OTOH, he just failed to get Grenadine to float. “Now you’re very Sullivan-like.” –Shamed Read more

DON’T BE THIS BRILLIANT: Shamed notes that a new terrorist organization has been noted in the U.S.: al-Sharpton. And he pointed out that we’re both the same age as Garfield. Sara is closest. Read more

THRILL OF THE CHASE: Actually, I could get really into this–because I HATE $#@!ING POP-UP ADS so much that I would take huge, huge glee in tracking them down and KILLING them. They cause my computer to crash on an average of once a day. (Admittedly this is partly my fault–I often have too many windows open, blah blah blah–but c’mon people. If we can put a man on the moon…) Anyway, this “search-and-destroy” pop-up sounds like good sick fun.... Read more

THREE INTRIGUING INITIATIVES: A liberal arts core curriculum open to staff. St. Luke Productions. And my contest! Click and feel the love. Read more

ISRAEL FINAL FOR TODAY: Two points: First, saying that in 1948 Jews “should have gone to Brooklyn instead” ignored some basic realities about immigration–how many Jews would actually have gotten in? I alluded to this by saying that Israel was basically where Europeans (and Americans…) stuck Jews in order to get ’em out of their hair. Look how well that worked. But I didn’t mean to sound quite so flippant about Jews’ lousy options at the time. Second, for those... Read more

ISRAEL MAILBAG: First, I should note that everyone who wrote in has been civil and thoughtful. No flames. I also note that I’ve been really lousy about answering email lately, so if you sent me something this week and I haven’t responded, uh, well, you’re not the only one. Work just heated up again and will be boiling away for another week at least; I will try to post quite a bit but email will fall by the wayside. Here’s... Read more

“Oh, the fresh type, eh?” “Just informed.” –Agnes Moorehead and Humphrey Bogart, “Dark Passage” Read more

COMING DISTRACTIONS: I’m very hungry and must get groceries and then dinner ASAP, but I have a lot of stuff to say (I’ve been storing it in my hump). So tomorrow you’ll get: Israel/Palestine mailbag (with pretty much no responses from me for the moment); more Israel/Palestine questions, unrelated to mailbag; the return of The Politics of Dancing!!; authority and individuality; and, as always, random links. Read more

ANOTHER PRIEST! This looks cool. Read more

THE NEWEST WASHINGTONIANS: New immigrants in metropolitan Washington by country of origin, 1990-1998: Other (166 countries): 24.0% El Salvador: 10.5% Vietnam: 7.4% India: 5.5% China: 4.6% Philippines: 4.4% South Korea: 4.1% Ethiopia: 3.9% Iran: 3.1% Pakistan: 3.0% Peru: 2.9% Former Soviet Union: 2.7% Bolivia: 2.3% Nigeria: 2.3% Jamaica: 2.1% Ghana: 2.0% United Kingdom: 1.6% Guatemala: 1.6% Sierra Leone: 1.6% Taiwan: 1.4% Nicaragua: 1.3% Mexico: 1.2% Trinidad & Tobago: 1.1% Bangladesh: 1.1% Dominican Republic: 1.1% Somalia: 1.1% Afghanistan: 1.1% Colombia: 1.0%... Read more