways to spend Harvard's money—including giving some to less-fortunate schools.

Margaret Soltan, an English professor at George Washington University whose blog, "University Diaries," can be found at www.insidehighered.com, suggested Harvard start giving grants with all that money. She specifically mentioned Florida Southern College, the Lakeland school that has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, some of which have fallen into disrepair.

Sounds like a good investment to me....
  ¶ 6:35 AM 14 comments   

  The Man in Blue "I was able to see Craig's blue eyes as he looked into my stall."

Larry Craig's police report.  ¶ 6:30 AM 14 comments   

  The Sox vs. the Yanks It's over, Boston Magazine and the Boston Herald proclaim—the American League East race, that is. And they're probably right. The Yankees have been stinking up the joint lately, and they're getting crushed tonight, thanks to a third consecutive abysmal starting performance from the suddenly excruciatingly bad Mike Mussina. (It happens fast sometimes.)

Now the Yankees have to start thinking wild-card....  ¶ 9:30 PM 2 comments   

  LHS in the FT Larry Summers' new column in the Financial Times analyzes the current disruption in the credit markets and the role of quasi-public institutions such as Fannie Mae in alleviating the crisis.

Only time will tell where we are in this cycle. There have been some signs of returning normalcy over the past week, but we cannot judge whether they represent a false spring or the end of a crisis phase. There may be further shoes to drop in the financial sector....

This crisis could have a silver lining if it leads to the careful reflection on these vital questions.

Indeed.  ¶ 9:22 PM 5 comments   

  You Almost Feel Sorry for the Guy Idaho senator Larry Craig, a Republican (of course), has been arrested and fined for trying to pick up a cop in a men's bathroom in Minneapolis.

Here's one of my favorite lines of all time, from the Roll Call story on the arrest:

A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding.”

Is that what they're calling it these days?

Among other odd behaviors Craig manifested while sitting in a bathroom stall, he rubbed his foot against the foot of the policeman in the stall next to him.

As the arresting office put it in his report, Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine."

That is just too much information.

I almost feel sorry for Craig, who is married (of course), but clearly has some personal issues. But then you read his positions on civil rights issues: voted to ban gay marriage, voted against adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes, voted against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual discrimination, and so on, and so on.

Classic.  ¶ 7:07 PM 0 comments   

  China's Pollution Problem—and Ours The Times reports today on China's out-of-control pollution.

Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut.

Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water.

Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union....

Some 1,000,000 Chinese a year are estimated to die from pollution-related illness. And what's bad for the Chinese is also bad for us.

China’s problem has become the world’s problem. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research.

China's air pollution sends out a stream of toxic dust across the Pacific that is wider than the Amazon and deeper than the Grand Canyon—and winds up on the West Coast of the United States.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the rise of China as an economic superpower is the greatest single threat (let's call global warming a collective issue) to the viability of the planet since the development of the nuclear weapon.

China's coal-fired pollution has made the Kyoto Protocol pointless; its fishing is depleting the oceans (while the fish that they farm and send overseas is poisoned); they are destroying their own rivers and forcing species such as the beautiful river dolphin into extinction; they are making enormously destructive environmental inroads into Africa and South America; and meantime, the Communist Party seems unwilling and/or incapable of enforcing any kind of environmental regulation, and is in fact cracking down on environmental protest, for fear of social unrest before the Olympics—even though, ironically, the pollution is going to be so bad in Beijing that the viability of the Olympics itself is being threatened.

This is a very scary situation. What do you do if one nation is destroying the world and refuses to do anything about it?  ¶ 3:18 PM 2 comments   

  The Forward on W&M; The liberal Jewish magazine, The Forward, has read "The Israel Lobby," and doesn't think much of it, nor of Walt and Mearsheimer's protestations that they are being silenced.

As part of the advance marketing campaign, the scholars asked to appear before a variety of Jewish audiences, including synagogues and a Jewish community center. They were, predictably, turned down.

Then the Forward was approached. We were asked to sponsor a program at which the professors would present their views, unopposed. Noting that we hadn’t thought much of the paper when it came out, we were assured that the authors had now incorporated last year’s criticisms. We asked to see a copy of the book, but we found it as sloppy as the original paper and decided not to endorse it. All of which played right into their hands, enabling them to argue that the Lobby is still working to suppress their views — with the Forward as Exhibit A.

...Most of the paper’s flaws survive in the book, but the longer format allowed the introduction of whole new stretches of substandard work...

I think W&M are facing some rocky waters ahead.  ¶ 12:55 PM 2 comments   

  The Pride of South Carolina   ¶ 12:16 PM 6 comments   

  Larry Summers Hits the Chat Shows Larry Summers appeared on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, although the show was guest-hosted by Terry Moran. (It's late August. GS is probably at the US Open, where I should be.)

He was not optimistic about the state of the stock market and the economy, but stuck up for the little guy, saying that the focus of economic policy should not be bailing out big investors, but addressing the needs of homeowners who are facing the loss of their homes.

Sound economic policy—or political positioning?

Summers' best-delivered line of the show: "The Wall Street editorial page is wrong when it tries to deny the American dream" of homeownership to working families.

LHS has gone almost entirely gray in the past year; he's looking more distinguished these days.  ¶ 11:39 AM 2 comments   

  The "Harvard Hottie" There is a discussion below (generously put) of why there are no "hot" women in Boston.

In the interest of equal time, here is a photo of the character referred as the "Harvard hottie," in the just-released film, The Nanny Diaries. (Hint: It's not Scarlett Johanssen.)


  ¶ 10:10 AM 2 comments   

  Harvard's Hotness Newsweek has a list of the "hottest" colleges just out, and it's amusing if basically worthless.

Case in point: the magazine lists Cornell as the "hottest Ivy."

Here's why:

Unlike the other Ivies, Cornell is a land-grant college emphasizing problem solving as well as scholarly debate. The university boasts a world-class engineering college and top-flight liberal arts, science and fine arts. The hotel school is considered the world's best. Cornellians, proud of the variety on campus, point to the president, David Skorton, a cardiologist, jazz musician and computer scientist who is the first in his family to have a college education.

Okay, that's all true, and I'm imagine Wikipedia will confirm it. So what exactly makes Cornell "hot"? Newsweek does not elaborate.

Silly mainstream media. If you're going to say that something is hot, you should at least say why.

Okay, here's the Harvard entry:

This was a close one. Harvard rejected 91.03 percent of its applicants to the class of 2011. It seemed likely, once again, to win the trophy for Stingiest Admissions. But wait: Columbia College, part of Columbia University, rejected 91.05 of applicants. Its student newspaper declared it the winner. Some Columbia freshmen, however, attend the School of Engineering and Applied Science or the School of General Studies, which means that only 89.6 percent of applicants felt the pain.

Well, that is a tortured logic, and what the heck is "hottest for rejecting you" supposed to mean anyway?

The comments do a fine job of deconstructing of this particular feature.  ¶ 10:01 AM 0 comments   

  Yale, Harvard Returns vs. Buy-and-Hold A financial blog says the endowments could do just as well using a buy-and-hold strategy rather than the management systems the two universities have in place....  ¶ 9:24 AM 8 comments   

  If Facebook Isn't Working for You... ...try PlayboyU, the company's new social networking site.

Motto: "Join our student body."  ¶ 7:56 AM 0 comments   

  More on the Endowment Here's yesterday's Globe write-up on last year's endowment returns.

The growth of Harvard's endowment in a single year, $5.7 billion, dwarfs similar gains in the academic world. Other than Harvard, only six American universities held entire endowments larger than $5.7 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

One thing the Globe doesn't mention that the Times did: El-Erian's plan to start a website devoted to HMC that will make make the university's investments more "transparent."

It'll be interesting to see what this means, but it's an encouraging note to strike....  ¶ 7:49 AM 0 comments   

  The Superbaby Bridget Moynihan just gave birth to Tom Brady's child!

You know, it really might make more sense for Brady, who's now dating NYC-based model Giselle Bunchen, and whose ex-girlfriend and child also live in New York, to play for the Giants....

Trade you Eli Manning for him?  ¶ 7:43 AM 11 comments   

  Bush Goes on the Offensive And I do mean offensive.

Today he had the audacity to say that we should stay in Iraq in order to prevent the kind of bloodshed that happened after we withdrew from Vietnam. (The Times blog has a nice analysis of this argument.)

Perhaps the president should say that to this Iraq veteran and his bride, who were photographed by Nina Berman, whose remarkable work is written up in today's Times.


  ¶ 3:47 PM 3 comments   

  Harvard Makes More Money A poster below says that Harvard's endowment has done so well, I should reconsider my sense that Harvard's loss of $350 million in a hedge fund was big news.

Hmmm....

Well, the Times has a piece on Harvard's returns for the past year, and the results are impressive.

The Harvard Management Company, which oversees the endowment of Harvard University, reported yesterday that the endowment had posted a 22.4 percent gain for the fiscal year ended June 30.

..Together with other assets and related accounts, the total value at the end of June rose to $41 billion, from $33.5 billion a year ago. Its 22.4 percent total gain exceeded the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, which was up 20.6 percent for the same period.

The Times notes that the June 30 closing date for this report predates the troubles in the credit markets.

22.4% sounds great, but could it be better?

Several specialists involved in the endowment world said that although Harvard’s figures were very good, they were perhaps not as stellar as what Yale is expected to report next month. Though few universities have reported, last week the University of Virginia said its endowment had returned 25.2 percent.

Nonetheless, it does seem petty to quibble with 22.4%...and Harvard's endowment is now worth $40 billion. That is astonishing.

Perhaps Yale's returns will provide a more meaningful context.  ¶ 3:18 PM 32 comments   

  Stop Jon Friedman Before He Writes Again Media critic Jon Friedman has gotten even worse.

His column today is all about how hard it is to be Steve Nieve, a classical musician who feels like he doesn't get the respect that he deserves from music critics.

Inexplicable, no? Yes. Until you reach this sentence...

I caught up with Nieve and Teodori last Saturday at the house they were renting in Amagansett, on the eastern tip of Long Island....

Ah...the old, "I'm on vacation but if I can find something to write about it won't count as vacation" trick.....  ¶ 12:09 PM 2 comments   

  Walt-Mearsheimer: A Clarification I seem to have created some confusion with my posts on Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, so let me try to clear things up.

First, I'll admit to being skeptical about "The Israel Lobby"—I found the original paper underwhelming—but certainly am keeping an open mind about it. The two professors may well have strengthened their case and elevated the quality of their research since the original paper.

Second, I certainly think that W&M;, as we shall now refer to them, have the right to publish the book and talk about it in any way they wish. This does not mean that private organizations need volunteer a forum for them in which to do so.

Third, I am slightly troubled by the way this book is being marketed, with access to W&M being controlled and limited by their publisher—more on this later—and the book itself kept under tight wraps—very unusual for an academic work—so as to promote greater interest in it. (There may well be other reasons; this is undeniably one.)

Having said that, I do agree that if W&M; really want to get their message out and be heard on such a volatile topic, then they do have to play the game of public relations; that's why I posted about the rather offputting nature of their PR photo.

What I do argue is that they can not have this both ways—play the game and then protest when others do the same.

When, for example, Professor Mearsheimer attributed the cancellation of their forum to pressure from "the lobby," I was dismayed, because in my opinion that remark borders on anti-Semitism. It would be one thing to say that the forum was cancelled because of protest from a specific group or groups; but to point to a vague, conspiratorial, behind the scenes pressure from the mysterious "lobby"—well, that strikes me as irresponsible.

Which is not a promising sign. My suspicion is that the professors don't know quite what they've gotten themselves into, and I can speak from firsthand knowledge that they are getting some bad advice, and that when you are injecting a subject as potentially hurtful and damaging as this one into the public arena, doing so requires great care, skill, and responsibility. (Remember: their paper was praised by David Duke, among others. The potential for unfortunate consequences is substantial.)

Whereas their publisher is concerned with selling books.

So there is something about the very nature of this process that concerns me. And again, that's why I posted about the W&M; photo—because it suggests, in one relatively trivial way, that these men don't quite know what they are doing in this larger arena than that to which they are accustomed, and that they have not surrounded themselves with people who do.

Which, in the end, makes it less likely that their book will provoke healthy, constructive debate, and more likely that it will provoke anger and dissension.

But I hope to be proved wrong. We shall see.  ¶ 11:42 AM 3 comments   

  The Voice on Cornel West This week's Village Voice (yes, it still exists) profiles Cornel West.

Speaking of his record, West says,

"It's a matter of trying to present to young people a danceable education," he says. "Or what I call a 'singing paideia.' [Paideia means "a deep education" in Greek.] You have to get people's attention and focus on serious issues. Then you try to cultivate their self and put a premium on critical reflection, and then you try and engage in the maturation of the soul, which has to do with courage, compassion, and just love, basically."

When will Harvard do the right thing and apologize to West?  ¶ 11:37 AM 11 comments   

  Walt and Mearsheimer—Cancelled The Chicago Trib reports on the decision by the Chicago Council of Global Affairs to cancel a forum about "The Israel Lobby," the forthcoming book by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer.

Council President Marshall Bouton, who made the decision to cancel, said he was not trying to stifle free speech nor shy away from public discussion of a controversial issue. Rather, Bouton said, he preferred that the authors appear in "an appropriate forum" balanced by an opposing viewpoint. Neither council board members who are Jewish nor pro-Israeli groups influenced his decision or pressured him, Bouton said.

Proving again (see below) that Mearsheimer needs a better public relations person than the one Farrar, Strauss & Giroux has provided him—trust me, I know this firsthand—he responds:

"If he wasn't protecting the council from the lobby, who was he protecting it from?"

There you go, Professor Mearsheimer—blaming the Jews again. [You can tell that Mearsheimer would have capitalized "The Lobby."]

Maybe the book should just be called "The Israel Cabal"?
  ¶ 10:57 AM 24 comments   

  Portfoli—oh! That didn't take long. In the pages of TNR, Elizabeth Spiers, founder of the blog DealBreaker.com, calls for the firing of Portfolio editor Joanne Lipmann—after all of two issues.

Two issues? Magazines take time, and any editor deserves more than that. Portfolio's not very good so far, but how many magazines are after two issues?

And now, a Portfolio-related mea culpa. A few days back, I ripped into CBS Marketwatch columnist Jon Friedman for criticizing Portfolio for the manner in which it obtained an interview with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Friedman, I said, should appreciate that Steinbrenner's fair game.

Well, having now, um, read the Portfolio story, I have to say something I never thought I'd write: Jon Friedman was right.

Don't get me wrong, I still think his column was abysmally written and argued in a slapdash and juvenile manner. But the gist of his piece is right: The Portfolio article feels sleazy.

In the Portfolio piece, reporter Franz Lidz accompanies Tom McEwen, an 84-year-old friend of Steinbrenner's, to Steinbrenner's Tampa home—and asks Steinbrenner a bunch of questions.

To start, McEwen sounds like he may not be entirely all there himself. The two drive to Steinbrenner's and proceed to sneak into his gated driveway after another car drives out.

Never in the piece does Lidz mention whether he ever actually tells Steinbrenner what he's working on.

Great to see you, George,” McEwen says. He introduces me as a writer working on a story and asks about Steinbrenner’s wife, Joan.

That's pretty vague—half a sentence. Such vagueness is almost always deliberate. Did McEwen say exactly what Lidz was writing a story about?

Now, it may not have made any difference; Steinbrenner might be too far gone mentally to have cared or perhaps even realized that he was talking to a reporter working on a story about whether he was senile.

Still, I do think the ethics of this manner of getting an interview are pretty questionable. But as you read the story, you realize why Lidz did it—because he's got nothing else. After this lede, the piece is a snooze.

So perhaps Joanne Lipman (who, for the sake of full disclosure, I have met once) ought not to be fired. But her magazine does have some serious work to do.  ¶ 10:38 AM 1 comments   

  The Goods on Rove It's easy to trash Karl Rove without knowing exactly why you're trashing him, just assuming that he's the man responsible for much of the disaster that is the Bush administration.

But this Washington Post story gives you the specifics you need to trash Rove in an informed manner. (Would have been nice if they'd published it before he quit, eh?)

Many administrations have sought to maximize their control of the machinery of government for political gain, dispatching Cabinet secretaries bearing government largess to battleground states in the days before elections. The Clinton White House routinely rewarded big donors with stays in the Lincoln Bedroom and private coffees....

But Rove, who announced last week that he is resigning from the White House at the end of August, pursued the goal far more systematically than his predecessors, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Post, enlisting political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of his strategy to establish Republican electoral dominance.

..."What we are seeing is the tip of a whole effort to make the federal government a subsidiary of the Republican Party. It was all politics, all the time," Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the oversight committee, said last week.

Anyone else think the next five years are going to be good ones for political investigative journalists? This may well turn out to be not only the most incompetent administration in history, but also the most corrupt.  ¶ 9:04 AM 4 comments   

  Thank God for Blogs This Wonkette headline is pretty funny....

Jenna Bush To Marry Rich White Rove Staffer

Wonkette also speculates, rather amusingly, that Jenna is in the family way....  ¶ 11:28 AM 6 comments   

  The Walt/Mearsheimer Book The Times has an interesting piece on the problems Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer are already running into with their forthcoming book, The Israel Lobby.

An article last spring in the London Review of Books outlining their argument — that a powerful pro-Israel lobby has a pernicious influence on American policy — set off a firestorm as charges of anti-Semitism, shoddy scholarship and censorship ricocheted among prominent academics, writers, policymakers and advocates. In the book, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and embargoed until Sept. 4, they elaborate on and update their case.

With all due respect, professors Walt and Mearsheimer, I have one suggestion: When you're taking on a topic this inflammatory, appearance matters. (It probably shouldn't, but it does.) Get rid of this photo—now. Quite frankly, it makes you look cold and heartless and a little creepy. Lose the ties at the very least. Get a dog in there somewhere. (Not a German shepherd, though!)

The book is going to be problematic enough as it is... Anyone out there plan to read it?


  ¶ 1:11 PM 10 comments   

  Another Great Phil Rizzuto Story

The New York Post's enjoyably cranky Phil Mushnick has this amusing remembrance of Phil Rizzuto:

The first-person Phil Rizzuto stories are all great, and hard to choose among. Marty Appel, former Yankees publicity director and later Rizzuto's executive producer when the Yanks were on WPIX, cites Rizzuto's unusual flair for marketing, one that could cause consternation among Yankees officials.

"My favorite was when a screaming line drive foul was hit into the lower stands," Appel said. "Phil hollered, 'Holy cow, it's a wonder more people don't get killed coming to the ballgame!' "

  ¶ 1:09 PM 0 comments   

  Jenna Bush Hooks Up Isn't it interesting when a daughter marries someone who pretty much looks like her dad?

(Evolutionary psychologists feel welcome to chime in....)


  ¶ 1:00 PM 10 comments   

  Harvard's Diversity Deficiency Matthew Keenan and Brian Sullivan write up Harvard's new diversity report for Bloomberg. The Crimson also has a nice piece on the report.

The takeaway? Harvard's not doing so well.

A Harvard University report on the status of women and minorities on the faculty shows that neither group has made much progress in the two years since the issue became a flashpoint at the school.

The proportion of tenured or tenure-track minority professors rose to 16 percent in 2007 from about 15 percent in 2005, according to a report by the school's Office of Faculty Development and Diversity. Women held about 25 percent of "ladder" faculty positions -- those with tenure or the possibility of it -- an increase of less than a percentage point.

Minorities held 240 of the 1,475 tenure and tenure-track positions at Harvard, excluding those at affiliated medical institutions. Women held 365 of those positions.

W0w—that's pretty bad. And this is coming from a white guy.

So what's the real story here—is Harvard serious about diversity, and if it is, what's taking so long?  ¶ 8:08 PM 45 comments   

  From Toys to Pigs

Chinese Pig Virus Causes Concern Around the Globe

From the Times:
A highly infectious swine virus is sweeping China’s pig population, driving up pork prices and creating fears of a global pandemic among domesticated pigs.

Animal virus experts say Chinese authorities are playing down the gravity and spread of the disease and refusing to cooperate with international scientists.

...China’s past lack of transparency — particularly over what became the SARS epidemic — has created global concern.

“They haven’t really explained what this virus is,” says Federico A. Zuckermann, a professor of immunology at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. “This is like SARS. They haven’t sent samples to any international body. This is really irresponsible of China. This thing could get out and affect everyone.”

Again, the combination of a massive international exporter/importer and a secretive, undemocratic government—has the Earth ever seen it before on this scale? Can the Earth survive it?  ¶ 8:43 PM 8 comments   

  Remembering Scooter Jeffrey Lyons writes a nice remembrance of Phil Rizzuto.

The night before Yom Kippur, Kol Nidre, is the holiest in Judaism. But the Red Sox were in town, so naturally I was sitting next to him in the booth.

"Scooter," I said. "Don't say 'Yommmm Keepur...' as if you've never heard of it. Say it quickly and don't congratulate Jewish people or wish them a happy holiday, since it's the Day of Atonement and whatever you do, don't say I'm here, because my mother will kill me.” I was ok with that, since Yankee Stadium is the Temple of Baseball.

About the fourth inning I heard, "We want to wish our Jewish friends a happy... uh oh… hey Jeffrey Lyons... is it 'Yom Kippur?' Is that how you pronounce it?”

I grew up watching the Yankees on black-and-white TV on WPIX—"Eleven Alive!"—and I could well imagine that distinctive voice: "Uh-oh...hey, Jeffrey Lyons...."

Makes me smile just to think of it....  ¶ 8:00 AM 3 comments   

  Toxic Toys Mattel is recalling 19,000,000 of them—all made in China.

(By the way, for a massive recall, the Mattel site is pretty darn quiet about it—try to find the announcement of the recall on their site. Then look at the two-page single-spaced press release, and think about how useful that's going to be for most people. Way to handle the situation, Mattel.)

This is going to start a wave of toy recalls; Mattel is surely not the only one.

In other China news, they've been exporting baby bibs made with lead.

Meanwhile, the number of "super-rich" in China is growing exponentially.

Let me clarify something: A couple of you have wondered if I have something against China. Not so. But China's newfound international power creates a historically unique and alarming situation: The rise of a superpower in a globalized age which also happens to be the world's most populous nation—but, in part due to its undemocratic system of government, lacks the regulatory infrastructure to monitor the safety of its exports or tamp down the excesses of its imports, such as shark fins. The consequences are being felt around the world—from the development of impoverished African nations, pollution of the entire world*, possibly sick children in the US and elsewhere, extinction of sharks around the world, and countless other ways.

And these phenomena stemming from China's massive impact on the world are also happening extremely fast—sharks, , for example, could be extinct within five to ten years.

So we're at a fascinating moment here, and it seems worth paying attention to—and yes, on occasion, raising an alarm about.
________________________________________________________________

From the New York Times:
Unless China finds a way to clean up its coal plants and the thousands of factories that burn coal, pollution will soar both at home and abroad. The increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol seeks.  ¶ 6:46 AM 9 comments   

  Don't Swim With the Seals Because off the coast of Massachusetts, a great white shark is eating them.  ¶ 6:44 AM 9 comments   

  Last Night in the East A poster below takes a shot at the Yankees for getting blown out, 12-0, by the Orioles last night, while the Red Sox came from behind to beat the (thank God for the) Devil Rays, 2-1.

But there's an interesting backstory to this game and why the Yankees lost it.

New York had to pitch a rookie named Jeff Karstens, who got hammered and was gone after three innings, and the game was out of reach after that.

Why? Because Roger Clemens could not pitch, having been suspended for hitting a Toronto Blue Jay—a suspension that was previously referred to on this blog with an epithet. To summarize: The Blue Jays had been throwing at A-Rod for two straight games. They hit him. Clemens hit one of the Blue Jays in retaliation.

The league suspends him for five games.

As I say, a bullshit suspension. But it's cost the Yankees—and now they face the Orioles' best pitcher, Erik Bedard, 12-4 with a 3.11 ERA, tonight. This is a big game.

But Red Sox fans, I wouldn't get too relaxed—it shouldn't take a bottom-of-the-ninth comeback to beat the D-Rays.  ¶ 6:34 AM 15 comments   

  Where Is Rick Levin? The National Review takes Yale's Rick Levin and Duke's Dick Brodhead to task for not signing the anti-Israeli boycott petition....

But—whoops—there's a statement from Rick Levin on the front of Yale's webpage, dated August 10. (Guess that was too much investigative effort for the National Review—you know, typing in www.yale.edu.)

Here's Levin's statement:

I certainly agree with the sentiments expressed in President Bollinger's statement, and I am happy to say so. But I am not comfortable signing group statements or petitions, in this case and as well as hundreds of other similar situations where my participation has been requested.

A boycott of Israel's educational institutions serves no useful purpose. It violates the principle of academic freedom that all universities should practice and defend. We should continue to promote to the fullest extent the opportunity for discussion, collaboration, and exchange with Israeli institutions, as well as with other universities in the Middle East and around the globe.

I have to say, that is less than forceful and less than eloquent. A boycott "serves no useful purpose"? This feels defensive and perfunctory.

President Levin, you can do better than that.

Oh, and whoops, two clicks brings us to Dick Brodhead's statement on the boycott, dated July 27.

Durham, NC -- Britain’s University and College Union voted in late May to move forward with a proposal to boycott Israeli academic institutions, as called for by Palestinian trade unions for Israel’s “40-year occupation” of Palestinian land. (See http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,2091769,00.html.) In response, Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead has issued the following statement condemning the proposed boycott, which the British union has not yet officially ratified:

I view the proposed academic boycott of Israeli universities by Great Britain’s University and College Union as a threat to all institutions of higher education, and I condemn it as such.

All ideas are not equal, but it is a foundational principle of American life that all ideas should have an equal opportunity to be expressed. The protection of free speech is the protection of the notion that people can teach each other and learn from each other through the free airing of differences and the mutual engagement of opposing points of view. To disbelieve that is in some fundamental way to disbelieve in education itself. Duke University has a proud tradition of upholding the free exchange of ideas, including discussions that involve the bitter, unresolved conflicts in the Middle East. The idea of forbidding partnerships and exchanges with Israeli universities and scholars contradicts the high value we place in the pursuit of knowledge on our own campus and in the importance of robust intellectual integrity more broadly. I oppose efforts to suppress the free exchange of ideas at Duke and in university communities around the world.

It's such writing that makes me like Brodhead, despite his misfirings in the rape case. Eloquent, passionate, and right. Also, you have no doubt that he wrote this himself, something you can not always say of many university presidents....  ¶ 6:22 AM 0 comments   

  Morton Schapiro Gets It Right I really like the way the president of Williams College explains his decision not to sign the petition opposing the boycott of Israeli academics. He writes a letter to the entire community (thanks to the poster below who pointed it out) explaining his thinking on the issue and behind his decision not to sign the petition.

So why didn’t I sign the ad in the New York Times? There are three reasons — (1) without any community-wide discussion, I don’t think the President of Williams should make institutional commitments that might affect many members of our community in serious ways; (2) I think that such public pressure from the U.S. at this stage might very well backfire and actually strengthen the position of the UCU delegates who advocate a boycott; (3) the ad was paid for by the American Jewish Committee and I feel very strongly that it was inappropriate to involve a third party in expressing our outrage.

Smart, credible reasons all. But just as important, I like the way Schapiro engages the community in the discussion and makes this a teachable moment. There's no sense of an announcement from on high, as is, unfortunately, the case with Drew Faust's rather lofty explanation, which doesn't explain her reasoning. There's a sense of confidence that if the president shares his reasoning with the community, students and professors and others can actually learn from the episode and share their opinions in an equally reasoned way.

Very nice, President Schapiro.  ¶ 12:44 PM 2 comments   

  Goodbye to the Scooter Sad news: Phil Rizzuto has passed away. The legendary Yankee shortstop and announcer died today at the age of 89.

I'll write more about the Scooter, as he was known, later, when I'm not at the office. But he will be missed.

  ¶ 12:22 PM 0 comments   

  Ouch Summer fun: a video of an Australian surfer being attacked by two great white sharks at once. Note the video's sophisticated "Attack Analysis." Scary stuff.  ¶ 10:22 AM 0 comments   

  On the China Front Mattel is planning another massive recall of Chinese-made toys. Canadian hotels are asking travelers to throw away their Chinese-made toothpaste after it was found to contain anti-freeze. And a bridge collapsed, killing 29 people and raising questions about the speed and safety of China's new construction. And in the last month, the enviro group Sea Shepherd has seized 19,000 illegally-taken shark fins, almost certainly headed for China and Hong Kong.

On the positive side, four baby pandas were born in Chinese zoos yesterday. Pandas are cute.  ¶ 10:11 AM 8 comments   

  Andrew Sullivan Is Bonkers Today he writes this about the GOP primary:  ¶ 9:07 AM 0 comments   

  If I Ran the Internet An advertisement would never be called a "welcome screen"....  ¶ 9:04 AM 0 comments   

  The Presidents, Two Styles Here's Lee Bollinger's statement on the anti-Israeli boycott:

    "As a citizen, I am profoundly disturbed by the recent vote by Britain's 
 new University and College Union to advance a boycott against Israeli academic 
 institutions. As a university professor and president, I find this idea 
 utterly antithetical to the fundamental values of the academy, where we will 
 not hold intellectual exchange hostage to the political disagreements of the 
 moment.  In seeking to quarantine Israeli universities and scholars this vote 
 threatens every university committed to fostering scholarly and cultural 
 exchanges that lead to enlightenment, empathy, and a much-needed international 
 marketplace of ideas. 
   

    "At Columbia I am proud to say that we embrace Israeli scholars and 
 universities that the UCU is now all too eager to isolate -- as we embrace 
 scholars from many countries regardless of divergent views on their 
 government's policies. Therefore, if the British UCU is intent on pursuing its 
 deeply misguided policy, then it should add Columbia to its boycott list, for 
 we do not intend to draw distinctions between our mission and that of the 
 universities you are seeking to punish.  Boycott us, then, for we gladly stand 
 together with our many colleagues in British, American and Israeli 
 universities against such intellectually shoddy and politically biased 
 attempts to hijack the central mission of higher education."
And here's Drew Faust's (with apologies for the formatting;
not sure what's going on there):

Earlier this summer the University and College Union (UCU), an
organization of British academics, proposed a boycott of Israeli
universities and academics, a proposal to be voted on by their
membership in the coming months. On my second day as President, July 2,
I wrote directly to Sally Hunt, the First General Secretary (president)
of the UCU, stating my strong opposition to this measure. I expressed
my conviction that such a move subverts the academic values and
freedoms necessary to the free flow of ideas that are the lifeblood of
universities and, ultimately, that of the societies and world we serve.
To be clear, my own view is that academics should be promoting, not
undermining, the fullest possible collaboration with Israeli
universities as well as other universities in the Middle East and
elsewhere.

Finally, while I am most comfortable expressing my views on such matters directly in my own words as opposed to signing group statements or petitions, I obviously join many colleagues throughout the international academic community in denouncing unequivocally an action that would serve no purpose and would fundamentally violate the academic freedoms we must defend at all costs.

Without making any judgments, there are interesting differences between the two. Bollinger's is more hortatory, more dramatic, more impassioned, and some might say more self-aggrandizing; Faust's is certainly more low-key, perhaps even a bit bland. That's not always a bad thing in such matters, however.

Which, I wonder—and I do not mean this as a rhetorical question—would have a greater impact, Bollinger's public call-to-arms or Faust's quiet declaration?


  ¶ 8:26 AM 9 comments   

  Rove: Influential Bad Guy, or Just Bad Guy? In the Times, Adam Nagourney says Rove's influence will last; in Portfolio (!), Matt Cooper says Rove was never as influential as he's been made out to be.

It's a conventional wisdom catfight!

(Again, by the way, someone at the Times is picking terrific photos; the last one that comes to mind was a pained shot of David Vitter and his wife at Vitter's prostitute-related press conference. Now look at this terrific shot of Bush and Rove "hugging," the way their left hands parallel in some strange, I'm-afraid-to-look-gay distancing. [But where is Bush's right hand?] They look like Tetris pieces that aren't quite fitting together.)


  ¶ 8:14 AM 3 comments   

  Last Night in the AL East The Yanks win one; so do the Sox.

I'm going to call the night a slight victory for the Yankees, even though, obviously, they don't gain any ground. For a couple reasons.

First, they won the game in the bottom of the 9th after Mariano Rivera blew a save. (Hey, it has to happen sometime, and the hits off him were little dinky singles.) That's a great confidence-builder. The Orioles made a game of it; the Yanks calmly took it back.

Second, in a perverse way, I'm glad that Tim Wakefield shut out the Devil Rays last night. His victory against a terrible team masks the fact that he has been getting pounded by teams across the league, and thus will ensure that he stays in the rotation when he seems generally ineffective. For some strange reason, the Yankees absolutely destroy Wakefield. (Right, Aaron Boone?)

Second, the Sox still scored only three runs off Tampa Bay. A week or so ago, the Yanks scored something like 23 against them.....

Third, David Ortiz is complaining of pain in his shoulder. I like Ortiz a lot, he seems like a wonderful guy and a great teammate, and he kills the Yankees time and again—but I also wonder if he's a steroid user. Maybe the 'roids are catching up with him? Regardless, a diminished Ortiz means that Manny Ramirez will see fewer good pitches, diminishing the effectiveness of both of them, and they're both remarkable hitters.

David Ortiz, rookie, and more recently:


  ¶ 7:53 AM 6 comments   

  Drew Faust on Israel Harvard's president has posted a statement regarding the British boycott of Israeli academics.

...Such a move subverts the academic values and freedoms necessary to the free flow of ideas that are the lifeblood of universities and, ultimately, that of the societies and world we serve.

Well said. Concise, eloquent, and correct.

Finally, while I am most comfortable expressing my views on such matters directly in my own words as opposed to signing group statements or petitions, I obviously join many colleagues throughout the international academic community in denouncing...

Less well said. Joining a petition is a great democratic act, something a university president should feel proud to partake in (when appropriate), rather than stand apart or above.
Faust's words would have drawn more attention if they were joined with those of many other insitutions....

Was it perhaps that the petition featured Lee Bollinger most prominently, and Harvard's president could not afford to look subordinate in any context?  ¶ 6:18 AM 4 comments   

  The Justification of Cornel West Entertainment Weekly writes about Cornel West's new record this week (try the print version), and so does the Boston Globe.

In 2002 West left Harvard and returned to the Center for African American Studies at Princeton, where he is a professor of religion. Princeton president Shirley Tilghman wasn't available for comment, but West feels confident of her support.

"I think she'll be much more open than Brother Summers," he says. "The hip-hop scared him. It's a stereotypical reaction."

..."I hope that this contributes to an awakening among young people having to do with the political situation, connecting them to history, and most important, giving them a sense of just how precious the black musical tradition is," West says. "It ought not to be dumbed down or debased or disrespected. I'm not trashing 50 Cent and Snoop. I'm challenging them in a loving way. We can be more engaging and responsible in our work and our art."

With every logical, reasonable, and inspiring word West speaks in the context of this album, he puts the Harvard naysayers in an increasingly awkward position...  ¶ 8:10 AM 10 comments   

  Monday Morning Song   ¶ 7:27 AM 2 comments   

  A Media Mystery Here is one of the great mysteries of the journalism world (you are gripped, I'm sure): Why does Jon Friedman have a job?

CBS Marketwatch's media columnist lambastes Portfolio magazine for writing about George Steinbrenner's mental health.

Here is Friedman's argument:

I believe that [reporter Franz] Lidz invaded Steinbrenner's privacy.

And that is the extent of Friedman's argument.

The fact is that while it may be a sad story, Steinbrenner's condition is a legitimate story. The man owns an organization which, though private, certainly gets lots of public support—in building its new stadium, for example. But the Yankees have been insisting that Steinbrenner is just fine, and the beat reporters won't touch the story because they're afraid that they'll lose access.

And if a media critic can't appreciate a reporter who somehow managed to get around the mile-high wall erected by PR guy Howard Rubinstein, he probably should be writing about something else.

Can't CBS Marketwatch ask Friedman to write about children's movies? Or video games?  ¶ 7:05 AM 1 comments   

  We're Not Number One First, the news that American life expectancy has tumbled relative to that of other nations, from 11th in the world to 42nd.

Now it turns out that we're no longer the tallest people in the world. The Dutch have passed us by about two inches.

"We conjecture that perhaps the western and northern European welfare states, with their universal socioeconomic safety nets, are able to provide a higher biological standard of living to their children and youth than the more free-market-oriented U.S. economy," Komlos wrote in one of his latest papers, published in June in the journal Social Science Quarterly.

I blame George Bush....  ¶ 6:58 AM 3 comments   

  Toy Titan Takes Life Zhang Shuhong, head of a Chinese toy company, killed himself over the weekend.

Lee Der made 967,000 toys recalled earlier this month by Mattel Inc. because they were made with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead.

....The recall by El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel came just two months after RC2 Corp., a New York company, recalled 1.5 million Chinese-made wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line because of lead paint...

Do you ever wonder if some of these shamed executives who are supposed to have killed themselves...didn't actually kill themselves? But were made examples of?  ¶ 6:52 AM 2 comments   

  He's Gone Karl Rove is leaving the White House. Who will tie the president's shoes now?

(The Journal broke the story first, apparently. The Globe will get it in a few days.)  ¶ 6:46 AM 6 comments   

  Food for Thought From Monday's Times:

Will China’s hunger for raw materials enable [Africa] to take off? Or will Beijing’s willingness to spend whatever it needs in Africa, without regard to fiscal prudence, democracy, honest business practices and human rights, produce a replay of booms past, enriching local elites but leaving the continent poorer, its environment despoiled and its natural resources depleted?  ¶ 10:40 PM 0 comments   

  Tick, tick, tick The Yanks win. The Sox lose.   ¶ 9:56 PM 4 comments   

  "It's a Quagmire"   ¶ 9:48 PM 3 comments   

  Just a Little Shout-Out If you're in the mood for some light but thought-provoking summer reading, take a look at the piece by Burkhard Bilger in last week's New Yorker, called "Falling." (Wish I could link to it, but TNY hasn't put it on-line.)

Burk is an old friend from Yale—we were in Branford College together—and in addition to being one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, he is an absolutely lovely writer. He also has a knack for choosing fascinating, intriguing and eccentric subjects.

His article is about a Frenchman, Michel Fournier—do click the link, it's quite a site—who wants to parachute to the Earth from 25 miles up in the atmosphere. Sound crazy to you? It does to me, too. But Fournier's not the only person to have this bizarre impulse, and as Burk explores the history of high-altitude skydiving, you begin to realize that he's really writing about the human impulse to do things that have never been done, to push the limits of our bodies and our minds.

Sometime an evolutionary psychologist will put a name to this, if one hasn't already, but I am sure there's a sound evolutionary reason why some people have this passion to jump from the edge of space back to the planet's surface, even if it kills them.

But there's no need to search for the science, if you don't want to; on another level, it's a wonderfully romantic, crazy, brilliant piece of writing. Don't miss it.  ¶ 1:03 PM 3 comments   

  The Sox Blow One If the Yankees do in fact come back to tie or beat the Red Sox in the east, last night's game will be seen as a watershed. Your bullpen gives up five runs in the eighth and ninth to lose to the Orioles? Ouch. Will this game get in the Sox's heads?

Meanwhile, with the help of two rookie pitchers whom they've steadfastly refused to trade, the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-1. A-Rod hit his 37th; Derek Jeter went 3-4, and the Yankees now have five starters hitting .300 or better.

I have a bet with a colleague at work, who says that the Red Sox lead over the Yankees will be nine games by 9/1. I'm liking my chances.
______________________________________________________________

P.S. Here's a remarkable thing: I read in the NY Post that the combined ages of last night's Yankee pitchers, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, is three years less than Roger Clemens' age; they're 21, he's 45.

P.P.S. Speaking of Clemens...the American League's suspension of Clemens for five games is absurd. The Blue Jays had been throwing at A-Rod for two straight games, hitting him once. Clemens does the appropriate thing and nails one of the Blue Jays, and the umps throw him out of the game and suspend him and manager Joe Torre? What a crock.  ¶ 7:33 AM 0 comments   

  Paulson Goes to China Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a longtime enviro and former board member of the Nature Conservancy, spoke about the environment in China yesterday.....

He said Qinghai Lake and glaciers on the Tibetan plateau were important for the global climate because shrinkage of the lake and melting of the glaciers could permanently shift the jetstream, bringing severe weather to other continents. Likewise, carbon emissions elsewhere could hasten the lake's demise.

He said engagement on environmental issues was important to US President George W. Bush...

Okay, well, that last is a little bit of a stretch. But good for Paulson to bring it up.
  ¶ 7:46 AM 5 comments   

  Because You All Care about Ivy League Football According to the Times, Yale's football team will also rock. (See below for the first rockers.)

"We’re the only team in the league ranked in the top 25 nationally," says Yale coach Jack Siedlecki. "You’ve got to be able to handle that and not get swollen heads.”

Yale is ranked in the top 25 nationally?

Someone must have made an error with a decimal point...  ¶ 7:20 AM 1 comments   

  More Talk about '80s Bands I saw Crowded House at the Beacon Theater last night, and they totally rocked.

A two-plus hour show...multiple sing-alongs...an improvised jam with Neil Finn's son, Liam, who started playing one of his own songs, and on the second verse the rest of the band, which clearly didn't know the song, kicked in...lots of new songs that are actually good...and an incredible connection between audience and band, a feeling of mutual respect and gratitude. Also, Neil called his father in New Zealand from the stage. How often do you see a rock star playing in a band with his son calling his father most of the way around the world? And making it seem cool?

(His dad wasn't home, by the way, so the audience left a message on his answering machine.)

I saw the Police at the Garden last week (I'm an '80s kind of guy), and don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Police fan, slept out for tickets when I was a teenager and teenagers did that kind of thing...but Crowded House blew them away. Without a doubt, it was a vastly better show. Not to mention that the tickets were half the price.

If they're coming your way....see 'em. Trust me, it's a special evening.  ¶ 7:05 AM 5 comments   

  Harvard...Doesn't Sign Petitions That's the explanation for Drew Faust's decision to send a private letter regarding the absurd British boycott of Israeli academics, rather than sign the full-page ad that appeared in the NYT on Wednesday. (A slightly smaller full page than it used to be, sadly.)

Anyone know what the rationale for the "Harvard doesn't sign petitions" rule is?

Because of course, a private letter has a much lesser impact than a public statement.

Is Harvard afraid that it will be pressured to sign every petition that comes along?

Or does the university just feel that it shouldn't even associate with lesser universities—that it would be bad for "the brand" to do so?  ¶ 6:58 AM 6 comments   

  It's In Stores Tuesday The Baltimore Sun reviews Cornel West's new album.

Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations, his second album and debut for Hidden Beach Recordings, hits stores Tuesday. As to be expected from West, the 14-track CD is a heavy listen as the mostly biting lyrics center on topics people don't usually discuss at the office water cooler: government deception, racial profiling, the painful legacy of the "n-word."

..."This is a whole new different level to connecting the spiritual with the political," West says of the album. "I'm bringing to hip-hop that old-school sensibility. Let me try to bring a sense of history. Let's give our younger people a knowledge of their rich history."  ¶ 6:52 AM 0 comments   

  Post of the Day Magazine deadlines, book deadlines, a vicious head cold and flooded subways crimped my blogging this morning...but a poster below raised an issue I had intended to address.

(Thanks, poster.)

Without further ado, then, here's the post of the day.....

There's a full page ad in the NYT today objecting to the proposed boycott of Israeli universities by a group in the U.K. The ad includes a compelling letter signed by Lee Bollinger of Columbia. Many universities represented by their presidents cosigned the eloquent plea for academic freedom and the willingness to be boycotted along with Israeli colleagues, because they are no different from them.

Princeton, Dartmouth and the U. of Penn are among the signatories. Interestingly, Harvard is not. But that's not because local institutions were left out: Tufts president Lawrence Bacow, along with former president of Princeton Harold Shapiro, is listed as one of the organizers of the entire effort.

Why on earth do you suppose Harvard didn't cosign this? Memories of Nathan Pusey's impassioned objections to McCarthey era blacklists abound...

And to think we could have had Lee Bollinger six years ago...  ¶ 4:06 PM 11 comments   

  Loss of a Chinese Treasure In China, the Yangtze river dolphin—a 20-million-year old species—is gone. Poof. There are no more. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

It's the first extinction of a large vertebrate in over 50 years, according to the BBC.

The reason? Unregulated fishing, including electrofishing—you can probably figure that one out—and rolling hooks, which are longlines with thousands of unbaited hooks used for snagging bottom fish that, as you can imagine, kill lots of other stuff.

Here's what the Yangtze river dolphin used to look like:

  ¶ 12:44 PM 12 comments   

  The Beauchamp Mystery The Washington Post follows up on the Weekly Standard and reports the Army's claim that the writings of Scott Beauchamp, TNR's Baghdad Diarist, are lies.

But TNR sticks to its guns.


It's worth looking a little more closely at the Army's statement:

An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by Pvt. Beauchamp were found to be false. His platoon and company were interviewed and no one could substantiate the claims.


Now, of course we all know that it's easier to prove that a thing did happen than that it didn't. Still, it's worth noting the logical flaw in the Army's argument: No one could "substantiate the claims"...therefore they are "found to be false."

Well...no. The only conclusion to be drawn from the supposition presented is the same as the supposition: No one can substantiate the claims.

Also, can you imagine those interviews:

"Soldier, did you run around with the skull of a baby on your head?"

"No, sir."

"Did you see any other soldier run around with a baby's skull on his head?"

"No, sir."

And voila—you can't substantiate the claims.......

There's a cover-up going on here, and the press ought to stop being so lazy and start really looking into it. What, for example, has the Army done with Private Beauchamp?

  ¶ 6:34 AM 3 comments   

  It's Down to Five The Yankees beat Toronto, 9-2, as Roger Clemens pitches a gem; Boston, sounding like they played a hideous game, got whooped by the Angels, 10-4.

I'm not making any predictions, because the Sox are too good to fall apart. (Aren't they?) I'm just enjoying the race—back when the Sox were up 14, and pundits were saying the AL East was over, watching the division wasn't much fun.

It is now.  ¶ 6:29 AM 10 comments   

  A Bit More on Fred Thompson Just to add a little more meat to this conversation....

It's worth noting that Fred Thompson, whose wife lived with her boyfriend for most of a decade—though there's some debate about whether they were actually married—and who is himself divorced, voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which would institute a federal ban on gay marriage. (So much for federalism.) He also voted against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

So, yes, I think his marriage to Jeri Thompson, as well as his own divorce, are fair game. When you start discriminating against people who want to get married—but you don't hesitate to marry and divorce yourself—and your new wife may or may not have been married, no one's really saying—then sure, Jeri Thompson is an issue.  ¶ 10:51 AM 4 comments   

  Rudy's Family Hates Him Don't you just love the news that Rudy Giuliani's 17-year-old daughter, Caroline, is supporting Barack Obama?

Some of it surely has to do with her dislike of Rudy's third wife, the adulteress Judith Nathan, who sounds deeply dislikeable—when angered, she used to call one of her previous husbands "kike" and "little Jew boy."

Oh, and by the way—no matter what Robert Novak or anyone says, Fred Thompson's wife is a trophy wife. For God's sake, her name is "Jeri."

I just love these family-men Republicans.....




Fred Thompson's wife.





Fred Thompson.

Update: As some of you have graciously pointed out, the photo above is not, in fact, Jeri Thompson, but country singer Lori Morgan, whom Fred Thompson once dated, and, to be fair, is actually a woman of some substance.

Here's an accurate photo of Fred Thompson and his wife.




On another note, some of you have suggested that I am grumpy this morning. (More than usual, apparently.) Grumpy? Nah. Tired, overworked, and a little sick. But definitely not grumpy.

For the record, I have nothing against Jeri Thompson; I'm sure she's a very nice woman. But let's be honest here: The chances that Fred Thompson, who is now trying to present himself as the "real" conservative in this race, married her for her character and substance are pretty slim; and the chances that she married him for the same are even slimmer. Any of you who have lived in Washington and spent any time on Capitol Hill know how this works.

No, what irritates me is when Republicans try to proscribe behavior for the rest of us—and then exempt themselves whenever it's convenient. And the Republican media has swung to her defense, when if, say, John Kerry had married a woman 25 years his junior, they'd be ripping into him like a pack of piranhas. (Though come to think of it, they do that when a Democratic man marries a woman of substance, too.)

Note, for example, the way that Republican commentators have claimed that Jeri Thompson is a lawyer—when, whoops, she isn't. She has worked as a political and media consultant for a law firm, and as a spokeswoman for the RNC and Senate Republican Conference. Many people who have such jobs in Washington are experienced and qualified; some women who look like Jeri Thompson have such jobs for other reasons. Given that it's unclear whether JT has any actual campaign experience, I'd be willing to bet that she got the job because she's a pretty young woman from Tennessee.

Here's a little more bio on Jeri Thompson, from the Washington Post:

Growing up in Naperville, 30 miles west of Chicago, Jeri Kehn was a member of her high school's state-champion spirit squad, the Starlettes, known for their white boots and matching Stetsons. She majored in English at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.....

Thompson then lived with a man for the better part of a decade, which is not exactly kosher to, oh, most of the Republicans running for president.

In 1994, Kehn [Thompson's maiden name] was ordered to pay $10,000 in unspecified civil damages related to a 1990 car accident in Naperville in which she swerved across three lanes on a highway and struck another car, totaling it. The outstanding balance was paid off in 1999.

In 1996, the Davidson County court in Nashville ordered a $900 judgment against Kehn in a case brought by an anesthesiologist, and garnished her wages at a communications company. In 1997, the court ordered a $1,700 judgment against Kehn for unpaid medical bills at Nashville's Baptist Hospital and again ordered her pay garnished. But Kehn had left for another job, and the debt is still listed in court records as unpaid.

Later on, Kehn met Thompson at a barbecue in Nashville, and they started dating occasionally. She took the opportunity to propose to Thompson that she build and maintain a website for him, though she had absolutely no experience in web design.

...Thompson's staff sharply rejected the proposal, according to memos located by the Memphis Commercial Appeal in the Thompson Senate archives, stored at the University of Tennessee. "I consider this project technically vague and stunningly overpriced," a staff member wrote.

After it became known that Kehn was dating Thompson, she was hired by the RNC. Again, those of you who have lived in Washington will know that both the RNC and the DNC are traditional dumping grounds for people someone wants employed for reasons that have nothing to do with their qualifications.

Kehn was subsequently hired by Burson-Marsteller at the request of Kenneth Rietz, then the head of the firm's DC office, who happened to be a friend of Fred Thompson.

After marrying Thompson in 2002—she was 35, he was 59—she stayed home to raise their two kids. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

So...you tell me. Trophy wife or no?  ¶ 7:05 AM 16 comments   

  In Ecuador, A Growing Controversy Ecuador president Rafael Correa's decision to legalize the sale of shark fins, as long as the sharks are caught "accidentally," has led to a bloodbath—and started a growing controversy.

Fishing boats have returned to shore laden with fins of dozens of species, including several that are threatened with extinction, which are vital to maintaining biodiversity, according to critics.

The spectacle of fins piled up on piers has triggered a political row, pitting the government and fishermen against the rest of the country. Most of the fins are exported to Asia, where they end up in soup bowls.

Incidentally, Correa's move is sure to threaten the viability of sharks around the Galapagos Islands, which are really one of the world's great treasures. He might as well have encouraged hunters to go slaughter all the blue-footed boobies and sea lions. The only difference is, they live above ground.

Here's some small good news for sharks: Canada is commencing a shark "census" to evaluate the health of shark populations in its water.

"We do not want sharks to go the way of the cod," ...said Dr. Steven Campana, head of the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

Remember, all you summer diners out there: If you see shark on a menu at your favorite seafood restaurant, it's easy enough to ask the waiter to tell the chef that you don' t support serving shark..... Here's one UK chain that voluntarily stopped serving shark.

And—sorry all you sushi-lovers—it's time to do the same with Atlantic bluefin tuna. They're almost gone....
  ¶ 6:42 AM 2 comments   

  You Get What You Pay For If you're a parent of a young child, you probably know that there's a huge (and logistically almost impossible) recall of children's toys and jewelry because so many of these products are made with lead.

...Of the 17.9 million pieces of jewelry items pulled from the market since the start of 2005, 95 percent were made in China.Numerous hazardous products imported from China — including toxic ingredients put into dog food, tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and toys coated in lead paint — have been recalled.

The rush to modernity is always painful, but in a globalized world, it hurts all of us....and should, perhaps, make us think about the real price tag of a product with the label, "Made in China."  ¶ 6:36 AM 0 comments   

  The Next Pat Tillman-like Cover-Up? This is scary: The New Republic's Baghad blogger, Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, has "recanted" his stories after a military investigation.

To recap: Beauchamp anonymously wrote several columns for the New Republic in which he described horrific behavior on the part of American soldiers, their characters twisted by their time in Iraq.

Conservatives went nuts and questioned his legitimacy.

The New Republic did some digging, confirmed almost all of his writing, and (with his permission) revealed his identity as the husband of a TNR intern.

Immediately afterward, the military seized Beauchamp's computer and telephone; he could not even communicate with his wife.

Now comes this statement from the military:

An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by PVT Beauchamp were found to be false. His platoon and company were interviewed and no one could substantiate the claims.

One has to wonder: Did the military Abu Graib him?

Here's what the New Republic said in its own investigation, which one has to assume is more credible than the Army's:

In this process, TNR contacted dozens of people. Editors and staffers spoke numerous times with Beauchamp. We also spoke with current and former soldiers, forensic experts, and other journalists who have covered the war extensively. And we sought assistance from Army Public Affairs officers. Most important, we spoke with five other members of Beauchamp's company, and all corroborated Beauchamp's anecdotes, which they witnessed or, in the case of one solider, heard about contemporaneously. (All of the soldiers we interviewed who had first-hand knowledge of the episodes requested anonymity.)

Think the military went that far to find the truth?

The Weekly Standard, meanwhile, claims that Beauchamp "recanted" his stories on the first day of the "investigation." Columnist Michael Goldfarb writes,

...the great unanswered question in the affair is this: Did Scott Thomas Beauchamp lie under oath to U.S. Army investigators, or did he lie to his editors at the New Republic? Beauchamp has recanted under oath. Does the New Republic still stand by his stories?

I'm amazed (well, not really) that the Standard could be so willfully naive about this. Does anyone really believe that the military wanted to know the truth about this situation? Or is it entirely likely that they were determined to suppress Beauchamp?
____________________________________________________________

P.S. Thanks, by the way, to the poster below who brought this to my attention.  ¶ 6:14 AM 0 comments   

  It's Down to Six The Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 5-4, for their fourth straight win; they are 19-7 since the All-Star break.

Meanwhile, the Sox lost because (if you had to point to one thing) Manny Ramirez swore at an umpire and got thrown out of the game.

Whoever wins the AL East, you just know this race is going to get closer....  ¶ 6:03 AM 0 comments   

  The Art of the Blog Think blogging is easy? (Some of you clearly do.) Then check out how unbelievably dull Andrew Sullivan's blog gets when he's on vacation and guests fill in.....  ¶ 8:54 AM 8 comments   

  You Heard It Here First Neil Finn has reformed Crowded House and recorded this new album, and it's a quiet gem, nothing earthshaking, just melodic, smart, beautifully crafted songs. And because of Hester, there's a wistfulness and a sorrow that deepens the album, the way that an awareness of mortality and loss infuses and adds meaning to all the most powerful art.

The sentiment is most explicit on two songs, "A Sigh" and "Silent House...."

—SITD, July 13, '07

Mr. Finn reconvened the bassist Nick Seymour, a founder of the band in 1985, and the keyboardist and guitarist Mark Hart. One member was absent: the drummer Paul Hester, who suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2005. That’s one reason the reunion album, “Time on Earth,” is suffused with thoughts of mortality and mourning.

...“Time on Earth” is filled with ballads and thoughts of how transient life is, nowhere more so than in the aching, shimmering “A Sigh"....

New York Times, August 6, '07  ¶ 8:05 AM 0 comments   

  More on Night Water Because I am interested in the origin of words and phrases, I've been trying to discover citations for "night water" and "night soil," terms raised in the Drew Faust item below. Are they really urine and excrement produced at night? Or is there a deeper, darker meaning?

(I know, charming topic for a Monday morning, but this is all about the advancement of knowledge, so hang in there.)

The terms are surprisingly difficult to find via Google.

But night soil is discussed in this 1897 work on agriculture; it appears to be a blend of excrement and earth. Our author—Frank Humphreys Storer, 1832-1914, former dean of the Bussey Institution at Harvard, papers in the university archives—suggests that fresh waste makes better fertilizer than does night soil.*

Indeed, one strong objection to the use of night-soil...is its great liability to variation. The farmer can seldom be sure as to the real value of any given load of it—not nearly so sure as he would be in the case of horse-manure or cow-dung. As has already been intimated, many farmers enar Boston are willing enough to use night-soil provided they can obtain it in the form of fresh solid excrement....

As for night water..well, brace yourself. There's a reference in Samuel Pepys' diary to night water, and it's not what you think. Apparently one of the chief ingredients in 17th century anti-wrinkle creams was dogs' urine, also known as "night water." A 1656 pamphlet advised the reader that "evey morning when you rise you must wash your face in Puppy dog water, and then lay on the painting [makeup]."

Forgive me, because this is too easy.... But is there any particular Harvard professor who might be able to shed some light on these waste-related issues? (And don't you dare say anything about all this being a "waste" of time.....)

___________________________________________________________

* Incidentally, this work is online because of Google's digitization of Harvard's libraries. Interesting.  ¶ 7:26 AM 8 comments   

  The Women of CalTech If anyone's interested in the subject of women and science, here's news that CalTech is enrolling the largest number of women in its freshman class ever: 87 women, or 37%.

The new rise may not seem very dramatic to the outside world. Caltech still lags the 46.1% female enrollment expected in this fall's freshman class at its East Coast rival, MIT, which offers a broader range of majors, and the 42.6% expected at Harvey Mudd College, the science-and-math-focused school in Claremont.

...Still, the increase at Caltech — a small and intellectually elite campus where the middle range of SAT scores is in the top 1% or 2% nationally — is significant. It represents progress in getting more women into the highest levels of technology and science training, officials said.

...Incoming freshman Elizabeth Mak, a Pasadena resident who plans to major in biology, said it is important to encourage more women to enter the traditionally male-dominated fields of science and technology.

Mak, 18, noted that she followed the controversy that arose two years ago when Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University, said that innate differences between men and women might be a reason why there was a dearth of female professors in the sciences.

I wonder if Larry Summers ever considers the possibility that his most influential legacy—possibly his most positive one—might be the one that resulted from a gaffe?  ¶ 7:18 AM 3 comments   

  In Iraq, Shooting Ourselves in the Foot (Or Worse) The Pentagon can't find 190,000 rifles it distributed to Iraqui security forces.

....the inability of the United States to track weapons with tools such as serial numbers makes it nearly impossible for the U.S. military to know whether it is battling an enemy equipped by American taxpayers."They really have no idea where they are," said Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information who has studied small-arms trade and received Pentagon briefings on the issue. "It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors."

Here is a genius idea, the kind of thing that could make me a multi-millionaire if I were inclined to become an international arms manufacturer: Why doesn't the Pentagon invent a rifle that can be remote-controlled by computer chip, so that it the rifle fell into the wrong hands, it could be tracked and/or disabled?

And any attempt to destroy the chip would result in the permanent inoperability of the weapon?

If we can make EZ Passes, GPS systems, and the like, why couldn't we make this?  ¶ 7:06 AM 1 comments   

  Shark Fins and Snow Leopards The president of Ecuador has reversed his order to deport an American who was involved in a police raid that seized over two tons of shark fins.

The president, Rafael Correa, accused the American of illegally involving himself in Ecuadoran affairs; the American, Sean O'Hearn, a volunteer for Sea Shepherd, pointed out that he has an Ecuadoran wife and child.

In the background of this: a controversy over a new regulation passed by Correa which allows the sale of fins from sharks that are "accidentally" caught, but contains no specifics on how to determine whether a shark is caught accidentally.

Noting that each fin can fetch about $80 in Asia, where they are considered a delicacy, he called the measure a way to help fishermen who "want to bring bread to their children."
"They’re telling us to be sensitive with sharks and insensitive with people," Correa said.

Well, that ought to give the fishermen of Ecuador work for another three or four years, until there are no more sharks left in Ecuadoran waters.

Here's a petition you can sign asking Correa to reinstate the ban on shark fishing, which was in effect before he took office and lifted it.

Meanwhile, police in China seized an illegal cache of rare animal furs.

Police raided a flat in Linxia in the central province of Gansu where they found the remains of bears, snow leopards, clouded leopards and lynxes, Xinhua news agency said.

....Bones of exotic animals are an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine.

Why is it that it's only the exotic animals which get killed for "medicine"?

My guess: Because the medicine is a crock, and its efficacy, also known as the placebo effect, depends upon the primitive consumer believing in it, something which is more likely to happen if you can say, "contains claw of bear, shark fin, and kidney of snow leopard" than if you say, "It's chicken soup."

The question is, Will Chinese culture modernize sufficiently to address these myths before its growing consumer culture depopulates the world of beautiful and rare animals?

By the way, know why the snow leopard is in demand? Because it's a substitute in that "medicine" for the bones of tigers, which the Chinese have forced into extinction across Asia.
  ¶ 6:41 AM 4 comments   

  Michael Ignatieff 'Fesses Up   ¶ 8:39 AM 0 comments   

  Columbia in Harlem The Boston Globe runs an AP story about Columbia's plan to expand in Harlem and the concerns that plan has raised among some people in the neighborhood.

Columbia's $7 billion plan calls for the construction of new buildings for the arts, business, and science, as well as a public high school, on 17 acres north of the campus. To construct the expansion, most of the neighborhood's buildings -- a mix of apartments, warehouses, auto repair shops, and small factories -- would have to be razed.

...The opposition to Columbia's expansion isn't unique-- but other campuses have shown such tension can be eased. In Connecticut, Yale University's effort to mend relations between the campus and community has been a model.

The story doesn't mention a couple of important things: The fact that there is also significant community support for the expansion, and the fact that the area in question is a complete dump. Even to call it a "neighborhood" is a stretch, legitimate only if you think of an underused, underserved industrial area, filled with body shops, storage areas, parking lots and the like a neighborhood.  ¶ 7:25 AM 8 comments   

  You Heard It Here First The Boston-New York Role Reversal  ¶ 10:21 PM 10 comments   

  Drew Faust on the Environment, and Herself Well, some of you aren't too happy about Harvard's efforts to go green. Apparently you haven't read Drew Faust's contribution to the "Green supplement" of the Harvard Gazette.

I want to take this opportunity...

Almost a decade ago, President Neil Rudenstine ...

The University has also established a $12 million revolving, interest-free loan fund...

I am proud to inherit this institutional commitment...

Over 40 years ago, Rachel Carson wrote...

There are two options here: Either Drew Faust didn't write this banality, or she did. Neither is encouraging.

Here's something else that's less than confidence-inspiring: on the president's webpage, you will now find links to positive articles in the press about Drew Faust. But only positive articles—you won't find, for example, my somewhat more skeptical look at her in 02138 on the site. The Revisionist, indeed.

Let's be honest: If Larry Summers had started posting puff pieces lauding himself on his president's page, which he did not, he would have been snickered at for engaging in such blatant self-puffery. The same should hold true for any Harvard president. The leader of a great university should operate with more confidence; she should also pay attention, if she doesn't already, to what's posted on her website.  ¶ 10:09 AM 49 comments   

  The End of the Steinbrenner Era Are the Yankees selling the YES network, which broadcasts their games and other sports-related content?

According to Fortune, the answer is YES. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

This is a very curious move, as the network is what really pulls in the revenue for the team, and without it, it'd be much harder for the Yankees to pay the salaries they do. Which raises the question, of course, of whether the team itself is up for sale......

If I were a Red Sox fan, I think I'd be enjoying this.  ¶ 2:09 PM 21 comments   

  What's Wrong with the Donald?
Anyone else notice that Donald Rumsfeld looked like he had aged substantially since the last time we saw him when he testified before Congress yesterday?

Rumsfeld always looked vigorous and healthy in the past; yesterday, for the first time, he looked like an old man.  ¶ 1:58 PM 8 comments   

  Stop the Presses The AP tells us something we don't know....

Why People Have Sex: It Feels Good



(Unless, of course, you're True Love Revolution!)  ¶ 3:52 PM 5 comments   

  The Disappearing New Republic The once-weekly magazine just announced that it is going on vacation and won't publish for three weeks.

As Gawker points out, this is irritating to those of us who paid for a subscription back when the magazine was a weekly, only to be told that suddenly we'd be getting half as many issues—though the New Republic swore that they'd be twice as long.

Are they? Not even close.....

The real question about the New Republic is whether anyone will particularly notice that it isn't publishing.  ¶ 7:07 AM 3 comments   

  More on that Gagne Trade One of those minor leaguers the Sox sent to Texas for Gagne is apparently extremely promising:

The key to the deal was Beltre, a 17-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic signed last summer by the Red Sox for $700,000, one of the largest bonuses given to a Dominican teenager. Baseball America, not sparing the hyperbole, wrote this winter that Beltre's "lean body and tools have elicited comparisons to Barry Bonds and Darryl Strawberry.

Here's a difference between Boston and New York sports media: If the Yankees had made that deal, there'd be at least a couple of columns in various papers questioning the wisdom of adding a two-month rental—Gagne becomes a free agent when the season is done—at the expense of a 4-0 pitcher and a minor leaguer you paid $700k-plus to sign.

Whereas the Globe headlines this column, "Red Sox land top reliever, set title course."

Boosterism, much?  ¶ 7:00 AM 3 comments   

  Quote of the Day "We don't know what we don't know."

—Mary Kendall, the deputy inspector general at the Department of the Interior, explaining that her agency did not find any political interference by Dick Cheney in water policy because it did not bother to ask. Cheney's alleged intervention in diverting water killed 77,000 salmon, the largest fish die-off in the West.  ¶ 6:48 AM 0 comments   

  Drink More Coffee Canada's Globe and Mail reports that coffee has all sorts of health benefits...

It wasn't long ago when coffee was linked to heart disease, osteoporosis, infertility and pancreatic cancer. Now research suggests that if you drink enough of it, you'll lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma, gallstones, Parkinson's disease, liver cancer and possibly colon cancer. And you'll feel more alert and work out harder at the gym.

Also, it wakes you up in the morning. And late morning. Early afternoon...  ¶ 6:35 AM 3 comments   

  What Happened to Sowood? In the Globe, Steve Bailey discusses Sowood, Harvard, the credit markets, and how this all affects regular people.  ¶ 6:31 AM 0 comments   

  Make that $350 Million From the Wall Street Journal:

In the past month, the university lost about $350 million through an investment in Sowood Capital Management, a hedge-fund firm founded by Jeffrey Larson. Mr. Larson managed Harvard's foreign-stock holdings until 2004, when he left to set up Sowood, which recently lost more than 50% of its value amid bad bond investments.  ¶ 6:26 AM 0 comments