Way back when Not News became a blog, I posted a brief blurb about Ethan Lieb’s proposal for a fourth branch of government, the popular branch, in which citizen juries would have an opportunity to pass legislation or help establish community standards. As I did more digging into ideas related to deliberative democracy, I decided […]
I’ve heard it said that insanity is doing something a second time and expecting a different result. So I was struck by this passage from the AP’s coverage of PResident Bush’s speech tonight: Bush’s blueprint would boost the number of U.S. troops in Iraq – now at 132,000 – to 153,500 at a cost of […]
I was getting ready to go to physical therapy this evening, and told Alex I was going to be back soon. She asked where I was going, and reached out her hands to hold mine. “I’m going to see the guy who helps fix Daddy,” I said, as she walked up my legs and stood […]
It’s official – R.E.M. will be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. In a nice bit of timing, Patti Smith, one of Michael Stipe and Peter Buck’s musical idols, will also be inducted. After I posted this, I read a story where Stipe told Reuters that […]
I went ot the comic shop Thursday. It was the first time I had been there in ten weeks, judging by the number of copies of 52 that were waiting for me. I didn’t touch the pile of comics until this afternoon, when I pulled out two issues of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, […]
Anyone who wants some insight into the wackiness of the Pennsylvania Legislature would be well served to go through the Daily Kos entries posted by State Representative Mark Cohen, a Philadelphia Democrat. In a nutshell – Democrats have a one seat majority in the state House, but one Democrat announced he was going to cross […]
Warning: This post contains spoilers for the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic! I couldn’t decide whether to file this under Philosophy or Culture & Media, but figured that the more interesting material is the philosophical questions touched on by the media, so I went with Philosophy. And it’s a good way […]
According to Arianna Huffington at her web site, Rep. Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania is expressing a desire to explicitly block President Bush from spending money to increase the number of troops serving in Iraq. Given that Bush doesn’t appear ready to listen to advice and/or political pressure, the purse strings may be the only way […]
In a column published this morning about Allen Iverson’s feelings about being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers, Inquirer columnist David Aldridge drew on his experience of being let go from ESPN: Anyone who’s been fired, or laid off, or taken “early retirement,” or gotten the Ziggy, to quote Dick Vitale, or whatever euphemism is used, […]
If anyone’s still reading this blog, it’s obvious I fell off the face of the Net for a while there. I started living the life of a part-time college instructor, teaching courses at two area universities. It was overall a good experience, and confirmed for me that overall, I really do like the whole teaching […]