“There are the trees,” said the Beaver. “They’re always listening. Most of them are on our side, but there are trees that would betray us…”
A sign I passed on campus today, evidently left over from yesterday, read “Listen to the inaguration on the Stuart Collection’s Talking Trees!” Yes, hidden in the woods near the UCSD [...]
By James | November 22, 2008
This is an interesting report. According to the National Intelligence Council, US influence in world affairs will most likely decline in the coming decades. This isn’t terribly earth-shattering; history is rife with examples of failed empires (the Dutch and Portuguese, to name two). I am somewhat surprised that it’s being admitted so [...]
By James | November 6, 2008
I was able to go to bed on time Tuesday night, and go to bed happy. I don’t think an Obama administration is immediately going to fix everything that’s wrong with our country, but I’m confident that it’ll try, and I’m certain that it won’t actively try to make things worse. One couldn’t say the [...]
By Kevin | November 3, 2008
I guess that it’s time for a little preemptive history. Tomorrow is the big day. The reality of George W. Bush leaving the office of President is finally feeling at-hand and incontestable. The general sense across the nation is one of relief, as the very “worst” that could happen is that someone marginally more competent [...]
By James | October 18, 2008
As I sit here in my living room, drinking a rather fine beer and watching The Great Escape, I often wonder if I shouldn’t just get it over with and outsource my entire weekly post to The Times. After all, I link to them nearly every time I sit down in front of a computer, [...]
In her book The Age of American Unreason (which I reviewed here), Susan Jacoby writes about the “just us folks” mentality of contemporary American politics. The idea is that, regardless of how technical an issue is, everyday experience by normal “folks” can somehow provide insight. Folk wisdom is rampant and product of many, often simultaneous, [...]
By James | October 2, 2008
Another week, another debate to cover. Last week I tried writing as the debate was happening, which didn’t go so well (for me, at least). This week, half of the post will be written before the debate starts, then half after. I’m cautiously excited about the proceedings…this might be funnier than the The [...]
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By James | September 26, 2008
Well, I think Chris has put it pretty well. I know who I’m voting for, and I can’t wait for the election to be over. I really don’t want to talk about politics, but I feel like I have a responsibility to cover the debate. So here we go…
Big coup for Obama right off the [...]
I realized this morning that I had missed my day again. Oh well, this gives me a chance to talk about politics since it’s the day of the debate. I normally don’t like to write about politics because everyone else does and I have nothing special to contribute, but here I go. Politics, at least [...]
By James | September 19, 2008
This is a few days old, but I was too busy linking to old British sketch shows last week to talk about it then. Justin Webb, the BBC’s North America editor, is arguing that Sarah Palin getting elected might not be as utterly disastrous for the entire world as most people think. He [...]