Monthly Archives: September 2007

September 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Where they don’t do that wudu

My friend and day job colleague Peter Swanson has returned to active duty in response to the Army’s call. Peter writes from Baghdad to report on a sign observed in the American mess hall: As you enter the dining facility, there are a row of sinks for hand washing. Here is one sign: No face washing No foot washing No spitting in sink Wash hands only Photography is forbidden, otherwise »
September 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Aid and comfort by any other name

At NRO, Columbia undergrads David Feith and Jordan Hirsch explain to President Bollinger a few of the basic considerations that show how Columbia is disgracing itself today: “Aid and comfort by any other name.” At NRO’s Corner, Noah Pollak recalls William F. Buckley’s appeal to the Yale Political Union not to host the American Communist Party functionary Gus Hall as a speaker. Buckley’s speech is reprinted in The Jeweler’s Eye, »
September 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Columbia’s disgrace, part 8

Columbia Law School Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law David M. Schizer has posted the following statement on the appearance of Mahmouad Ahmadinejad at Columbia today: A controversy has developed about the invitation extended to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran by the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. Although Columbia Law School was not involved in arranging this invitation, we have received many inquiries about it. This »
September 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

A painter passing through Minneapolis

When it was announced this past June that Gordon Lightfoot would be performing in Minneapolis at one of my favorite venues on September 22, I ran over to the theater box office and bought first row tickets before I realized I was otherwise committed that evening. I looked to give the tickets to someone who might enjoy the show as much as I would have and found Peter Zeller of »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Columbia’s disgrace, part 7

Glenn Hubbard is Dean and Russell L. Carlson Professor of Finance at the Columbia Business School. He is also a rare voice of sanity among the powers-that-be at Columbia. He has sent an email message to business school students and colleagues that includes the following paragraph: The University »
September 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

An RFK all-star team

The last major league baseball game ever played at RFK Stadium in Washington took place today. The Nationals marked the occasion by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 in a game the Phillies very much needed to win. Barring a disaster, the Nationals will move into a new stadium next season. RFK opened in 1962, and I saw at least several baseball games there in every year that it hosted regular »
September 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

What a drag

Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray report on a recent survey by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake which suggests that Hillary Clinton may run poorly in “swing” congressional districts and, in doing so, may serve as a drag on incumbent Democrats. The survey (taken in August but not previously reported) encompasses the 31 districts held by Democrats that are considered by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee the most “imperiled” in 2008. It »
September 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

My life list

Over the past few days I’ve learned about Life Lists, the effort of baby boomers and others to inject meaning into their lives by writing down a list of things they want to accomplish before they die. Popular items include run a marathon, sky dive, and be kissed in the rain. So far I haven’t seen anyone list the ambition of the Jean-Pierre Melville character in Godard’s “Breathless” — to »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Columbia’s disgrace, part 6

At Armavirumque, Roger Kimball finds the roots of Columbia’s disgrace in “The poverty of liberalism.” Personally, I think this particular disgrace is, as the Freudians say, overdetermined. Clarice Feldman, for example, thinks the roots of the disgrace may be sick, or (Gary) Sick. Both Kimball and Feldman may be right. »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Tehran calling

Two good columns today bear on the gathering storm centered on Tehran. Jack Kelly focuses on the Israeli raid on the Syrian installation and considers it as a portent. Robert Trackinski also discusses the Israeli raid and summarizes the evidence supporting the proposition that Iran is at war with the United States. Tracinski draws attention to the “underappreciated passage” in General Petraeus’s congressional testimony that I noted here the day »
September 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Mitt’s a hit in Michigan

This weekend, the four top Republican presidential hopefuls spoke to a gathering in Michigan. A straw poll followed. David Freddoso at NRO’s Corner says that the (unofficial) results were as follows: Romney »
September 23, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Times Admits It Violated Policies in “Betray Us” Ad

This morning, Clark Hoyt, Public Editor of the New York Times, acknowledged that the paper had violated its own advertising policies by giving MoveOn.org a discounted rate for the ad that accused General Petraeus of being a traitor. Hoyt also said that in his judgment, the ad should not have been approved under the paper’s policy that states, »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Doing that wudu in Indianapolis

In a Septermber 16 story the Indianapolis Star reported that authorities in Indianapolis plan to install foot washing facilities for Muslim taxi drivers at the city’s new airport. The Star’s story came with the customary atmospherics intended to induce submission by the taxpayers: Three times a day during their shifts at the Indianapolis International Airport, more than 100 Muslim cab drivers wash their feet. In the parking lot where they »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

A footnote on Iran’s new fighter

Yesterday in “Meanwhile, in Tehran,” John noted Iran’s announcement of a new fighter jet. Reader Brad Mitchell directs our attention to the report (with lots of links) by Defense Industry Daily on the jet: [T]he general consensus among more informed observers is that Iran’s new fighter is a modified F-5E Tiger II fighter. The F-5E was an early 1970s era low-cost export fighter update of the 1960s-era F-5A fighter/ T-38 »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Blowing the whistle on Waxman’s whistleblower

This past July he was Henry Waxman’s star witness making outlandish charges at a House committee hearing. Now he is found to be a man with a past. Last week the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire reported: His star testimony before a House panel in July made the nightly newscasts and ran in newspapers around the world. Rory Mayberry, a 45-year-old medic-turned-whistleblower from Oregon, told the House Oversight and Government »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Clinton’s leftward march

In his editorial for the new issue of the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol considers “Hillary Rodham Kerry” and her vote opposing Senator Cornyn’s sense of the Senate resolution specifically condemning MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” advertisement. Bill notes that Senator Clinton first voted for a convoluted resolution condemning the ad together with a few other political advertisements of ages past before she voted to oppose Senator Cornyn’s resolution. He writes: This »
September 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Professor Pausch’s last lecture

In “A beloved professor delivers the lecture of a lifetime,” we drew attention to Jeffrey Zaslow’s Wall Street Journal column on Professor Randy Pausch. Reader Rob Wiles alerts us to the video of Professor Pausch’s last lecture that has been posted by Professor Pausch’s colleagues at Carnegie-Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center. Watching the video one can see that Professor Pausch is not only a beloved professor, to borrow from the Journal’s »