Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Opposing CAFTA a smart move for Southern Dems? (via Atrios). 8:05:41 PM   permalink   comment []

More on the Koran, NC courts, and the ACLU from the the Daily Times of Pakistan. 7:58:12 PM   permalink   comment []

The excellent Pharyngula dismantles the unexcellent George Gilder (and his "Intelligent Design" rap). 7:33:57 PM   permalink   comment []

Ramblin' Prose reviews last night's Springsteen show at the Coliseum. 9:42:26 AM   permalink   comment []

A round-up of coverage of the ACLU's suit against the State of North Carolina to allow the Koran to be used for swearing-in witnesses in the courtroom. N&R splashes it across the front page -- makes sense for a story that started in Greensboro, and has been followed diligently by reporter Eric Collins. The N&O pays attention, too, putting staff writer Yonat Shimron on the case. Charlotte Observer goes with the AP story by Emery Dalesio, as do Wired News and papers across the country. Washington Post gives it a news brief World Net Daily is surprisingly unhostile. ACLU press release. 9:36:23 AM   permalink   comment []

Slate's Andria Lisle rates mosquito repellants, including clothing made with material from Greensboro's own Buzz Off. It's kind of a dumb test, because the testers only wear a Buzz Off hat (not to say they were otherwise unclothed, just that the hat was the only anti-bug tech deployed), and then complain that it doesn't protect the whole body. Duh. If the mosquitos can figure that out, why couldn't the writer? 9:12:24 AM   permalink   comment []

Two rules I preach whenever I teach writing online: Don't drink and blog, and Remember that Google is Forever. That is to say, be careful what you say, it may be archived somewhere; blog in haste and repent at leisure. This morning's Wall Street Journal has a front-pager (subs req) on that very topic, headlined "Lawyers' Delight: Old Web Material Doesn't Disappear" (props to the Deadhead editor who stuck in "Not Fade Away" as the subhed). "The Web, seemingly one of the most ephemeral of media, is instead starting to leave permanent records. Through the Wayback Machine, and similar services offered by companies such as Google Inc., it's now easy to retrieve all kinds of online material, from defunct Web pages to old versions of sites. While these databases have caught on among historians and scholars, they are proving particularly enticing for lawyers." 8:52:32 AM   permalink   comment []

Reading Friedman so Greensboro doesn't have to... Today, a forced lede concerning Lance Armstrong's strategic thinking in the Tour de France sets up a mixed bag of observations on the US tendency to play defense and not move aggressively to confront serious problems. Nut graf: "Talk to U.S. business executives and they'll often comment on how many of China's leaders are engineers, people who can talk to you about numbers, long-term problem-solving and the national interest - not a bunch of lawyers looking for a sound bite to get through the evening news. America's most serious deficit today is a deficit of such leaders in politics and business." He says the new energy bill fails to address oil consumption, which is a national secuirty issue, "because no one wants to demand that Detroit build cars that get much better mileage. We are just feeding Detroit the rope to hang itself. It's assisted suicide." On Iraq, he wants Bush to ask the generals what we need to win, "Because it is clear we are not winning, and we are not winning because we have never made Iraq a secure place where normal politics could emerge." A strong kicker: "Oh, well, maybe we have the leaders we deserve. Maybe we just want to admire Lance Armstrong, but not be Lance Armstrong. Too much work. Maybe that's the wristband we should be wearing: Live wrong. Party on. Pay later." 8:45:05 AM   permalink   comment []

Truth and Reconciliation Commission is accepting donations to fund operations. Previous coverage. 8:35:16 AM   permalink   comment []

Lenslinger is participating in a collaborative article on the future of video news over at Online Journalism Review. 8:31:28 AM   permalink   comment []

Greensboro earns a high national ranking...for worst urban sprawl. #2 in the country, just ahead of Raleigh. Yipee. (via Josh Staiger, thnx for the tip JER) Update: Here detail on the study from Smart Growth America cited by Forbes. 8:27:46 AM   permalink   comment []