Tuesday, September 27, 2005

I'm scheduled to be on the Brad & Britt show tomorrow morning, just after the 8 o'clock news, talking a little Converge. 101.1 on your FM dial, number one in your hearts. What a show. First Frank Rich, now Converge. Next -- Angelina Jolie discussing topless videos with Nikki Cox? 4:35:24 PM   permalink   comment []

CSM: "Since the middle of August, the US has reported killing or capturing at least 16 members of Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "How big a blow this is to the insurgency in Iraq remains unclear." 4:20:44 PM   permalink   comment []

Do innocent but nasty-sounding blog posts really drive traffic via Google? Hoggard may find out after posting this about political labels: "I have finally been pegged and pigeon-holed to my immense satisfaction." I would never stoop to writing stuff like "Topless Kate Moss snorts cocaine off nude wedding pictures of Demi and Ashton" just to get a few more page views. Ever. Update: Gate suggests that I write "Nikki Cox celebrated Angelina Jolie's birthday by getting her a new bikini to wear while she watched Las Vegas on NBC." As if I would pull a tawdry stunt like that. 12:46:43 PM   permalink   comment []

Roch Smith Jr. outlines the format of tonight's blogger-driven candidate forum at the Weatherspoon Museum. On the agenda: "The Big Two" -- the two questions bloggers voted that they want all candidates to answer. A "Jump-in" round -- questions are directed to a single candidate (in rotation), but other candidates have a limited number of times that they can "jump-in" and also answer a question initially asked of another candidate. The "Free-for-all" -- where candidates will ask a question of another candidate, with moderator-guided back-and-forth discussion. The "Lightening Round" -- a series of questions that all candidates will answer with a yes/no or single-phrase answer. We will ask a total of thirty-six questions on a wide varity of subjects. 12:38:09 PM   permalink   comment []

Rob Daniels has a point in this column about websites that howl for the heads of college coaches...but in the case of Chuck Amato, the point is obscured somewhat by the facts that Daniels reports: "In early November 2002, Amato's record at State stood at 24-9 and his 10th-ranked Wolfpack, 9-0 that season, was enjoying its highest ranking since the Watergate days. The Pack has gone 16-16 since and is on its longest ACC losing streak in 20 years, a six-game skid surpassed in its history only by a 10-game run in 1958-59." I'm not arguing that Amato should go, and I'm not just saying that as a Carolina fan. In my mellow old age I would be happy to see the Woofpack succeed. But if it's too early to talk about sacking the coach, there are still timely questions to ask about what's been going wrong in Raleigh. Talk radio is also on Amato's case, says this N&O article. (The newspaper identifies GSO homeboy Patrick Eakes as a "Triangle blogger," which is only accurate if you draw a really big triangle...) 12:33:11 PM   permalink   comment []

Wake County's fantabulous test scores, or not. 8:42:39 AM   permalink   comment []

Plead the First has some perspective on Scopes II. NYT's Laurie Goodstein: "Intelligent design is not science, has no support from any major American scientific organization and does not belong in a public school science classroom, a prominent biologist testified on the opening day of the nation's first legal battle over whether it is permissible to teach the fledgling 'design' theory as an alternative to evolution." More NYT: "In a sign of how important this trial is to the adversaries in the intelligent design debate, they came from across the country to hear the opening arguments and to present their case to the cameras waiting outside. The two sides agree that no matter how Judge John E. Jones III decides the case in Federal District Court here, it will probably make its way to the Supreme Court." 8:38:38 AM   permalink   comment []

Today's super-secret NYT contributions comprise a special Scary Science Edition...Tierney writes about nanotech "gray goo," teeny-weeny self-replicating bots that could eat the world. No great loss hiding this one behind the paywall -- you can just read my five-year-old column on the same subject, complete with Bill Joy references, "Gray goo, coming to get you," or even go back to the original Wired article. To be fair, Tierney updates the story with references to Joel Garreau's book "Radical Evolution," and mentions the possible utopian outcomes of superscience as well. Kristof is passionate about the threat of global warming, and his big-hurricanes-and-rising-seas rap is scarier than Tierney's nanofright, but he chose to write the piece as an imagined conversation with a malaprop-spouting George W. Bush, and it reads like bad Safire or Dowd (W: "I don't appreciate your insinufications - you really irrigate me.") Serious biz at the end of the column: "I've just returned from Louisiana and Mississippi, and I was frankly blown away by what I saw. The old beachfront homes, they're gone. There isn't even rubble left, just empty lots where everything got dragged out to sea. If this hurricane season doesn't wake us up to the dangers ahead, nothing will." 8:30:53 AM   permalink   comment []

Tonight: City Council at-large candidate forum, Weatherspoon Art Museum (map). Organized by local bloggers, moderated by local blogger. From Greensboro 101: "The candidates will answer questions submitted by local bloggers and their readers...A candidate meet-and-greet begins at 6:15. The forum begins promptly at 6:45. Seating is limited to 140 and is first-come, first-served. Limited parking is available behind the Weatherspoon (off Tate Street) in spaces marked for museum parking only. Additional parking is available on side streets and in the parking deck to the west of the Weatherspoon on Spring Garden Street. The forum is free and open to the public." 8:05:34 AM   permalink   comment []