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Monthly Archives: June 2007

Secularism rising

Monday, June 25, 2007

Steve Benen, writing at Talking Points Memo, comments on an article in the Atlantic, which noted that the number of Americans who stated that they had “no religious preference” doubled (from 7%) between 1992 and 2002. The authors of a study cited in the article, Michael Hout and Claude S. Fischer, concluded that the increase […]

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Connections

Monday, June 25, 2007

Two articles from Thinkprogress came across in my newsreader today, one after the other: In the first we learn that CNN has dumped an interview with Michael Moore in order to broadcast an interview with Paris Hilton. In the second, we learn that 41% of the people in this country still believe that Saddam Hussein […]

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Frank Rich on the surge

Sunday, June 24, 2007

I’m sort of taking the day off. I’m going to watch Sicko, which I am downloading as I write, with Michael Moore’s blessing, apparently. You can download it here. While I’m waiting, I do want to pass on portions of Frank Rich’s column (Times Select, so you have to pay) in the Times today. Rich’s […]

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Yet more bike blogging

Saturday, June 23, 2007

A couple of pictures from our area. This, I believe, was once a tavern atop a hill on Pequot Trail. It burned many years ago, but the walls still stand, awaiting restoration. And, on the Mystic River, an egret (I think it’s an egret) poses.

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Glued to the tube

Saturday, June 23, 2007

One of my pet peeves is restaurants that have television sets visible in the dining area. I have to take care to position myself so I can’t see the tube. I don’t want to watch, yet I continually find myself drawn to watch as if by magnetic force. I don’t watch TV at home, so […]

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More adventures in linguistics

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Speaking of misuse of language (see the previous post), a few weeks back I mentioned that the Oxford English Dictionary was so far holding firm against McDonald’s attempts to redefine the term “McJob“. Here at home, corporate America, in the form of Anheuser Busch in this instance, is finding that Bushco is more accommodating when […]

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Talking lesson from George (Orwell, that is)

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Further proof that Bushco considers Orwell’s 1984 a How-To book. Yesterday, I read this post on Josh Marshall’s site, in which he showcased a comment that noted the fact that the people fighting us in Iraq are now being called Al Qaeda by the media. In this morning’s Times the observation is borne out: The […]

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Late Friday night music from the dim and distant past

Friday, June 22, 2007

I downloaded some old Lovin Spoonful songs today. I will admit without shame that John Sebastian et. al. were among my favorite groups back in the Sixties. Anyway, I went to youtube to see if there were any Spoonful songs. I found this, which is far better, because, for all the bizarreness, it exemplifies what […]

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One less farm, one more big box

Friday, June 22, 2007

This article in the Norwich Bulletin caught my eye this morning as I dutifully trooped off to the Y to put in my daily mile of swimming. The Northeast Corner of Connecticut, the so called “Quiet Corner” is apparently well suited for distribution centers. Lowes just built one, and now Home Depot wants to follow […]

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I’m in-to the Charter Revision Commission that is

Thursday, June 21, 2007

I learn from the Mystic River Press that I have in fact been appointed to the Groton Charter Revision Commission. The split is 5-4 Republican, but in my experience Groton is one of the few places where party affiliation doesn’t tell you that much. We have some reasonable Republicans and some loony Democrats (I’m not […]

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