November 26, 2007

Re: The clothesline controversy

Posted by Dr. Roy Cordato at 3:35 PM

Does anyone but me see the irony in this quote from the article Mitch linked to?

"Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who...recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners [more than one] to water plants."

I guess he could go without air conditioning but then how would he be able to water his plants? That's just the kind of eco-conscious guy he is. 

Linkable Entry

Norwalk Watch aka The Norwatch

Posted by Dr. Terry Stoops at 3:26 PM

The News and Observer published yet another op-ed by anti-growth zealot Stan Norwalk. (For background, see my previous posts here, here, and here.)

According to N&O editor Ted Vaden, the N&O published five letters and three columns by Norwalk between January and July. Apparently, he remains the darling of the N&O editorial staff.

Linkable Entry

The clothesline controversy

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 3:10 PM

Wake Forest gets national attention this week because of ... clotheslines?

The controversy reminds me of an old George Carlin bit:

"My wash smells as fresh as all outdoors."

"You never lived in my neighborhood, man." 

Linkable Entry

Re: Quizzes

Posted by Hal Young at 2:20 PM

They say I'm conservative/libertarian, which is probably accurate enough, but I only landed in Romney's camp because of the issues that made me more "conservative" than "libertarian". You have to question a poll that leaves out Thompson, or Huckabee, for that matter.

ABC News' Match-O-Matic scored me 80% for Thompson a couple of weeks ago.

Linkable Entry

Re: Quizzes

Posted by Daren Bakst at 1:58 PM

What's the deal with so many people being Spiderman?  I think it must be the nerd factor.  My results:

- Spiderman
- Libertarian
- Ron Paul

Linkable Entry

Quizzes

Posted by Dr. Karen Y. Palasek at 1:17 PM

Ron Paul
Libertarian
[no surprises for those two]
Super hero: Spiderman
Super villian: Mystique (gotta look that one up)
addendum: oops—didn't realize this is Halle Berry's character from the X-Men films Well, no it isn't her either--I've been corrected once again

Linkable Entry

I am the Flash

Posted by Jon Sanders at 12:34 AM

I didn't take his libertarian quiz, however; I've taken it before and here are my results:

Linkable Entry

Golly, even at Christmas, demand curves slope downward

Posted by Jon Sanders at 12:20 AM

The NY Times is amazed: the headline reads "Retail Sales Rise, but Stores Relied on Discounts."

Linkable Entry

Environmentalism: Bad for your health?

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 11:56 AM

A tongue-in-cheek column from this week's TIME suggests that too much green can hurt you.

As Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, explains:

So it was with some relief that I learned that eco-anxiety is a diagnosable condition. A so-called eco-therapist in Santa Fe, N.M., reportedly sees up to 80 patients a month who complain of panic attacks, loss of appetite, irritability and what she describes as some sort of a twitchy sensation in their cells. Eco-anxiety is not new--the etymology website WordSpy found it mentioned in a 1990 Washington Post article--but it's only now becoming widespread. Environmental consciousness is no longer just another lifestyle choice, like open marriages or joining the circus; it has been upgraded to a moral imperative. That forces Americans to add environmentalism to their already endless checklist of things to fret about. Did I remember to turn out the kitchen light? Couldn't I memorize the directions to my job interview instead of print them out? Why, for the love of Pete, did I use a napkin to wipe my mouth when I have here a perfectly good sleeve?

Cullen is willing to make some changes, but she exhibits more sense about the greening of our world than most fanatics. 

Linkable Entry

New "Improved" Constitutional Convention

Posted by Jenna Ashley Robinson at 10:59 AM

UNC-CH Students will be revamping the US Constitution to include “positive rights” on Saturday. Students from two UNC-CH classes - Sociology 131 and Sociology 273 - coordinated their work this semester and will be holding a mock Constitutional Convention on December 1.

On the agenda? A proposal to make Chapel Hill and Carrboro "Human Rights Cities." Part of the project’s goal was to discuss socioeconomic and cultural rights already embraced in other countries’ constitutions. New “rights” the students will address include the rights to peace, diversity, democracy, pluralism, education, sports, the arts and the benefits of discoveries from modern science. Students also discussed rights for special groups such as women, migrants, refugees and the elderly.

The whole thing is a project of the Social and Economic Justice minor, which probably tells you all you need to know about the endeavor.

The event will be held in Manning 209, on the UNC Campus, beginning at 9am. No word on whether the public is welcome to this event, but invitees include staff from Service-Learning Agencies, Local Labor Unions, Campus Workers, and Local Government Agencies.

Linkable Entry

Teachers Crank That Soulja Boy

Posted by Dr. Terry Stoops at 09:57 AM

The National Education Association is celebrating teachers who have learned and performed the "Soulja Boy" dance.

For your amusement (and horror), here is a video of a Spanish teacher performing the Soulja Boy dance, apparently during class:



The NEA article says, "A simple YouTube search yielded 243 videos (as of Monday 11/19) of teachers cranking that soulja boy, most of them set in classrooms and pep rallies." (Emphasis added.) The article fails to mention that the Soulja Boy dance has limited educational value, perhaps something that should concern an organization that purports to care about education.

Linkable Entry

The intellectually dishonest Paul Krugman takes it on the chin

Posted by George Leef at 09:15 AM

From Bill Anderson, here.

If you're a conoisseur of Krugman debunking, you'll like this piece.

It's remarkable that Krugman doesn't even seem to bother trying to be fair or sensible any more. He's just an attack machine, firing away at anyone and anything that isn't on board with his big government dreams.

Linkable Entry

Roy makes the FEE email today

Posted by Dr. Michael Sanera at 09:07 AM

Commenting on the $99 per barrel oil price, FEE's email references this The Freeman article by Roy Cordato.

High Gasoline Prices Are Your Fault? It Just Aint So!

Linkable Entry

Bigoted Americans aren't ready to vote for a woman/black

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 09:04 AM

Two TIME readers are already buying into the storyline predicted in this forum back in May: a loss for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will constitute a loss for women or blacks.

An Illinois man writes this week:

Clinton's credentials are far superior to those of anyone else in the pack. I consider her the U.S.'s best female public figure since Eleanor Roosevelt. If she does not win her party's nomination, it will be a clear sign to the world that women's equality is another cause America preaches but does not practice.

A Florida man aims the blame gun at a narrower target:

What conservatives hate about Clinton is that she is a woman. It's nothing more than old-fashioned sexism. Equal rights have always been anathema to them.

Prepare to see this storyline resurface if/when Clinton and Obama lose the primary and/or general election.

One cannot expect a person who expresses the ideas above to understand (or at least to admit) that a voter might well like to see a woman or black man (or black woman, for that matter) become president — if that candidate shares the voter's values and philosophy.

A vote for a candidate other than Clinton does not mean a vote against women. A vote for a candidate other than Obama does not mean a vote against blacks. 

Linkable Entry

I am Spider-Man

Posted by John Hood at 08:59 AM

According to three online assessments that truly need to be taken in tandem, I am Spider-Man, a libertarian supporter of Rudy Giuliani*.

Who are you?


*Not really. I don't do candidate endorsements. It's just what the quiz yielded based on policy questions.

Linkable Entry

Only in Durham, Part 57384

Posted by John Hood at 08:36 AM

Durham police offer David Addison has been promoted to sergeant.

This is the same David Addison who is listed in the lacrosse players' civil lawsuit.

This is the same David Addison who issued a CrimeStoppers poster shortly after the party that claimed, among other things, that a "horrific crime" occurred in which "the victim was sodomized, raped, assaulted and robbed."

This is the same David Addison who told the N&O that players were refusing to cooperate, who told the H-S that there was "really, really strong physical evidence", and who told ABC that players at the party "knew what transpired." We know now that these are all false claims. For a full run-down, see KC Johnson's blog.

Please tell me it's only in Durham where an officer at the center of a department's (and a city's and a university's) national embarrassment can do all this and be rewarded.

Linkable Entry

<< Last Entry