I’m fundamentally a little flaky, so any kind of cognitive outsourcing I can do when it comes to keeping myself organized and remembering when I need to do what is invaluable. So I’m glad amigo Tim has hepped me to 30 Boxes, which is a web-based calendar with a couple of handy features. One nice […]

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If you’ve paid much attention to the debate over gay adoption—and even if you haven’t—you’ve probably head some pundit or pol assert that “children need a mother and a father,” a claim that’s usually linked to the notion of gender complementarity, the idea that mom and dad each bring something unique to the parenting table, […]

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Kieran Healy takes the piss out of the BBC for mixing up “flout” and “flaunt.” My favorite instance of this was an NPR event hosted by Ken Andersen with Doug Rushkoff and some other panelists whose identity I’ve since forgotten, at which the program enthusiastically promised that the discussants would “flaunt conventional wisdom.” Call it […]

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A friend who I’d never otherwise suspected had a sadistic or misogynistic bone in his body once surprised me by confession, of his penchant for buggery, “You know, the truth is, I kind of like anal sex more because she doesn’t.” Well, if this analysis by David Boaz is right, George W. Bush is conservatism’s […]

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TalkLeft is upset by Jerry Falwell’s “latest knucklehead theory” that Jews and Muslims won’t get to heaven. Which is a little weird, because I always supposed that the “knucklehead theory” was pretty much a mainstream view: Belief is a prerequisite for salvation, and not just any old Belief—in Vishnu or Allah or Baal or even […]

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In the course of making various perfectly good points in a tussle over the relative merits of Old Media and the blogosphere with an anonymous commenter, Jeff Jarvis drops this bizarre argument: First, it’s a shame that whoever this is hides behind the nom d’interactivity of “journalist” without the conviction to stand behind these words […]

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Over at The Corner, Jonah Goldberg professes confusion as to why anyone who’s generally opposed to abortion might be prepared to make an exception in cases of rape and incest. I think there’s a pretty straightforward reason, though. About 35 years ago, Judith Jarvis Thompson offered a now-classic thought experiment: The Famous Violinist. We’re asked […]

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So, as I mentioned in a previous post, I’m fresh back from a trip to Madrid and Paris with the lovely Kerry Howley—about which I expect I’ll have more to say once I’m over my jet lag. But here’s one observation about cultural differences: Automatic ticket machines seem not to work in these two great […]

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I’m just back in town from Europe and jazzed to catch The New Pornographers and Belle & Sebastian at the 9:30 club this evening. And, as it turns out, it looks like I may have a spare ticket or two. Email me if you’re interested. (If I know you personally, text me.)

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