So says Ned Rice.
Finally
Google is at least making an attempt to do something about splogs. I’d like to allow blogspotters to link and ping here, but I have to wait and see if this works, first.
The Sequel You Never Wanted To See
Jack…is back.
Hey, who knew what the frigid north Atlantic could wrought?
Potential Satire Bleg
Were any movies made by Hollywood about Pearl Harbor during the war? What movies were made during the war about events that precipitated the war?
As will probably be obvious, I want to know how soon is “too soon.”
How Low Can She Go?
Cindy Sheehan’s excellent Easter adventure. I guess she can do this because she has, in Maureen Dowd’s words, “absolute moral authority.” I’m not a Christian, but if I were, I’d be appalled.
Not So Homogenous?
So, I was speculating the other day that regional accents and dialects in the US were dying out, when here comes an article on the Colorado accent [there is one?–ed Apparently.] that says they’re actually getting strengthened:
One might assume that in this era of universal education and media saturation, accents throughout the country would be getting smoothed out. (On the TV show “Boston Legal,” it’s hard to find a character who speaks with even a hint of a Boston accent.)
But surprisingly, Labov and his associates have found the opposite is true. They report that “regional dialects are becoming increasingly differentiated from each other.”
In other words, people seem to be accentuating their accents.
The reason for this, Bright suggests, may be that many Americans view the way they talk as a badge of honor.
“I think what it comes down to is a matter of regional loyalty,” he says. “People are conscious of it and proud of it. New Yorkers and Bostonians don’t want to sound like they’re from Omaha.”
This clearly resonates with Allison Myers, who has retained the soft drawl of her native Georgia even though she has lived in Colorado for 14 years.
“People ask me, ‘Where are you from?’ I find it intriguing,” she says. “My accent is not something that defines me in all ways, but it’s something unique about me.”
On occasion, Myers adds, her manner of speaking has even proved to be an asset rather than a handicap, as accents often have become in the past.
“When I first came here, I worked in a restaurant, and we’d sometimes have contests to see who could sell the most bottles of wine,” she recalls. “I won every time, and I do think it was because of my accent. I’d say, ‘Oh, you should trah this wah-un,’ and they always would.”
Clueless Joe
Christopher Hitchens is still waiting for some substantive answers from Joe Wilson:
…it’s true that the two men knew each other during the Gulf crisis of 1990-1991. Indeed, in his book The Politics of Truth, Wilson records Zahawie as having been in the room, as under-secretary for foreign affairs, during his last meeting with Saddam Hussein. (Quite a senior guy for a humble mission like violating flight-bans from distant Niger and Burkina Faso.) I cite this because it is the only mention of Zahawie that Wilson makes in his entire narrative.
In other words (I am prepared to keep on repeating this until at least one cow comes home), Joseph Wilson went to Niger in 2002 to investigate whether or not the country had renewed its uranium-based relationship with Iraq, spent a few days (by his own account) sipping mint tea with officials of that country who were (by his wife’s account) already friendly to him, and came back with the news that all was above-board. Again to repeat myself, this must mean either that A) he did not know that Zahawie had come calling or B) that he did know but didn’t think it worth mentioning that one of Saddam’s point men on nukes had been in town. In neither case, it seems to me, should he be trusted with another mission that requires any sort of curiosity.
TSA Follies
First, we have this story, of a Marine put on a TSA no-fly list because he was detected with gunpowder residue on his combat boots.
Then, KLo over at NRO asks:
Small thing, all things considered, but wouldn’t an expired I.D. be something to notice?
Not in a sane world. I’ve commented on this before. And I just noticed in the last comment on that post:
And as far as security being “bullshit”? How many planes have been hijacked since new security procedures have been put in place?
And how many would have been had they not?
This is the “tiger repellant” fallacy.
“Why do you keep jumping up and down on one foot?”
“To keep the tigers away.”
“Are you crazy? There’s not a tiger within thousands of miles of here, except in zoos.”
“See? It works!”
It’s not the airport security procedures that have prevented hijackings (though they may have cut down on attempts)–it’s the fact that the passengers are much more alert now, and will never again allow another plane to be hijacked. Every flight from now on, as long as we remember Flight 93, will be Flight 93.
Three More Days
Clark Lindsey reminds us that the Space Access Conference starts on Thursday. Hope to see some of you there.
“Anger And Despair”
James Carroll has a nutty column today in which he agrees with the psychoanalytical diagnoses of Iranian mullahs:
An Iranian official dismissed the talk of imminent US military action as mere psychological warfare, but then he made a telling observation. Instead of attributing the escalations of threat to strategic impulses, the official labeled them a manifestation of ”Americans’ anger and despair.”
The phrase leapt out of the news report, demanding to be taken seriously.
And amazingly (at least to me), he does just that.