"as if the world weren't full enough of history without inventing more." ~ granny weatherwax, wyrd sisters.
2009-01-12
Monday Morning Melange
It's a snowy Monday morning in Boston and I'm sitting at the MHS enjoying my London Fog latte and checking out my iGoogle blog feeds. Here are some links of note.
Thanks Michigan for once again making me proud of my home state. Sigh.
Hanna has a new blog which I've added to my blogroll, and she's already put up a few fun links! If nothing else, you should go check out her beautiful design. The photograph is one of my favorites that she took last summer on a foggy day down in the North End.
I still remember vividly the first time I ever saw Christina Hoff Sommers interviewed on a documentary about contemporary feminism. I had no idea who she was, and my seventeen-year-old, newly-political feminist self was utterly taken aback by her anti-feminism-in-the-name-of-feminism outrage. Ten years later, she's still at it.
I see that over the weekend Kate Winslet won Golden Globes for Revolutionary Road (which I have neither seen nor read) and The Reader (which I have read but not seen). While checking out the news coverage over at The Guardian online, I stumbled into Ann Billson's joint review Films for people who don't really like films. I can't speak to the validity of her reviews, but I thought the overall point was an interesting one.
Finally, for those of you who wonder what this Dr. Who thing is I occasionally witter about on this blog, Wired magazine has put together a gallery of images following the many actors who have played the character over the years. I'm still working my way through the back catalog, so have only seen four of the eleven incarnations.* I told Hanna she needs to make me flash cards!
*For those of you who are/were fans of the BBC Chronicles of Narnia, Tom Baker (Dr. Who from 1974-1981) is also known for his turn as the Marshwiggle Puddleglum in Silver Chair.
Great stuff. I'm not looking forward to shoveling, but the snow in Boston is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have a quick, drive-by critique of Alas, a Blog's response to Christina Hoff Sommers. It read,
This lecture was originally written for the Federalist society; I doubt that they blinked at all upon being told that it is her "bias toward logic, reason, and fairness that has put me at odds with the feminist establishment." Nor would they have been bothered by her expression of pity for boys with feminist mothers.
That is, hands down, one of the most ignorant statements I've read in 2009 (and will probably keep the dubious honour for some time).
The Federalist Society makes a point of inviting the best of the "other side" to debates. Judges of all ideological stripes are present at its symposia and conventions. ACLU attorneys are regulars on the panels.
Back in 2005, when the annual Student Symposium was held at HLS and Larry Summers make some snarky comment about the criticism he received for his anti-woman-in-science comments, no one laughed. A room full of young conservatives and libertarians - mostly men - glared at him.
The national chapter is happy to fund debates and encourages the student chapters to team up with the American Constitution Society to present both sides of legal issues.
Student and lawyer chapters routinely put forth debates that put the conservatives and libertarians against each other - gay marriage, DUI laws, drug use, the proper role of the state, etc - which is not only "tolerated" and "accepted," but is actively encouraged.
If you want top-notch legal debate, with the best minds of both sides engaged in intellectual, civil discourse, the Federalist Society is amazing. For Ampersand to pretend otherwise is the highest form of ignorance and partisan hackery.
/rant
Yikes! By "Anonymous," I obviously mean "bridget."
ReplyDelete