Archive for the ‘Raised Eyebrows Dept.’ Category
Their Dismembered Remains
Pigeons strutted happily among their dismembered remains. [Ghost of a Flea, by James Sallis, p. 101.] The meaning is assisted, somewhat, by the preceding sentences: I'd gone across for coffee and doughnuts…. We'd both wisely foregone the doughnuts after tasting them. Pigeons strutted happily…. I'd say it makes a strong case for using the semi-colon.
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Such Language!
"Old Jewish Men Confused"
[NYTimes] Scott McClellan, the press secretary to President Bush, called on you and allowed you to ask questions on a nearly daily basis. What, exactly, is your relationship with him? [Jeff Gannon] I was just another guy in the press room. Did I try to curry favor with him? Sure. When he got married, I […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
One-Testis Beetles
There is some payoff for reading all those boring-to-death scientific headlines; every now and again one gets an unexpected treat like this: Researchers Find Three Major Beetle Groups Coming Up One Testicle Short BERKELEY – A surprisingly large number of beetles are missing one of their testes, the male gonads of insects. As far as […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., The Art of Conversation
Republicans Unexpectedly Oppose Traditional Marriage
When I first read these paragraphs in an editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("Congress: Democracy's day off"), I looked back at it several times, wondering where the typo was, or where the word had been left out that changed its meaning: The House passed on a voice vote, without hearing or thought, a measure to […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
ID and Astrology
Because I suffer from hubris, as all scientists seem to do, I sometimes imagine that I'm a clever, creative person with an inventive mind. Then, suddenly, my fortress of personal fiction crumbles when I am faced with creative invention that zooms light-years past any of my own paltry attempts. Thanks to Steve Reuland at The […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., The Art of Conversation
No Brainer
Today's entry in the "Unfortunate Juxtaposition of Headlines in the RSS Feed" came from The Scotsman: 'No risk' man fried and ate friend's brain (by Shenai Raif) Why Scots don't like inviting friends to dinner (by Alastair Jamieson)
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Carrying the Sword
"Separation of Church and State" is such a tired old platitude, so 1780s. "Carrying the sword in place of the Lord" just has such a nice modern, authoritarian, patriarchal ring to it: In a 1989 ruling, [Supreme Court Justice Antonin] Scalia cast the deciding vote in Stanford v. Kentucky, concluding that the execution of a […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Most are Average
From "Framing The GOP", by Parker Blackman (which I read at TomPaine.com), this stunning tautology: Most Americans are moderate in their views; extremism on either side of the political spectrum makes them uncomfortable. I've known for some time that most people don't have any sort of feeling for statistical concepts, and few of them seem […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
The Right to Vote
I'm actually surprised and maybe even shocked to read: Last week, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Il., introduced House Joint Resolution 28 with 54 original co-sponsors. The Jackson amendment would reverse the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore that the citizen has no constitutional right to vote. Currently, voting is a state right, and all […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Blame the Phone
In Brick, New Jersey, the Board of Education seems embarrassed over an incident that occured on their watch. In brief, according to the Asbury Park Press, …a videotape showing a Brick Township High School teacher [Stuart Mantel] screaming at his students to show respect for the national anthem — and then pulling the chair from […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
I Meant "Aviatrix"
Tonight I wanted to look up some information online about the musical "Wings" (music by Jeffrey Lunden, book and lyrics by Arthur Perlman, from the play "Wings" by Arthur Kopit). I was far too lazy to walk into another room to find a bit of information, so I decided to Google with a few words […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Investigation by The Press?
I didn't think that I was becoming a big cheerlearder for blogging, but I found that I was rather put off by the following, which may say something to the contrary. Here we find Frank Rich (writing in the "Arts" section, of all places, in the NYTimes — why is that?), in "Gonzo Gone, Rather […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
Rational Orgasm
Continuing with what seems to be today's look at Big-Brotherism and conservative sex-obsession, herewith an excerpt from "Toying with Your Freedom", by Dimitri Vassilaros, in the Tribune-Review [Pittsburgh, PA]: Alabama had outlawed the sale of what some call "marital aids." The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to review the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Comrade FDR
I usually avoid mentioning this pseudo-commentator by name, but this item from the top of the Editor and Publisher story "Campus Group Tweaks Coulter with Book Titles", by Dave Astor, gave me a good chuckle: NEW YORK The liberal Campus Progress group held a contest to name columnist Ann Coulter's next liberal-bashing book. The winning […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Everyday Homophobia
Big acts of homophobia, like the President's call — half-heartred though it is — for a Constitutional ban on marriage equality, are certainly awful. They are visible and they incite large numbers of people simultaneously to look for ways to renew their thoughtless hatred. I take them personally, and I get tired of endless "debates" […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
The Blog People!
It wasn't my fault. Somebody's blog made me read Balloon Juice (a conservative blog, which wasn't all that icky, actually), and there was this entry about a "…wretched mess of turgid prose written by Michael Gorman, the President[-Elect] of the American Library Association, then before you know it there I was reading this bit in […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
Priests: New & Used
Okay, so I was reading some story ["Church war on gays" by Cristina Odone, at Times Online]. Sure enough, there were the ubiquitous "Ads by Google", but I was a little startled by the one that read: Priests Great deals on new and used items. Search for priests now! -aff www.eBay.com Priests available on e-bay! […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
The New Ideology of Evil
From CNN quoting Reuters quoting Pope John Paul II from his new book Memory and Identity: "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this [gay marriage] is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Marriage and the Mists of Time
Someplace — I forget where now — during the height of the pre-election gay marriage "debate", I was keeping track of new records claimed for the length of time over which marriage had remained "traditional" and "unchanging". Generally, it looked like the claim was peaking at around 2,000 years. People seemed willing to risk guessing […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics