Regular readers of this blog know that I strive always for the elevated tone appropriate to a seventy-six year old philosopher. Nevertheless, despite my best efforts, idle thoughts of a trivial nature do creep into the corners of my mind, and in the interest of full disclosure, I occasionally allow these ephemera to crop up in my blog posts. Think of my recipe for hazelnut encrusted rabbit loins, or the pictures of my grandchildren.
Herewith several such thoughts. I view this as a mental house-cleaning, preparatory to a deadly serious confrontation with 2010. [By the bye, the last time the first half of the year's number was twice the second half was 1809. Before that, 1608, then 1407, 1206, 1005, and so forth. The first such year, of course, was 21 A. D., a year we all recall with pride because it was in that year that a revolt broke out in Gaul against the Romans, led by Julius Florus. But enough of these strolls down memory lane.]
FIRST IDLE THOUGHT: What on earth is the attraction of FaceBook? One of my former students persuaded me to join, and I am now friends with [as they say] a considerable number of people. But the comments posted on FaceBook are almost universally jejune and banal. The phenomenon seems to be akin to the cellphone craze. All of us, I imagine, have had the experience of landing at some airport, only to see three quarters of the passengers whip out their phones and fire up while we are still taxiing to the gate. "I have just landed," says one. A few moments later, the same person places another call, apparently to the same person: "We are pulling up to the gate." As we walk up the ramp into the terminal, I hear him [or her -- it is a gender neutral phenomenon] saying, "I am coming into the terminal now." Does anyone actually want to know all of that? I have texting disabled on my cellphone [which I use principally to make sure that my wife is all right when she is out alone, since she has MS], and I do not tweet, so I cannot testify from my own experience to those newer obsessions. I think I would feel differently if I had ever overheard a cellphone conversation that interested me.
SECOND IDLE THOUGHT: When I use Google or Amazon.com, they seem to have no difficulty remembering who I am, identifying sites I might want to visit or products I might want to buy. Netflix knows what sorts of movies I would enjoy renting. And all of this is done with blinding speed, virtually in what is called real time. But the CIA, the TSA, the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA, and the State Department cannot "connect the dots," as the cant phrase has it, despite spending 40 billion dollars since 9/11. Why doesn't the President simply call Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos into the oval office, offer each of them one dollar in salary [an echo of the WW II "dollar a year" men who worked for nothing to contribute to the war effort], and ask them to design and implement, in six months, a system that would allow the integration of every warning, every red flag raised in any embassy or consulate, any question at any airport security gate, all in real time, so that anyone in the entire system anywhere could access that integrated information from any laptop or computer terminal immediately? I mean, this falls under the heading of "solved technical problems."
THIRD IDLE THOUGHT: Fox flack Brit Hume has suggested that Tiger Woods convert to Christianity [from Buddhism, apparently] as a way of gaining forgiveness for his philandering. Should John Ensign and Mark Sanford convert from Christianity to Buddhism? Is it the conversion that matters, rather than what we philosophers call the terminus a quo?
Monday, 4 January 2010
Friday, 1 January 2010
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
On this first day of the new year and the new decade, I was puzzling over what to write on my blog as I took my morning walk. A review of the past year's events? Predictions for the year just started? All that struck me as terminally boring, the sort of thing that prompts MSNBC or CNN to gather their anchors and pundits and color commentators on a split screen for an hour of hot air. Then, as I made it to the top of the hill at Country Club Road and turned to start the second half of my walk, I saw four deer gingerly crossing the road along which I walk. They were far enough away so that my presence did not startle them, and with virtually no traffic at 7:30 a.m. on a January 1st morning, they could amble across the road and disappear into the underbrush on the other side.
What do you call a group of deer?, I wondered. A herd, I thought, like a herd of cattle or buffalo. That put me in mind of some of the more exotic collective nouns that are one of the special wonders of the English language. We all know that a group of geese is a gaggle, a group of lions is a pride, and that a group of whales is a pod [although herd is also acceptable], but how many of you remember that a group of crows is a parliament, a group of starlings is a murmuration, and that a group of larks is an exaltation? A group of wolves is a pack, a fact burned into the minds of all of us old enough to remember the Second World War, when wolf packs of German submarines preyed on the convoys in the North Atlantic carrying men and material to Europe to fight the Nazis. [The problem of deciding how to deploy scarce destroyers and aircraft to search for the German subs was solved by an early application of the new discipline of Game Theory, but that is another story.]
When I got home from my walk, I googled "collective nouns" and came up with a wonderful site that lists scores and scores of delicious examples. You can find it at http://www.rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml. Among the more delightful examples, none of which I knew, are: a sloth of bears, a shrewdness of apes, a deceit of lapwings, a lounge of lizards, a mischief of mice, a pounce of cats, and -- my favorite -- a bloat of hippopatami.
Warming to my task, I began to wonder what collective nouns we might put to good use in the political world. A prevarication of press secretaries came to mind, as did an hypocrisy of evangelicals, and a cupidity of bankers. A pomposity of pundits seemed a bit to easy, but surely we could make use of a treachery of Liebermans.
I invite my own Wolff pack to add to the list. Twenty-ten could be a fun year after all.
What do you call a group of deer?, I wondered. A herd, I thought, like a herd of cattle or buffalo. That put me in mind of some of the more exotic collective nouns that are one of the special wonders of the English language. We all know that a group of geese is a gaggle, a group of lions is a pride, and that a group of whales is a pod [although herd is also acceptable], but how many of you remember that a group of crows is a parliament, a group of starlings is a murmuration, and that a group of larks is an exaltation? A group of wolves is a pack, a fact burned into the minds of all of us old enough to remember the Second World War, when wolf packs of German submarines preyed on the convoys in the North Atlantic carrying men and material to Europe to fight the Nazis. [The problem of deciding how to deploy scarce destroyers and aircraft to search for the German subs was solved by an early application of the new discipline of Game Theory, but that is another story.]
When I got home from my walk, I googled "collective nouns" and came up with a wonderful site that lists scores and scores of delicious examples. You can find it at http://www.rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml. Among the more delightful examples, none of which I knew, are: a sloth of bears, a shrewdness of apes, a deceit of lapwings, a lounge of lizards, a mischief of mice, a pounce of cats, and -- my favorite -- a bloat of hippopatami.
Warming to my task, I began to wonder what collective nouns we might put to good use in the political world. A prevarication of press secretaries came to mind, as did an hypocrisy of evangelicals, and a cupidity of bankers. A pomposity of pundits seemed a bit to easy, but surely we could make use of a treachery of Liebermans.
I invite my own Wolff pack to add to the list. Twenty-ten could be a fun year after all.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY READERS
Although this blog was officially launched several years ago, I only began blogging regularly in June of this year. In reviewing those eight months of posts, I was struck by two things: First, how much I have written. This is not a big-time blog with editors and unpaid interns and all. It is just me, typing away with two fingers and then correcting my endless typos.. A lot of words have gone up on the screen and whirled away into cyberspace in that time. Second, the large numbers of people who have contributed to the blog over the months.
First of all, there were my two guest bloggers, Ann Davis and Barbara O'Brien [each of whose posts, in my feckless senile way, was introduced as "my very first guest blog." Sorry about that, Ann.]
Here is the list, as complete as I could make it in my quick review, of all the folks who have posted comments.
Far and away the two busiest commentators have been Ann, of guest post fame, and NotHobbes, from Scotland [with whom I had a spirited debate about who should be considered Scotland's most famous son or daughter.]
Then there were Rodrigo from Brazil, Jennifer, Ajrosa [these last two are actually former students from my Afro-American Studies days], Matthew, IKant [an intriguing handle -- my Massachusetts license plate was IKant], RVincent63 [a classmate of Jennifer and Ajrosa, who helped me set up the blog], David, Todd, ElPutoAlpha, from Spain, Avril, Matias Penengo, Jamie, Bev, Experiment, from Canada, Rob, Eoin [pronounced "Owen," he tells me], Dan., Robert, EggsMaladict from Australia [a wonderful handle, that], Kius from Spain, Gene Callahan, Maciek from Poland, Mlange, adavisa, and, of course, the bizarre Chinese language comments that turned out to be some sort of advertisement for chat rooms or dating services or porn sites [the automatic translation program that I found on line was a little ambiguous].
And all of this does not include the people who chose to send me a direct email rather than post a comment on the blog.
When I began, at the suggestion of my older son, Patrick, my younger son, Tobias warned me that a blog was a lot of work, and he was right. But Patrick's suggestion has turned out to be a good one indeed. It has been enormously rewarding for me to discover the ways in which I could reach out not only to people whom I know but also to people whom I do not know, but who have paid me the great compliment of taking the time to react to my posts.
Thank you to all of you -- those who comment, and those who simply read the blog and move on. I shall try to keep things going in the coming year. Those who know me, especially from my classroom efforts, have every reason to expect that I will never run out of things to say.
And now, a Happy New Year to all.
First of all, there were my two guest bloggers, Ann Davis and Barbara O'Brien [each of whose posts, in my feckless senile way, was introduced as "my very first guest blog." Sorry about that, Ann.]
Here is the list, as complete as I could make it in my quick review, of all the folks who have posted comments.
Far and away the two busiest commentators have been Ann, of guest post fame, and NotHobbes, from Scotland [with whom I had a spirited debate about who should be considered Scotland's most famous son or daughter.]
Then there were Rodrigo from Brazil, Jennifer, Ajrosa [these last two are actually former students from my Afro-American Studies days], Matthew, IKant [an intriguing handle -- my Massachusetts license plate was IKant], RVincent63 [a classmate of Jennifer and Ajrosa, who helped me set up the blog], David, Todd, ElPutoAlpha, from Spain, Avril, Matias Penengo, Jamie, Bev, Experiment, from Canada, Rob, Eoin [pronounced "Owen," he tells me], Dan., Robert, EggsMaladict from Australia [a wonderful handle, that], Kius from Spain, Gene Callahan, Maciek from Poland, Mlange, adavisa, and, of course, the bizarre Chinese language comments that turned out to be some sort of advertisement for chat rooms or dating services or porn sites [the automatic translation program that I found on line was a little ambiguous].
And all of this does not include the people who chose to send me a direct email rather than post a comment on the blog.
When I began, at the suggestion of my older son, Patrick, my younger son, Tobias warned me that a blog was a lot of work, and he was right. But Patrick's suggestion has turned out to be a good one indeed. It has been enormously rewarding for me to discover the ways in which I could reach out not only to people whom I know but also to people whom I do not know, but who have paid me the great compliment of taking the time to react to my posts.
Thank you to all of you -- those who comment, and those who simply read the blog and move on. I shall try to keep things going in the coming year. Those who know me, especially from my classroom efforts, have every reason to expect that I will never run out of things to say.
And now, a Happy New Year to all.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
WORDS
The advent of the movie Avatar has got me thinking about words one is familiar with, but cannot quite remember the actual meaning of. [We have not yet seen the movie. I am allergic to movies you have to wear special glasses to watch, but Susie wants to see it, so we shall go before it moves on.] Herewith some of my favorite mystery words.
Let us begin with avatar itself. Strictly speaking, an avatar is a human or animal embodiment of the Hindu deity Vishnu, but the word has migrated into more common usage [how often does one have an occasion to talk about animal embodiments of Vishnu?] to mean the embodiment of an idea or a spirit of any sort. So, for example, it would be appropriate to describe Senator Sessions as an avatar of stupidity, or Angelina Jolie as an avatar of sensuousness. Barack Obama could be described as the avatar of cool.
My second choice is a word that has proved a great disappointment to me. Some while back I was searching for a nice orotund phrase [another good one, that] to describe David Brooks. I wanted to call him "an egregious, crepuscular twit," which rolled off the tongue very satisfyingly. Ever cautious, I checked the definition of "crepuscular," and it turns out to mean "having to do with twilight." What a total waste! I mean, "crepuscular" sounds like a particularly nasty term of excoriation [which, by the way, means "to tear or wear the skin off, to abrade."] Why squander a word that resonant on the twilight? Oh well. It goes into the cubbyhole with nocturnal, matinal, and quotidian.
Avuncular pretty much means what it sounds like, namely kind in an uncle-y sort of way. The strict meaning is "of or pertaining to a maternal uncle" [i.e., your mother's brother], but if your mother doesn't have any brothers, I think you can get away with using it to describe your father's nice brother, or even a genial and thoughtful older professor [like me.] The actor Edmund Gwenn, who played characters like Santa Claus in The Miracle on 34th Street was, we might say, an avatar of avuncular.
My next word is actually one whose meaning I know, though most people do not. Meretricious is from the Latin, meretrix, and it literally means "falsely alluring, like a prostitute." [I think that is a quite unnecessary knock at women in the sex trade, but that is neither here nor there.] So a meretricious argument is a sexy bit of logical flim-flam.
Disinterested is one of those words with a very useful meaning that has been corrupted by misuse so that not only the word but, to some extent, the meaning has been lost to us. Disinterested does not mean "uninterested." "Uninterested" is a perfectly good way of saying "not interested." "Disinterested" means "not swayed by interest," impartial as a judge is expected to be. One can have a very great interest in a disagreement or conflict of interests, and yet be totally impartial in judging the rights and wrongs of the matter. One can be disinterested.
A rather curious phrase is memento mori. It sounds as though it ought to have something to do with recollections of death, and in a sense it does. But the literal meaning is rather particular. Apparently, in the Roman Empire, it was the custom, when a general was accorded a triumphant march through the Eternal City to commemorate a victory, for a slave to walk along behind him, whispering in his ear "memento mori," which means roughly, "remember that you too shall die." The idea was to dissuade the general, at the moment of his greatest acclaim, from taking too exalted a view of himself. I think we could have used a bit of that during the Bush years.
Let me close with one more desperate and fruitless effort to get people to stop saying "you and I" when they mean "you and me." "He has offered to give free passes to the concert to you and I" is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. Would you say, "He offered to give a free pass to the concert to I?" Of course you wouldn't. "He offered to give free passes to the concert to you and me" is a short hand way of saying, "He offered to give a free pass to you and he offered to give a free pass to me." It is obvious what happens to people's brains. They know that "He and I went to the movies" is correct. So when they start to form the phrase "he and " they automatically put in "I" as though they were starting a sentence, even when in fact the phrase "him and me" is what is actually called for. "He offered to give free passes to you and I" is a sort of raised pinkie, white doily, prissy proper thing to say, a misguided stab at elegance. I spend a good deal of my time yelling at the television set when supposedly educated people make this mistake. I am very pleased to report that several evenings ago, I actually hear Rachel Maddow make this mistake and then instantly correct herself. I knew there was a reason why I totally love her.
Let us begin with avatar itself. Strictly speaking, an avatar is a human or animal embodiment of the Hindu deity Vishnu, but the word has migrated into more common usage [how often does one have an occasion to talk about animal embodiments of Vishnu?] to mean the embodiment of an idea or a spirit of any sort. So, for example, it would be appropriate to describe Senator Sessions as an avatar of stupidity, or Angelina Jolie as an avatar of sensuousness. Barack Obama could be described as the avatar of cool.
My second choice is a word that has proved a great disappointment to me. Some while back I was searching for a nice orotund phrase [another good one, that] to describe David Brooks. I wanted to call him "an egregious, crepuscular twit," which rolled off the tongue very satisfyingly. Ever cautious, I checked the definition of "crepuscular," and it turns out to mean "having to do with twilight." What a total waste! I mean, "crepuscular" sounds like a particularly nasty term of excoriation [which, by the way, means "to tear or wear the skin off, to abrade."] Why squander a word that resonant on the twilight? Oh well. It goes into the cubbyhole with nocturnal, matinal, and quotidian.
Avuncular pretty much means what it sounds like, namely kind in an uncle-y sort of way. The strict meaning is "of or pertaining to a maternal uncle" [i.e., your mother's brother], but if your mother doesn't have any brothers, I think you can get away with using it to describe your father's nice brother, or even a genial and thoughtful older professor [like me.] The actor Edmund Gwenn, who played characters like Santa Claus in The Miracle on 34th Street was, we might say, an avatar of avuncular.
My next word is actually one whose meaning I know, though most people do not. Meretricious is from the Latin, meretrix, and it literally means "falsely alluring, like a prostitute." [I think that is a quite unnecessary knock at women in the sex trade, but that is neither here nor there.] So a meretricious argument is a sexy bit of logical flim-flam.
Disinterested is one of those words with a very useful meaning that has been corrupted by misuse so that not only the word but, to some extent, the meaning has been lost to us. Disinterested does not mean "uninterested." "Uninterested" is a perfectly good way of saying "not interested." "Disinterested" means "not swayed by interest," impartial as a judge is expected to be. One can have a very great interest in a disagreement or conflict of interests, and yet be totally impartial in judging the rights and wrongs of the matter. One can be disinterested.
A rather curious phrase is memento mori. It sounds as though it ought to have something to do with recollections of death, and in a sense it does. But the literal meaning is rather particular. Apparently, in the Roman Empire, it was the custom, when a general was accorded a triumphant march through the Eternal City to commemorate a victory, for a slave to walk along behind him, whispering in his ear "memento mori," which means roughly, "remember that you too shall die." The idea was to dissuade the general, at the moment of his greatest acclaim, from taking too exalted a view of himself. I think we could have used a bit of that during the Bush years.
Let me close with one more desperate and fruitless effort to get people to stop saying "you and I" when they mean "you and me." "He has offered to give free passes to the concert to you and I" is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. Would you say, "He offered to give a free pass to the concert to I?" Of course you wouldn't. "He offered to give free passes to the concert to you and me" is a short hand way of saying, "He offered to give a free pass to you and he offered to give a free pass to me." It is obvious what happens to people's brains. They know that "He and I went to the movies" is correct. So when they start to form the phrase "he and " they automatically put in "I" as though they were starting a sentence, even when in fact the phrase "him and me" is what is actually called for. "He offered to give free passes to you and I" is a sort of raised pinkie, white doily, prissy proper thing to say, a misguided stab at elegance. I spend a good deal of my time yelling at the television set when supposedly educated people make this mistake. I am very pleased to report that several evenings ago, I actually hear Rachel Maddow make this mistake and then instantly correct herself. I knew there was a reason why I totally love her.
A BELATED REPLY TO MACIEK
On December 8th, Maciek, in a comment to my blog post, writing from Poland, asked why my family left Suwalki, Poland. Somehow, I failed to see his question, but yesterday, in reviewing the year's posts, I found it. So, Maciek, my apologies, and here is the answer, as I know it. In the nineteenth century, my father's family was named Zarembovitch. They lived in Suwalki, Poland, as I mentioned. Apparently times were very hard, and something close to famine hit the area, so in the 1870's, member of the family left Suwalki and emigrated to Paris, France. There they took up residence mostly in the Jewish section, in the Marais [near rue des Francs Bourgeois], and worked as capmakers, tailors, and so forth. My father's great grandfather was one of those who brought his family to Paris, and one son, Abraham, decided to continue on to America in 1880, shortly after my father's father was born. At Castle Garden in New York [the entry point for immigrants before the more famous Ellis Island was opened], the Immigration Officer asked him for his name. He said, "Abraham Zarembovitch." "Not in America," the official replied. Abraham's brother, Wolf Zarembovitch, had preceded him to America, and had met him at Castle Garden. "What is your name?" the official asked the brother. "Wolf," he replied. "Very well," the official decided, "you are Abraham Wolf." Somehow, an extra "f": got added to the name, and we became the Wolff family. My grandfather, Barnet Wolff, then a baby, grew up to become a leader of the Socialist Party in New York City and the inspiration to me, many years later, for my own political career.
I only learned about the Suwalki roots two years ago when I discovered that I have Parisian relatives -- two retired science professors named Andre and Jacqueline Zarembowich.
I only learned about the Suwalki roots two years ago when I discovered that I have Parisian relatives -- two retired science professors named Andre and Jacqueline Zarembowich.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
META-BLOGGING
Today's post will be a blog about blogs, or, as they say these days, a meta-blog.
[Historical footnote. The prefix "meta-" has come to have the meaning of higher or better or transcendent. So most folks think that metaphysics is somehow about things that are higher than, or transcend, the physical -- such as extrasensory perception, or out of body experiences. The prefix has also come to have the meaning of "second order." Metaethics is not theories about what is good and bad and what we ought to do, but rather is theories about theories about what is good and bad and what we ought to do. The term "metaphysics" came into modern usage, of course, via the essays by Aristotle known as The Metaphysics, and since those essays deal with the nature of Being and other "first things", as Aristotle called certain fundamental questions, the term acquired its modern meaning. But in fact, the essays known as The Metaphysics are simply the texts that, in an edition reintroduced into Western Europe from the Islamic world, came after the book known as The Physics. Now, in Greek, "that come after the Physics" is "ta meta ta physica," so the essays,to which Aristotle gave no name, became known as The Metaphysics.]
Anyway, back to metablogging. One of the things I do as a committed blogger is to surf the web and check out other blogs. Indeed, although I read the NY TIMES every day [mostly for the obituaries, the op ed essays, and the puzzles], I get most of my news from a small group of blogs. So, as a public service to my readers, who all probably have better things to do with their time, here is a guide to the blogs I routinely check.
I. The Huffington Post, accessible at http://www.huffingtonpost.com . Started by Arianna Huffington, conservative turned liberal, this is far and away the flashiest of the blogs, with vast amounts of material, big, brightly colored visuals, and a determinedly left bias. The Huffington Post is a strange cross between a rad-lib rant and a trashy gossip sheet. Here you can find the very latest information about the health care struggle or the torture debate, and also the dirt, with photos, of Tiger's multiple mistresses. It is worth checking out her bio on http://www.wikipedia.com.
2. Talking Points Memo, a blog started by Josh Marshall and now staffed by a growing array of politicos, bloggers, and technonerds. You can find it at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com Like Huffington, Marshall is firmly on the left. Unlike Huffington, he actually does investigative reporting, and is more and a more a source for breaking stories, cited by the mainstream media. TPM is heavy on Washington politics, but mostly omits the trashy gossip that Huffington seems to thrive on. During the exposure of Sarah Palin's clay feet, Marshall broke some key stories. TPM also regularly includes extended comments from its readers, as well as guest pieces.
3. The Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan's blog, which is available at http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/ Sullivan is an interesting character -- an extremely intelligent and well-educated English gay HIV positive writer who takes conservatism very seriously [Michael Oakeshott, that sort of thing] and grew so disenchanted with George W. Bush that he supported Obama for the presidency. The Daily Dish is a much more personal blog than the Huffington Post or TPM, and although Sullivan has a number of people on his staff, the voice is always distinctively his. There are four subjects about which Sullivan cares deeply, and they absorb the lion's share of his blog. They are: the current state of conservative theory and practice, Gay Rights, the popular upheaval in Iran, and anything scandalous concerning Sarah Palin. On the debates currently roiling the conservative intellectual and political world, Sullivan is a very valuable guide for those of us who do not ordinarily consort with right-leaning types. On Gay Rights he is solid, but not particularly innovative. But, of course, I may be more plugged in to that world than most straights because of the prominent role played in it by my son, Tobias. On the events in Iran he is marvelous, posting pictures and tweets and email messages and texting from protesters in the streets virtually as they are happening. Sullivan is playing a genuinely important role in that on-going struggle, and he puts the mainstream media to shame, both by his commitment and by the speed and skill with which he brings events virtually in real time to as large audience. But it is on the matter of Sarah Palin that Sullivan is the most fun. he was fast off the blocks with loud doubts about the story of Trig's birth, questioning whether the baby really is Palin's, and he has stayed with the larger story, giving readers a front row sweat to every suit, countersuit, rumor, and speculation about the divine Sarah.
4. On a much more serious note, Juan Cole's Informed Comment is the place to go for scholarly commentary on Middle Eastern affairs by a leading scholar in the field. His blog is at http://www.juancole.com Cole is fluent in Arabic and some other regional languages, and really knows the politics of Iraq and Iran in the way that many of us know the politics of the United States. No one in his right mind would try to stay current on American politics by reading someone who does not know English and does not have an intuitive grasp of the nuances of Democratic and Republican Party politics. By the same token, it is insane to look for guidance on Middle Eastern affairs to some self-styled "terrorism expert" who cannot read, write, and speak the languages of the region. Cole's blog is bare bones, not much more technologically sophisticated than this blog, but he is well worth a visit.
Finally, I will mention The Daily Kos, at http://www.dailykos.com and FiveThirtyEight, at http://www.fivethirtyeight.com. The Daily Kos is the site started and headed up by Markos Moulitsas, a young political activist. Kos, as he is known, is totally focused on getting Democrats elected to public office at every level from dog catcher to president. He keeps track of primary challenges, election contests, fund-raising and the like in virtually every Congressional District in America, functioning as a sort of modern-day political reporter for the hometown newspaper. he has been tremendously successful in raising money nationally for scores of candidates who never make the national news and hence could not otherwise reach potential supporters outside their region. [I gave $100 once to a list of nineteen promising Democratic challengers trying to win Republican House seats, and received a raft of letters from the candidates thanking me for my $5.26 contribution.] The site regularly runs two features, one of which I really enjoy, the other of which has not captured my loyalty. The first is an "Abbreviated Pundit Round-up," which gives mostly tongue in cheek and totally biased summaries of the day's op ed columns. The other is an "Open Thread and Diary rescue," which gives a second life and a large audience to blog posts from ordinary folks that would otherwise not be noticed. The principal lesson of these rescued diaries is that there are simply thousands and thousands of intelligent, knowledgeable people saying substantive things about every conceivable topic under the sun. My lack of interest is, no doubt, a consequence of the fact that, so far as I know, this blog has not been "rescued." Sigh.
Finally, there is Fivethirtyeight.com, the creation of the ultimate technonerd, Nate Silver. {In a charming reversal of the flow of influence, Silver's success as a blogger has led to his appearances on the Rachel Maddow Show and other such MSM sites. Silver is a skilled statistician, whose special contributions to the blogosphere are sophisticated analyses of the masses of data spewed out by polling firms and the like about elections. [The title of the blog,l of course refers to the number of members of the House and Senate combined]. During the recent presidential election, multiple visits to the site each day were an absolute necessity. In off years, Silver has a bit of trouble coming up with data to massage, but he is always fun to read, especially if you are an election junkie, as I am.
And there you have it -- my contribution to Metablogging. The surf is up!
[Historical footnote. The prefix "meta-" has come to have the meaning of higher or better or transcendent. So most folks think that metaphysics is somehow about things that are higher than, or transcend, the physical -- such as extrasensory perception, or out of body experiences. The prefix has also come to have the meaning of "second order." Metaethics is not theories about what is good and bad and what we ought to do, but rather is theories about theories about what is good and bad and what we ought to do. The term "metaphysics" came into modern usage, of course, via the essays by Aristotle known as The Metaphysics, and since those essays deal with the nature of Being and other "first things", as Aristotle called certain fundamental questions, the term acquired its modern meaning. But in fact, the essays known as The Metaphysics are simply the texts that, in an edition reintroduced into Western Europe from the Islamic world, came after the book known as The Physics. Now, in Greek, "that come after the Physics" is "ta meta ta physica," so the essays,to which Aristotle gave no name, became known as The Metaphysics.]
Anyway, back to metablogging. One of the things I do as a committed blogger is to surf the web and check out other blogs. Indeed, although I read the NY TIMES every day [mostly for the obituaries, the op ed essays, and the puzzles], I get most of my news from a small group of blogs. So, as a public service to my readers, who all probably have better things to do with their time, here is a guide to the blogs I routinely check.
I. The Huffington Post, accessible at http://www.huffingtonpost.com . Started by Arianna Huffington, conservative turned liberal, this is far and away the flashiest of the blogs, with vast amounts of material, big, brightly colored visuals, and a determinedly left bias. The Huffington Post is a strange cross between a rad-lib rant and a trashy gossip sheet. Here you can find the very latest information about the health care struggle or the torture debate, and also the dirt, with photos, of Tiger's multiple mistresses. It is worth checking out her bio on http://www.wikipedia.com.
2. Talking Points Memo, a blog started by Josh Marshall and now staffed by a growing array of politicos, bloggers, and technonerds. You can find it at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com Like Huffington, Marshall is firmly on the left. Unlike Huffington, he actually does investigative reporting, and is more and a more a source for breaking stories, cited by the mainstream media. TPM is heavy on Washington politics, but mostly omits the trashy gossip that Huffington seems to thrive on. During the exposure of Sarah Palin's clay feet, Marshall broke some key stories. TPM also regularly includes extended comments from its readers, as well as guest pieces.
3. The Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan's blog, which is available at http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/ Sullivan is an interesting character -- an extremely intelligent and well-educated English gay HIV positive writer who takes conservatism very seriously [Michael Oakeshott, that sort of thing] and grew so disenchanted with George W. Bush that he supported Obama for the presidency. The Daily Dish is a much more personal blog than the Huffington Post or TPM, and although Sullivan has a number of people on his staff, the voice is always distinctively his. There are four subjects about which Sullivan cares deeply, and they absorb the lion's share of his blog. They are: the current state of conservative theory and practice, Gay Rights, the popular upheaval in Iran, and anything scandalous concerning Sarah Palin. On the debates currently roiling the conservative intellectual and political world, Sullivan is a very valuable guide for those of us who do not ordinarily consort with right-leaning types. On Gay Rights he is solid, but not particularly innovative. But, of course, I may be more plugged in to that world than most straights because of the prominent role played in it by my son, Tobias. On the events in Iran he is marvelous, posting pictures and tweets and email messages and texting from protesters in the streets virtually as they are happening. Sullivan is playing a genuinely important role in that on-going struggle, and he puts the mainstream media to shame, both by his commitment and by the speed and skill with which he brings events virtually in real time to as large audience. But it is on the matter of Sarah Palin that Sullivan is the most fun. he was fast off the blocks with loud doubts about the story of Trig's birth, questioning whether the baby really is Palin's, and he has stayed with the larger story, giving readers a front row sweat to every suit, countersuit, rumor, and speculation about the divine Sarah.
4. On a much more serious note, Juan Cole's Informed Comment is the place to go for scholarly commentary on Middle Eastern affairs by a leading scholar in the field. His blog is at http://www.juancole.com Cole is fluent in Arabic and some other regional languages, and really knows the politics of Iraq and Iran in the way that many of us know the politics of the United States. No one in his right mind would try to stay current on American politics by reading someone who does not know English and does not have an intuitive grasp of the nuances of Democratic and Republican Party politics. By the same token, it is insane to look for guidance on Middle Eastern affairs to some self-styled "terrorism expert" who cannot read, write, and speak the languages of the region. Cole's blog is bare bones, not much more technologically sophisticated than this blog, but he is well worth a visit.
Finally, I will mention The Daily Kos, at http://www.dailykos.com and FiveThirtyEight, at http://www.fivethirtyeight.com. The Daily Kos is the site started and headed up by Markos Moulitsas, a young political activist. Kos, as he is known, is totally focused on getting Democrats elected to public office at every level from dog catcher to president. He keeps track of primary challenges, election contests, fund-raising and the like in virtually every Congressional District in America, functioning as a sort of modern-day political reporter for the hometown newspaper. he has been tremendously successful in raising money nationally for scores of candidates who never make the national news and hence could not otherwise reach potential supporters outside their region. [I gave $100 once to a list of nineteen promising Democratic challengers trying to win Republican House seats, and received a raft of letters from the candidates thanking me for my $5.26 contribution.] The site regularly runs two features, one of which I really enjoy, the other of which has not captured my loyalty. The first is an "Abbreviated Pundit Round-up," which gives mostly tongue in cheek and totally biased summaries of the day's op ed columns. The other is an "Open Thread and Diary rescue," which gives a second life and a large audience to blog posts from ordinary folks that would otherwise not be noticed. The principal lesson of these rescued diaries is that there are simply thousands and thousands of intelligent, knowledgeable people saying substantive things about every conceivable topic under the sun. My lack of interest is, no doubt, a consequence of the fact that, so far as I know, this blog has not been "rescued." Sigh.
Finally, there is Fivethirtyeight.com, the creation of the ultimate technonerd, Nate Silver. {In a charming reversal of the flow of influence, Silver's success as a blogger has led to his appearances on the Rachel Maddow Show and other such MSM sites. Silver is a skilled statistician, whose special contributions to the blogosphere are sophisticated analyses of the masses of data spewed out by polling firms and the like about elections. [The title of the blog,l of course refers to the number of members of the House and Senate combined]. During the recent presidential election, multiple visits to the site each day were an absolute necessity. In off years, Silver has a bit of trouble coming up with data to massage, but he is always fun to read, especially if you are an election junkie, as I am.
And there you have it -- my contribution to Metablogging. The surf is up!
Monday, 28 December 2009
AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!
Thanks to NotHobbes for pointing out that I failed to create usable lnks in my previous post. After massive frustration, it is all fixed now. I really need a twelve year old girl to help me with this. You can now access my Memoir and my multi-part essasy on the ideal univerrsity by following the links embedded in the post. Enjoy.
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