URLs du Jour

2006-09-06

  • At the Technology Liberation Front, Adam Thierer makes a convincing case for Al Gore being full of crap in his recent statements on media ownership.
    … Mr. Gore wants us to believe that democracy is dying and that the blame for it falls on "controlled, centralized" media. I guess such apocalyptic rhetoric helps grab attention for your cause but, in reality, such comments are completely off that off-the-mark and bear no relationship with reality whatsoever.
    Perhaps Al was more on the mark with ManBearPig.

  • Pun Salad figures you can not go far wrong by mindlessly imitating Instapundit and Joe Malchow, who both quote the following paragraph from an editorial from the Examiner:
    Something almost without precedent in America will happen Thursday. That's the day when McCain-Feingold — aka the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 — will officially silence broadcast advertising that contains criticism of members of Congress seeking re-election in November. Before 2006, American election campaigns traditionally began in earnest after Labor Day. Unless McCain-Feingold is repealed, Labor Day will henceforth mark the point in the campaign when congressional incumbents can sit back and cruise, free of those pesky negative TV and radio spots. It is the most effective incumbent protection act possible, short of abolishing the elections themselves.
    This is the primary (heh) reason I will never, ever, vote for John McCain for anything. (Or Russ Feingold either, but let's face it, that was not gonna happen in any case.)

    Also see Jacob Sullum:

    It seems Americans now need permission to speak out on political issues and petition the government. I'd suggest a constitutional amendment protecting those rights, but I thought we already had one.
    "Indeed."

  • Patrick Hynes checks out the race for the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire Congressional District One, which is Pun Salad's very own district. He detects potential moonbattery in candidate Carol Shea-Porter, who is running against the more establishment candidate Jim Craig. The primary is next Tuesday. (Also running: Gary Dodds and Dave Jarvis. Dave's website is probably the least, um, conventional.)

    I have no special insight to add, save the observation that Ms. Shea-Porter's national security page contains the allegedly sage advice:

    America should heed the wise words of Teddy Roosevelt, who said, "Walk softly and carry a big stick."
    This sounds more like what granola-eating tree-huggers advise in traversing wilderness areas than a guide to foreign policy. But it turns out also to be a long-standing misquote of TR, committed in the past by John Kerry, Bill Clinton, and Gerald Ford; it should be "Speak softly…"

  • Professors beware the hot new trend: students putting your lectures on YouTube. Shockingly, the linked-to videos do not demonstrate a uniform excellence in pedagogy. Instead, ridicule seems to be a dominant theme!

  • But if you want to play that game, turnabout is fair play, kids. Professor Steven Dutch of the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay is unimpressed with what he's hearing from some students, and lists his Top Ten No Sympathy Lines (Plus a Few Extra). (Via Joanne Jacobs.)


Last Modified 2012-10-23 6:06 AM EDT