Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
by Tim F| 10 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
John hasn’t contacted me today so we have to assume that he’s still feeling pretty bad. In lieu of any medically-relevant advice, which I’m sure that he’s getting right now from his doctor, all I can offer is this (marginally work-safe). Post your own salacious links, humor and whatever else you think might make him feel better in the comments.
If you want to do something more tangible I would suggest the tip jar. I’m strictly a guest blogger so all the money goes to him.
by Tim F| 37 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Solely for the cruel pleasure of prolonging one of the most intractable disputes in internet history, we present this news item from yesterday:
Harvard President Lawrence Summers, who announced his resignation Tuesday after a tumultuous five years in office, was known for his rough touch. He saw it as his job to prod a potentially complacent institution. But his tenure was marked by often bitter departures of some of the university’s highest-profile minds, from Cornel West in 2002 to the recent resignation of William Kirby, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The monthly meetings between Summers and Harvard faculty were never love-ins, but sources tell Time.com that the most recent meeting, on February 7th, turned into an unusually bitter showdown, not just over Kirby’s departure, but also over new allegations tying Summers to an old scandal.
If you want to know what I think, I could probably name five or six major schools where the faculty or the board are looking for an excuse to remove a president that they don’t like for whatever reason. In the end this seems like as good a rationale as any:
At issue is Summers’ handling of a Russian fraud scandal involving a close friend and colleague, Harvard Economist Andrei Shleifer. Shleifer and Harvard were found liable for combined penalties of nearly $30 million in 2004 after they were charged with defrauding a U.S. government program designed to help Harvard economists privatize the Russian economy in the 1990s. The scandal has long been considered one of Harvard’s darker hours, but a new 28-page exposé by investigative reporter David McClintick, published in the January 2006 issue of Institutional Investor magazine, brought new heat on Summers, whom the article describes as going out of his way to protect his old friend and protégé Schleifer, who is still a senior faculty member at the university. In part because of the report, the faculty meeting in balustraded University Hall found Summers under sustained attack, according to mechanical engineering professor Frederick Abernathy.
Today or tomorrow the career obituaries will start to appear. What do you think – was Summers cruelly mistreated by the PC police? An abrasive anachronism who shot from the hip on subjects outside of his field of expertise? Hash it out in the comments.
by Tim F| 222 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
John has the flu and for some reason that old bumper sticker (Jesus Is Coming. Look Busy!) keeps flashing through my head. What’s going on that doesn’t involve ports?
by John Cole| 46 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Science & Technology
Just got back from the doctor, and I have dropped 20 lbs in a couple of weeks of diet and exercise. Blood work was good, too. BP is dropping, triglycerides were spectacular, good cholestorol is up, and bad cholestorol is down.
Gave me enough motivation to continue this for another month. By April/May (the first pounds were easy- it will slow down dramatically, I expect), I should be in a range where I can stop dieting and start normal healthy living.
And I have lost two belt sizes already and feel better.
by John Cole| 22 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics
Before the SOTU, I couldn’t believe that Bush would get a bounce in the polls:
I simply can think of nothing the President could say that would change my mind about President Bush or this administration. Perhaps things will work out in the Middle East, and thirty years from now when I am nearing retirement, historians will have a glowing review of the Bush administration. Right now, though, from my perspective, this administration, regardless what happens in the next few years, will always be remembered as eight years of missed opportunities.
I am telling you this because it turns out to be one of those rare occasions I was right (h/t Andrew Sullivan):
Four organizations have now reported conventional national surveys since the State of the Union, and collectively they show little or no movement in the job rating of President George Bush. Once again, the annual address to Congress has produced no “bounce.”
Go check out the figures yourself. Hardly surprising- I think people pretty much have their mind made up about this administration. I sure have.
BTW- New category for posts like this titled “I Love Me,’ partially inspired by this and this.
by Tim F| 46 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Slow monday morning. Big sympathy to New Englanders [and Mid-Atlantic state-ers] who now have to put up with a president they don’t like and six gajillion inches of fresh snow.
What’s up?
by John Cole| 85 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
From the “Oops!” Department:
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.
And the man he shot was not named Scooter Libby, which would have been no surprise.
Straight shooters, the whole damned administration.