Thursday, September 1, 2005
Donate to help the victims of Katrina.
I have been avidly following the coverage. It’s so sad. In addition to feeling bad for the people who have lost homes or relatives and friends, I feel bad for all the people who went to the Louisiana Superdome or the New Orleans Convention Center - rapes, dead bodies.
I remember during and after 9/11 how odd it felt to have the whole country focused on the area where I lived. I’m sure media coverage is the last thing on the minds of most of the people of New Orleans right now, but I wonder if they find it strange that all of us are talking about levees and Lake Pontchartrain as if we encounter them every day. I had to go to the dictionary to make sure I was pronouncing “levee” correctly.
I was in New Orleans with UVa’s Virginia Glee Club in March 1998, part of a tour of the South. We were only there for a day and a half. We arrived in the afternoon and performed a concert at a church whose name I can’t remember. For breakfast the next day, I had a delicious beignet at Café du Monde. In the afternoon, six of us walked around the French Quarter (including a straight guy with whom I was deeply infatuated, an attraction that led to my finally coming out of the closet), and we six had a huge lunch at Galatoire’s. Two hours later, we had to meet up with the rest of the chorus for a group dinner. We were stuffed. That night, we all went out and partied, and the next morning, we left. It was a beautiful city.
I’ve been keeping tabs on Richard’s blog and the blog of his and Jonno’s host, Drew. There’s also this, which seems to include some posts from Richard (I think it’s the same Richard), and this.
The first sentence of today’s lead New York Times editorial begins, “George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday.” I think that’s a bit harsh, but maybe not. Although I wasn’t looking for crocodile tears or Clintonesque lip-biting, he was certainly less than inspiring. He seemed defeated. Rattling off numbers, he sounded like the FEMA director instead of the president. Then again, his first 9/11 speech was pretty awful, too. The man seems to have two responses to chaos: either he turns a blind eye to it (Iraq), or he is overwhelmed by it (New Orleans). I think his reaction is usually the former so he can avoid the latter.
He certainly lived down to his reputation this morning when he said to Diane Sawyer, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” Oh? Not anyone? He’s such a schmuck.
Anyway: once again, donate.
3:38 PM | 10 drops of oil In other news, my blog was quoted in a New York Times article on Monday about how difficult it is to cancel one’s AOL subscription. The quote was taken from this entry, and it even inspired the article’s headline! Cool.
5:27 PM | 1 drop of oil Friday, September 2, 2005
4:26 PM | Comments Off Funding FEMA and having a superb civil defense are very much part of conservatism’s real core… The reason I’m mad as hell over Katrina is precisely because I’m a conservative and this kind of thing is exactly what government is for. Bush in this sense is not now and never has been a conservative. A man who explodes government spending but can’t run a war or organize basic civil defense is simply a fiscally reckless incompetent. If this were a parliamentary system, we’d have a vote of no confidence. Instead we have three years of more peril.
There’s actually lots of good writing about the hurricane response on Andrew Sullivan’s website. (And here’s an anticipatory “piss off” to a particular reader of mine. You know who you are.)
4:29 PM | 1 drop of oil Saturday, September 3, 2005
Oh my God! Chief Justice Rehnquist has died.
11:37 PM | 1 drop of oil Sunday, September 4, 2005
Rehnquist’s death puts Justice Stevens temporarily in charge.
“If the court convenes Oct. 3 without a newly confirmed chief justice, Stevens will issue the traditional welcome that starts the court term. He would do so from his usual seat next to Rehnquist’s. The chief’s large, center seat would be empty and draped in black.”
1:38 PM | Comments Off Monday, September 5, 2005
Here’s a really interesting article on how the New Orleans Times-Picayune managed to keep publishing last week, even after evacuating its headquarters. For several days last week it printed only PDF versions of the paper. (Update: here are all the PDFs from the past week.)
The evacuated employees were sent to two locations. By midafternoon Tuesday, many had arrived in Houma, La., where The Courier was offering food, computers, phone lines and, although spotty, Internet connections….
About 12 journalists, led by Dan Shea, a managing editor, stayed in Houma that night, posting news on the Web site and trying to put together an issue of the paper in portable document format, or pdf, which allows for a traditional newspaper layout.
The team had none of their production software and templates, and no access to any of The Times-Picayune’s fonts, and was struggling with rolling blackouts. Still, Mary Chauvin, a copy editor, was able to replicate the look of the paper on the fly by cobbling together graphic elements from earlier online editions.
The paper managed to resume printing on Friday, using the Courier’s presses.
And indeed, by Friday morning, The Times-Picayune had managed to resume its print editions again. It printed 50,000 copies at The Courier -a “seat of the pants” press run, Mr. Amoss said, its size a guess of how much of an audience the paper would have.
The paper was distributed, using the same delivery trucks that had ferried the staff to safety, to subscribers throughout Louisiana and to the habitable areas of New Orleans. And it was also delivered in bulk to shelters, where it was given away.
2:43 PM | Comments Off There’s been way too much news this past week. Between Katrina and Rehnquist/Roberts, I can’t read the newspapers and blogs fast enough. And I’m pissed that The Note has been on vacation for two and a half weeks. Mark Halperin and his staff will have a lot of catching up to do when they return tomorrow.
It’s not totally suprising that Bush has moved Roberts’s nomination to the Chief Justice position. He’s practically in love with Roberts, and he wasn’t going to name someone who wasn’t a white male as Chief Justice, but he wasn’t going to nominate a white male for the second vacancy. So O’Connor’s replacement will probably be someone non-white or female or both.
On the other hand, Bush has never acted in line with political predictions.
Interesting fact: since Roberts is only 55 only 50 years old, he could wind up having one of the longest Chief Justiceships in American history, second only to that of John Marshall. [Update: or even the longest!]
The switch of Roberts to the Chief Justice’s seat changes the dynamics of Bush’s two appointments. As SCOTUSblog writes, “The nomination of a doctrinaire conservative to replace the Chief Justice could have been explained as ideologically neutral for the Court, as the new nominee would not move that seat to the right. Moving Judge Roberts to the seat of Chief Justice, by contrast, opens up again the debate over what Democrats will describe as the ‘O’Connor’ seat — that of a moderate conservative.”
There’s going to be pressure (again) to replace O’Connor with a moderate. But hasn’t that ship sailed? What if Roberts actually turns out to be the moderate of the two appointments? Ugh. It’s still possible.
At any rate, here’s hoping that Chief Justice Roberts will be presiding over Bush’s impeachment trial soon.
3:16 PM | 4 drops of oil Tuesday, September 6, 2005
I was not a happy camper this weekend. Saturday was nice - Matt and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He’d never been before, and I’d been wanting to take him there for a while. I love the Met - it’s like travelling around the world and across history. Ancient Egyptian relics, 20th century art, medieval armor, musical instruments, early American furniture, European paintings - and that’s just some of what we saw. We were there for several hours and didn’t even see every department. I need to go there more often. And since I live in Manhattan now, I really have no excuse not to.
(One of my favorite Met exhibits ever was Art and the Empire City, which appeared five years ago, and which I saw twice. It displayed the art and cultural history of New York City from 1825 to 1861 and included some great paintings of long-gone city landmarks.)
The rest of the weekend, though, I was kind of bummed out. We didn’t do much of anything. I’m not good at doing nothing. I feel unhealthy and guilty if I sit around watching TV, and I was getting cabin fever in the apartment. Matt is usually content not to do much, but I’ve always liked (or felt a pressing need) to take advantage of the city and all it has to offer.
Last night, I came back from a fruitless bookstore trip. I got into the elevator and 11 or 12 loud freshmen appeared out of nowhere and crammed in as well. I just about lost it when I got back into the apartment. (Matt was at a meeting.) The building has been more crowded since all the students moved in last week. But I’m living rent-free in a very nice apartment in a great neighborhood, so I really shouldn’t complain.
Matt and I have different attitudes toward life. Although he gets stressed out about his job and can be hard on himself about short-term things, he doesn’t really worry about the long term.
Me, I worry about more existential things. I worry about death - not dying, but death. I’m not religious and don’t think there’s an afterlife. In the back of my mind there’s always the knowledge that one day I will cease to exist, and that I’m not taking advantage of the short time I have on earth. I’m not sucking the marrow out of life. I don’t know why I have such a cramped view of things. But I do.
How do you people do it? How do you live without these ever-present fears?
There are people out there who are content with their jobs, who are content to do nothing. They’ve either found something they enjoy, or they haven’t but they don’t worry about it. Sometimes I wish I were like that.
But mostly, I just wish I knew what I wanted out of life. But it seems that what I want changes from week to week.
Matt and I talked about all this a couple of times this weekend. He doesn’t understand why I always feel the need to go out and do something. But I see it as taking advantage of the fact that I’m alive. Because I won’t always be.
10:30 AM | 8 drops of oil I just had a thought: John Roberts, as Chief Justice, could swear in Bobby McAllister to the presidency in 2041, when Roberts is 85.
I mean, y’know, if TV shows were real.
11:27 AM | Comments Off “These satellite photos show that Iran is developing the facilities to build giant fans which could stir up more hurricanes!”
2:26 PM | 1 drop of oil Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Gay marriage in California lies in the hands of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Wow - three years ago, that sentence would have made absolutely no sense.
9:42 AM | 3 drops of oil First the problem with gay marriage, apparently, was that it was being imposed by unelected judges. (Never mind the fact that the judges in Massachusetts were appointed by an elected official.) It should be decided by an elected body, the legislature, gay-marriage opponents said. Now California’s legislature has approved gay marriage, and what do opponents say? That the legislature “subverted the will of the people.”
What does Schwarzenegger say? That it should be decided by court decision. Or by a vote of the people. Talk about passing the buck.
In 2000, Californians passed Proposition 22, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, with 62 percent of the vote. It’s been working its way through the courts. According to the Times, “several Republicans… said Democrats who represented districts where voters approved Proposition 22 had no moral authority to subvert that vote.” One Republican assemblyman said, “History will record that you betrayed your constituents, and their moral and ethical values.”
Interesting question: should the legislature have taken Prop 22 into account?
This raises the question of the role of a legislator. As a legislator, you’re supposed to keep your constituents’ wishes in mind. But if that was the only role of a legislator, there would be no need for legislatures. A legislator is also supposed to have an eye toward the public good.
But this raises the question of what the public good is. Is the public good what “the people” think it is, or what the legislatures think it is? Is it the collective private desires of the people, or is it something outside the realm of, and greater than, private interest? As for the 62 percent of Californians that passed Prop 22, were they voting out of private interest or out of their sense of the public good? We do have a conceit that legislators have a greater sense of the public good than “the people” do, since the people supposedly focus only on their private interests.
Anyway, this will all be moot if, as expected, Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill. Schwarzenegger is a democratically-elected governor and is as much a part of the democratic process as the legislature. That’s why it’s lame of him to pass the buck.
10:57 AM | 3 drops of oil 1:37 PM | 3 drops of oil Tonight I did something I’d never done before.
I baked.
Every couple of months at work, we designate a day in our section when everyone brings in baked goods. Everything sits on the countertops until late afternoon, and then we unwrap them and stuff our faces. In the past I’ve copped out by buying donuts or Munchkins or something like that. But this afternoon I decided I was finally going to take the big step and bake. I went to Google and found a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cup cookies. After work, I went to the store and bought the ingredients. I felt so cool buying things like sugar and flour and vanilla extract. (But chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and peanut butter cups? Overkill, maybe?) I shocked the hell out of Matt when I came home.
These are the cookies. They’re tasty, if a bit too cocoa-y. I hope they go over well. Actually, I don’t care if they do or not. As much as this will make me sound like a retarded child, I baked cookies all by myself! And I’m proud of me! Yay.
10:41 PM | 9 drops of oil Thursday, September 8, 2005
In regard to Schwarzenegger’s planned veto of the gay-marriage bill: I like Rob’s point about the fact that Prop 22 was five years ago. And as I said yesterday, what’s the point of having a legislature if things can be decided by public initiative? Particularly things that have no effect on most of the public?
I can see Schwarzenegger’s point, though - a point that has not been communicated well. (I certainly didn’t know about it.) The San Francisco Chronicle explains about Prop 22: “Because it was passed by initiative, it can’t be amended without another public vote, under state constitutional rules that protect the public’s right to make laws at the ballot box.” I don’t know anything about California law, but if that’s true, then the law seems to be on Schwarzenegger’s side.
That doesn’t make it right, though. As Matt P. said, the popular initiative is a bad idea.
3:28 PM | Comments Off Poor Justice Breyer can’t get a break. His eleven years of having to answer the door, which seemed to be coming to an end, will instead continue even after Roberts is confirmed to the Court. As How Appealing notes, Breyer will continue to be the most junior justice after Roberts becomes Chief, because the Chief Justice is, by definition, the most senior member of the Court. Breyer will have to wait until O’Connor’s replacement gets confirmed - whoever she turns out to be.
(Heh. I said she.)
4:29 PM | 1 drop of oil Okay, I was wrong about Prop 22, apparently. It had to do with recognition of out-of-state marriages, not the legality of same-sex marriages performed in California. This makes it even clearer that Schwarzenegger punted.
5:09 PM | 1 drop of oil Friday, September 9, 2005
<singing>
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Matt,
Happy Birthday to you!
</singing>
Go on over and wish my boyfriend a Happy Birthday.
10:21 AM | Comments Off The New York Times has a good editorial today on Schwarzenegger’s veto.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a profile in timidity this week when he vowed to veto a pioneering bill authorizing gay marriage in California. The bill, which both houses of the Legislature passed by narrow margins, would expand the definition of marriage to include a civil contract between two people, not exclusively a man and woman. This was an enlightened and fair-minded stand that made California’s Legislature the first in the nation to approve same-sex marriages.
Too bad Mr. Schwarzenegger could not find the courage to sign the bill into law. Instead, even before receiving the bill, he announced a tortured rationale for vetoing it. For years, social conservatives have accused judges of deciding social issues that should be left to legislators. Now Mr. Schwarzenegger wants to ignore his Legislature and leave gay marriage to the courts or the voters at large to decide.
He relies on a fig leaf: five years ago, Californians voted overwhelmingly for a ballot measure that recognized only heterosexual marriages as valid. A statement by the governor’s press office declared, “We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote.”
That ignores the fact that five years is an eternity in the fast-moving arena of gay rights. Even though 61 percent of the voters approved the ballot measure, recent polls show that the electorate is now evenly split, with Democrats and independents favoring same-sex marriage and Republicans strongly opposed. The Legislature is hardly a renegade body if it roughly mirrors popular opinion.
Mr. Schwarzenegger also seems to have forgotten that this nation was founded as a republic, in which the citizens elect legislators to govern on their behalf. Such representative democracy is especially important when it comes to protecting the fundamental rights of minorities, who may face bigoted hostility from some segments of the electorate.
It’s easy to guess why Mr. Schwarzenegger was in such a hurry to announce his veto. Although he was initially hailed as a centrist Republican superhero who could appeal to a broad range of voters, his popularity has plummeted, and polls show that most Californians are inclined to oppose his re-election. Only his Republican base continues to back him.
Mr. Schwarzenegger’s own views of gay marriage are hidden beneath vague, elusive, sometimes contradictory comments that add up to ducking the issue. The former Mr. Universe who has derided political opponents as “girlie men” is afraid to say what he really thinks. He falls back on a rationale that would leave the issue to the courts or another vote of the people. Anything to get him off the hook.
11:12 AM | 1 drop of oil Saturday, September 10, 2005
Flash demo (with audio) for The Complete New Yorker.
In just a week and a half, The Complete New Yorker goes on sale. It’s a DVD archive of every issue of the New Yorker from its inception in 1925 up to February 2005, with updates to be issued every spring. I’ve already pre-ordered it through Amazon at a significant discount. I’m salivating just thinking about it. I can’t wait to get it.
12:47 AM | 2 drops of oil Thanks, Nick! I’d been waiting for someone to tag me with this meme. Here goes.
I’m going to ask that certain parents of mine refrain from reading this, because parts of it could be embarrassing.
Anyway:
Seven things I plan to do before I die:
1) Write a book.
2) Go on a cross-country road trip.
3) Own a dog.
4) Pay off my student loans.
5) Get published in the New Yorker.
6) Travel to many more countries.
7) Own a home.
Seven things I can do:
1) Love.
2) Express my thoughts and feelings in words.
3) Bake cookies.
4) Sing.
5) Follow my curiosity wherever it leads.
6) Read (but not necessarily understand) Hebrew, Japanese kana, and Ancient Greek.
7) Give a terrific - OK, I’m bashful. I’ll just say that I can perform a certain common gay sex act really, really well.
Seven things I cannot do:
1) Read a book without savoring its language.
2) Play sports.
3) Fall asleep quickly.
4) Wake up on time for work.
5) Deal with excessive noise.
6) Find clothes that fit.
7) Not worry.
Seven things that I find attractive in a man:
1) A brain.
2) A heart.
3) Mild self-deprecation.
4) A hint of devilishness.
5) Nerdiness.
6) A sense of responsibility.
7) A sense of humor.
Seven things I say most often:
1) Hmmmmm.
2) I don’t know, what do you want to eat?
3) Matt. Wake up. It’s time for bed.
4) Can I turn off the closed-captioning?
5) I’m kinda bored.
6) I’m confused.
7) I need to use the bathroom.
Seven celebrity crushes: [ed.note: just seven?]
1) Robert Sean Leonard
2) Matthew Fox
3) Michael Vartan
4) Ben Shenkman
5) Jesse Eisenberg
6) Dan Bucatinsky
7) Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Seven bloggers I must now tag:
1) Matt
2) Mike
3) Andy
4) Thom
5) Jeff
6) Matt P.
7) David
5:50 PM | 1 drop of oil Sunday, September 11, 2005
Thanks to Lexis, here are the articles (with opening paragraphs) that the New York Times ran on its front page four years ago this morning. As late as 8:45 that morning, this was the news of the day. One minute later, it was all completely forgotten.
No issue of a newspaper has ever become irrelevant more quickly.
Key Leaders Talk of Possible Deals to Revive Economy
By ALISON MITCHELL and RICHARD W. STEVENSON
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 - Key figures in both parties responded to the darkening economic outlook today by exploring possible compromises on additional tax cuts, and the Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee suggested that such a deal could involve the politically perilous step of tapping temporarily into the Social Security surplus.
Pressure mounted on President Bush to drop his cautious approach to dealing with the weakening economy, much of it from within his own party. Republicans are voicing growing concern that the White House has underestimated public unease about the economy and the threat it poses to members of Congress up for re-election next year.
Confronted with polls showing that support for Republicans was eroding even before the government reported on Friday that the unemployment rate had surged, nervous Republicans moved on a variety of fronts.
City Voters Have Heard It All As Campaign Din Nears End
By JIM DWYER
The first time the phone rang, Victoria Ehigiator was elbow deep in a sink of soapy dishes. She dried her hands and picked up the phone. It was Al Sharpton on the line, calling about the primary election. He said his piece, and she went back to the dishes. A few minutes later, the phone rang again, and she lifted herself from the bubbles once more.
That time it was Fernando Ferrer. And then it was Gloria Davis. Followed by Adolfo Carrion.
As one digitized caller after another dropped into her home, thanks to new technology that can swamp the telephones in a ZIP code or an entire city with the actual voice of, say, Ed Koch, urging a vote for Peter Vallone, Ms. Ehigiator started to suspect that very few people in New York were not running for something — whether it was mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president or City Council.
And as for those few who weren’t candidates, they all seemed to be calling her about those who were.
Scientists Urge Bigger Supply Of Stem Cells
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 - A panel of scientific experts has concluded that new colonies, or lines, of human embryonic stem cells will be necessary if the science is to fulfill its potential, a finding that is likely to inflame the political debate over President Bush’s decision to restrict federally financed research to the 64 stem cell lines that are already known to exist.
In a 59-page report that examines the state of human stem cell science, the panel also endorsed cloning technology to create new stem cells that could be used to treat patients. Mr. Bush strongly opposes human cloning for any reason, and the House of Representatives voted in July to outlaw any type of cloning, whether for reproduction or research.
The report by the National Academy of Sciences, perhaps the nation’s most eminent organization of scientists, is scheduled to be made public on Tuesday morning at a news conference in Washington. It does not address Mr. Bush’s policy directly, though it strongly supports federal financing for stem cell research.
Nuclear Booty: More Smugglers Use Asia Route
By DOUGLAS FRANTZ
ISTANBUL, Sept. 10 - The police in Batumi, a Black Sea port in Georgia, heard a rumor in July that someone wanted to sell several pounds of high-grade uranium for $100,000. The most tantalizing aspect of the tip was that one of the sellers was reportedly a Georgia Army officer.
All sorts of scoundrels have tried nuclear smuggling in recent years. Many are amateurs; most of what they try to peddle proves useless for making bombs.
But the possible involvement of an army officer gave the Batumi case a measure of deadly seriousness, beyond its status as another example of how the smuggling of nuclear material has shifted to Central Asia.
Traced on Internet, Teacher Is Charged In ‘71 Jet Hijacking
By C. J. CHIVERS
Thirty years after a black-power revolutionary hijacked a jetliner from Ontario to Cuba and disappeared, Canadian and federal authorities matched the fingerprints he left on a can of ginger ale in the airplane with those of a teacher in Westchester County and charged the teacher with the crime yesterday.
The teacher, Patrick Dolan Critton, 54, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and extortion in United States District Court in Manhattan. He is facing extradition to Canada, where a detective had tracked him down through a simple Internet search.
The authorities said that Mr. Critton, a fugitive for 30 years, had been hiding in plain sight for the last seven years, working as a schoolteacher, using his real name, raising two sons and mentoring other children. Even one of the police officers who arrested him said he had the appearance and demeanor of a gentleman.
But as a young man, the authorities said, Patrick Dolan Critton was a revolutionary with a taste for the most daring of crimes.
In a Nation of Early Risers, Morning TV Is a Hot Market
By BILL CARTER
How much morning television can one nation watch?
Ever since the owlish Dave Garroway ambled through the “Today” program on NBC starting in 1952, sometimes accompanied by a chimpanzee, television screens have greeted awakening Americans with the combination of hard news, feature reports and soft celebrity interviews that has come to be known as the morning news program.
But the competition for bleary eyes has grown more intense as media conglomerates have awakened to the idea that changing lives, heightened interest from advertisers and other factors have made the morning one of the few areas of growth in the television business.
School Dress Codes vs. a Sea of Bare Flesh
By KATE ZERNIKE
MILLBURN, N.J., Sept. 7 - In the tumult of bare skin that is the hallway of Millburn High School, Michele Pitts is the Enforcer.
“Hon, put the sweater on,” she barks at a pair of bare shoulders.
“Lose those flip-flops,” to a pair of bare legs.
One student waves her off as Mrs. Pitts crosses her arms in a “Cover that cleavage” sign. “You talked to me already,” the girl insists, then promises, “Tomorrow!” as she disappears around a corner.
Baseball caps, a taboo of yesteryear, pass by unchallenged, having slipped in severity on a list of offenses that now include exposed bellies, backs and thighs. For Mrs. Pitts, the assistant principal, there is simply too much skin to cover.
With Britney Spears and CosmoGirl setting the fashion trends, shirts and skirts are inching up, pants are slipping down, and schools across the country are finding themselves forced to tighten their dress codes and police their hallways.
Here are the editorials that ran in the paper that morning, with opening paragraphs:
The Politics of Panic
The summer has barely ended, but President Bush and his Congressional allies are already frantically rewriting their script for the fall. This was supposed to be a season for Mr. Bush to talk about “values,” not fiscal policy. But with a sinking economy, evanescing surplus and tottering budget, Republicans are going back to the drawing board. Some, like Trent Lott, the Senate minority leader, want to cut the capital gains tax. House Republicans are talking about broad spending cuts. The White House says Mr. Bush would listen to these and other ideas to revive the economy. There is a whiff of panic in the air, and panic can lead to bad policy.
Spoiling the Broth
When Frank Flynn, a Columbia University professor of organizational behavior, drafted a fictitious letter to 240 New York restaurants, he did so in the hope of studying “vendor response to consumer complaints.” The letter stated that he had been stricken with “extended nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps” in each of the restaurants after a wedding anniversary dinner. Those symptoms were nothing compared with the headache Professor Flynn must have had last week when he realized how badly his research had gone awry. His letter caused a reign of terror in many of the city’s top restaurants, as management tried to ferret out the culprits. If his subject had been culinary paranoia or perhaps the temper of the high-profile chef, the letter would have been perfectly crafted.
Primary Choices
This list summarizes The Times’s recommendations in some primary races throughout New York City and Nassau County today. All are Democratic primary choices except for the borough presidency in Staten Island, where there is only a Republican primary. Poll hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Mayor
Mark Green
Public Advocate
Betsy Gotbaum
Comptroller
William Thompson
[etc.]
Here’s the summary of the paper’s contents that appeared on the inside front page.
NEWS SUMMARY
INTERNATIONAL A3-15
Nuclear Smugglers Turn To Central Asian Routes
The appearance of a relatively large quantity of uranium, nearly four pounds, on the black market in Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has underscored concerns within the American government that trafficking in nuclear material has shifted from Europe to the Caucasus, Central Asia and Turkey. A1
New Fighting on Eve of Talks
Two soldiers were slain by Palestinian snipers near a checkpoint separating the Palestinian town of Tulkarm and Israel. Israeli tanks shelled Palestinian security positions outside Jenin in the West Bank. Both sides were still discussing plans for truce talks tentatively set for today. A3
Afghan Fighter’s Fate in Doubt
There were conflicting reports that Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the last remaining opposition to the ruling Taliban, had survived a suicide bomber’s attack on Sunday. A15
Suicide Bombing in Istanbul
Two police officers were killed and at least 20 people were injured when a suicide bomber set off a powerful explosion in the busy Taksim Square district, officials said. A3
Russia Firm on Missiles
Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov expressed Moscow’s resolve to oppose America’s missile defense plans on a day when President Bush was on the telephone to President Vladimir V. Putin seeking to buttress their personal relationship. A14
Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that plans for missile defense sacrifice national security for the sake of a “theological” belief and that the effort to make such a system work would cost astronomical sums. A14
Irregulars Labeled Terrorists
The Bush administration designated as a terror group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a right-wing paramilitary group responsible for hundreds of killings. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is to meet with President Andres Pastrana today. A10
East Timor Vote Approved
The United Nations certified the results of East Timor’s first democratic election and a newly chosen constituent assembly prepared to start drafting a Constitution. A15
World Briefing A8
NATIONAL A16-21
Key Leaders in Congress Discuss Further Tax Cuts
Prominent figures in both political parties responded to the darkening economic outlook by exploring possible compromises on additional tax cuts. The Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee suggested that a deal could involve the politically perilous step of tapping the Social Security surplus temporarily. The White House and some Capitol Hill Republicans also talked of spending cuts. Polls show that support for Republicans is eroding. A1
Dole to Seek Senate Seat
Elizabeth Dole is expected to announce her candidacy today for the North Carolina Senate seat being vacated after the 2002 election by Jesse Helms, a fellow Republican. A16
Driver Beaten After Boy’s Death
The driver of a tow truck that accidentally hit and killed a 4-year-old boy in Los Angeles was severely beaten over the weekend by a crowd of more than 20 people, the police said. A16
OBITUARIES C17
SCIENCE TIMES F1-12
Call to Expand Cell Pool
A panel of scientific experts concluded that new colonies, or lines, of human embryonic stem cells will be necessary if the science is to advance. The finding is likely to inflame the political debate over President Bush’s decision to restrict federally financed research to the 64 lines already known to exist. A1
Findings on Arsenic in Water
The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that arsenic is so dangerous in drinking water that stringent levels set by the Clinton administration and later suspended by the Bush White House were justified but perhaps not strict enough. A20
G.P.S. Not Reliable, U.S. Says
The Global Positioning System — which airlines plan to use to land flights in zero visibility, railroads want for avoiding train collisions and ships use to navigate shoals — is vulnerable to interference and even “spoofing” by enemies, the Transportation Department said. The report suggested that older technologies should be maintained as backups. A21
Health & Fitness F5
NEW YORK/REGION B1-7
30 Years After a Hijacking, A Suspect Is Arrested
A teacher in Westchester County, Patrick Dolan Critton, 54, was arrested in connection with the 1971 hijacking of a Canadian airliner to Cuba. Canadian investigators tracked him down through the Internet. A1
New Charges for Jailed Mayor
State prosecutors charged Philip A. Giordano, 38, the three-term mayor of Waterbury, Conn., with raping the two girls, aged 9 and 10, with whom federal prosecutors said he had repeated sexual encounters this year. If convicted of the new charges, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. B1
Last Chance for Votes
The six major candidates running to succeed Mayor Giuliani ranged across the city in a final burst of politicking before today’s vote. B1
FASHION B7-8
ARTS E1-10
SPORTS D1-8
Denver Defeats New York
The Broncos beat the Giants, 31-20, to inaugurate a new Denver stadium. D1
EDUCATION
The Fashion Police Get Tough
Shirts and skirts are inching up, pants are slipping down, and schools across the country are finding themselves forced to tighten their dress codes and police their hallways. A1
Incest Verse Prompts Recall
The New York City Board of Education recalled a Maya Angelou book that had been sent under a Mayor Giuliani initiative to libraries for children in kindergarten through third grade. A poem in the book uses explicit language about incest. Officials cited a clerical error in explaining how the book was put on the list. B2
Catholic School Strike Looms
Teachers at 10 Catholic high schools in New York City and its suburbs threatened to go on strike as early as today over pay and delays in talks. B3
BUSINESS DAY C1-16
U.S. Accuses Firm of Sex Bias
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a sex-discrimination suit against Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in the case of a highly paid bond saleswoman who was fired. The commission chairwoman said as many as 100 other women had also been victims of bias within a single division since 1995. C1
Bitter Gucci Fight Over
The French billionaire Francois Pinault took effective control of the Gucci Group with an agreement to buy much of the stake held by a rival tycoon, Bernard Arnault. C1
Nikkei Plunge Alarms Investors
The Nikkei stock index, which has lost 25 percent of its value this year, is in danger of falling below the 10,000 barrier, a level last seen in 1984. It could even drop below the Dow Jones industrial average, a situation not seen since 1957, the opening days of Japan’s economic boom. C1
A Comeback on Wall Street
The stock market rallied from early losses in the day. The Dow, which plunged 3.5 percent last week, closed down just 0.34 point, at 9,605.51, after beginning the day down as much as 112 points. The Nasdaq gained 7.68 points, to 1,695.38, and the S.& P. 500 rose 6.76 points, to 1,092.54. C9
More High-Tech Jobs Cut
Qwest Communications, the operator of large fiber optic and local telephone networks, said it would eliminate 4,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, by early 2002. C6
8:34 AM | 3 drops of oil Monday, September 12, 2005
Benjamin Kunkel was all over the Sunday New York Times today. He wrote the cover article for the Book Review, and his first and last names are the very first words that appear in an article in the magazine about The Believer and n+1, two intellectual/literary magazines run by people who are around my age. And his new (and first) novel was reviewed on the cover of the Book Review two weeks ago - by Jay McInerney, no less. The magazine article this weekend says that Kunkel “has become the hot young white male writer of the moment, a position once held by Dave Eggers.”
I shouldn’t resent him, of course. He means me no harm. (He doesn’t even know me.) And yet of course I resent him. Resentment and envy. Of him, and of the other people who have started these magazines. Their mere existence allows me to compare myself with them and brood on my own insecurities and my lack of anything to show for myself, and the symbiotic relationship between these two things.
This is nothing new with me, though. It’s who I am. It’s what I do.
12:39 AM | 6 drops of oil New York Magazine profiles Anderson Cooper.
On the gay issue:
There has been a lot of chatter on the Internet about the fact that Cooper may or may not be gay, and Village Voice columnist Michael Musto has taken pleasure in quoting the gay magazine Metrosource, which has referred to Cooper as “the openly gay news anchor.” It has been assumed in certain circles in New York partly because he lives what looks to some to be a gay social life. He’s often seen at parties with Barry Diller, and he’s friends with the lead singer from the outré gay rock band the Scissor Sisters. And then there was the tempest in a teapot regarding a slightly heated interview last fall with Jerry Falwell about gay marriage. Some Cooper-obsessed bloggers insist that the anchor outed himself on the air, taking the gay side of the debate and saying, “We pay taxes.” They claim CNN originally posted a transcript with the “we” and then later changed it to “You pay taxes.” Cooper has maintained all along that he said “you.”
When I bring up the sexuality issue with Cooper, he says, “You know, I understand why people might be interested. But I just don’t talk about my personal life. It’s a decision I made a long time ago, before I ever even knew anyone would be interested in my personal life. The whole thing about being a reporter is that you’re supposed to be an observer and to be able to adapt with any group you’re in, and I don’t want to do anything that threatens that.”
11:58 AM | 32 drops of oil Tuesday, September 13, 2005
This makes me ill. We have to wait how long until 1/20/09?
4:46 PM | 2 drops of oil Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Last night was our first chorus rehearsal of the season. It’s the beginning of my third year with the chorus. At this point I’ve probably been in the chorus longer than at least half the group. When did this happen?
The first night of rehearsal always evokes memories for me being at UVa and starting a new year with the Glee Club or the University Singers - the humid September weather, new singers, new music, and in this case, even a “new dorm,” because it was our first rehearsal since Matt and I moved to the Village together over the summer.
During my first year of law school at UVa, I lived on the Range [holy crap - the Range has a selection committee now?], right near UVa’s famous Lawn. At the beginning of that academic year I hung out near the Lawn rooms on the night of fall convocation, when all the undergraduate first years attend a pomp-filled ceremony on the Lawn. I’d attended it as a first-year student five years previously and had returned in subsequent years to sing with one or another of my choruses. The loud buzzing late-summer insects, the sticky air, the young students in their Laura Ashley dresses and their shirts and ties and shorts, all nervous and excited and homesick, unaware of all the new experiences and personal changes in their futures. I always felt nostalgic at fall convocation, and particularly so that night, as I was no longer an undergrad.
I feel a recurrence of that nostalgia every year around this time. Things in life aren’t quite as new, fresh or exciting these days as they used to be. But it’s nice to have a hint of that newness again every once in a while, just to remind me how it feels.
1:24 PM | 3 drops of oil Thursday, September 15, 2005
I’ve been reading The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, by John F. Harris. It’s an excellent recap of the Clinton years. Reading it gives me the odd sensation of reliving not just the events in the book, but events of my own life. Clinton opened his presidential campaign just a month after I started college and a mere six weeks after I returned to the U.S. from living overseas. He left office four days after I started this blog and several months into my legal career.
I remember going down to Richmond with the UVa Democrats for a debate-watching party/rally in 1992 and getting to shake Clinton’s hand when he came to the rally afterward. I remember watching the Election Night returns in my tiny New College (now Hereford) dorm room. I remember rushing back from my first American Lit class of the Winter 1993 semester to watch the inauguration on TV. I remember driving up Route 29 to D.C. that summer, listening to a talk radio discussion about the B.T.U. tax. Watching a news report over winter break one year about the impending transfer of Congress to the Republicans… reading about the Oklahoma City bombings in the New York Times in the reading room of Alderman Library, a month from graduation… following the re-election story in my Range room while a first-year law student… first hearing about the Lewinsky affair while watching TV in my living room during my second year of law school… studying for finals the following year in the Glee Club house while the House voted to impeach… watching his airplane-hangar farewell speech in my Jersey City living room after the Bush inauguration.
For me, the Clinton years are synonymous with my UVa years, and both are synonymous with the 1990s. It’s all one big nostalgiafest, and it makes the book that much more enjoyable to read.
4:50 PM | 1 drop of oil Friday, September 16, 2005
They’ve physically moved all the departments around at work this week, so I have a new office. In my new office, the desk is in the same place as in the old one - it’s a horseshoe-type desk, so I have three workspaces - but the computer is on the opposite side of the horseshoe from where it used to be. This is good, because it means people can no longer see my computer screen when they walk by, and my back isn’t to the corridor anymore. But it’s making me all dizzy. The center part of the horseshoe is now on my right instead of on my left, and it’s got me all verkakte. I feel all turned around, as if I’m trying to write with my right hand. (I’m left-handed.) I almost can’t remember which hand I write with. And although I’m left-handed, I always work with the computer mouse on my right side. But yesterday it felt weird to use my right hand on it, so I moved stuff around so that the mouse was on my left, but that didn’t feel right either. So it’s back on my right again and I still feel like my hands aren’t working properly. Even typing this is making me dizzy. I hope this goes away soon.
I bet I can’t even throw a ball properly right now. Oh, wait. I couldn’t do that before, either.
12:56 PM | 2 drops of oil Sunday, September 18, 2005
“Did Success Spoil Tab Hunter?”
An article about 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter, who was secretly gay at the time but has been in a relationship with a man for the past 23 years.
11:45 AM | 1 drop of oil Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Richard writes about finally returning to his house in New Orleans and looking for his cat.
12:39 AM | 3 drops of oil Wednesday, September 21, 2005
TV scheduling conflicts this season that annoy me:
1) Wednesdays at 9 pm: “Lost” (ABC) vs. “Veronica Mars” (UPN) - two of last season’s best new shows. What was UPN thinking by scheduling “Veronica Mars” against a ratings powerhouse?
2) Mondays at 8:30 pm: “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS) vs. “Kitchen Confidential” (FOX) - two “Buffy” alumni competing against each other on brand-new sitcoms. Willow vs. Xander. That’s just mean.
3) Thursdays at 8 pm: “Alias” (ABC) vs. “Smallville” (WB) vs. “Will & Grace” (NBC, at 8:30). Yes, “Will & Grace” is old, but I still enjoy it. But a three-way conflict? Grr.
I still think this is all Matt’s fault for making his TV addiction rub off on me.
8:40 PM | 10 drops of oil Thursday, September 22, 2005
My copy of the Complete New Yorker on DVD should be waiting for me when I get home from work today. I’ve been so excited about this the last few days. I even upgraded to two-day shipping from free shipping because I was getting impatient. I can’t wait to see it and start using it.
Meanwhile, here’s an NPR story about the DVD archive that goes into a little bit of detail about how they did it.
12:39 PM | 2 drops of oil Yay, I have the Complete New Yorker now!
It’s damn cool. Now that I own a copy of every single page the New Yorker has ever published, I can check out the completely random articles I’ve always been curious about, such as E.J. Kahn’s infamous five-part series on grain.
Seriously. In 1984-85, towards the end of the eccentric William Shawn’s 35-year editorship, by which time (some say) the New Yorker had become a parody of itself, E.J. Kahn wrote five long articles, each on a different food staple - corn, potatoes, wheat, rice, and soybeans. Part one, on corn (June 18, 1984, p. 46), is more than 40 pages long. It ends with a note at the bottom of the last page: “This is the first of a series of articles on the staple food plants. The second will run in a future issue.” Isn’t that note great?
That’s why I love these DVDs.
11:00 PM | 1 drop of oil Friday, September 23, 2005
From the July 26, 1969 New Yorker’s capsule theater listings:
“THE BOYS IN THE BAND: A comedy about a birthday party at which the host and at least seven of his eight guests are homosexuals.”
9:51 AM | 4 drops of oil Yesterday I watched Richard Linklater’s 2004 film Before Sunset, a sequel to his 1995 film Before Sunrise. Before Sunrise was about two people in their early twenties, an American (played by Ethan Hawke) and a European (played by Julie Delpy), who meet in Europe and wind up spending an evening and night together before going their separate ways. In the sequel, Ethan Hawke’s character has written a novel based on the experience and is touring Paris, and he and Julie Delpy’s character meet for the first time since their original European encounter nine years earlier.
One great thing about the movie is that it’s in real time - the movie is 80 minutes long, and the action occurs over the course of those 80 minutes. “Action” isn’t really the right word, because it’s mainly a conversation as the two characters travel through Paris and catch up on their lives over the past nine years. That’s the other great thing about the movie - the same amount of time has passed in the real world as has passed between the two movies, so if you saw the first movie, you really feel as if you’re catching up with a couple of people you only vaguely remember.
A theme of the movie is how the circumstances of our lives rarely match our expectations. Another theme is how much different we are in our early 30s from who we were in our early 20s - and how some things stay the same. I’m 31, so the movie was poignant for me.
I hope they make another sequel in 10 years, and 10 years after that, and so on. I’d love to follow these two characters over the course of their lives.
1:42 PM | 1 drop of oil I’ve stumbled upon a bug on the New Yorker DVDs. I can’t access the February 20, 1989 issue. I tried to access it for a random reason but couldn’t. I e-mailed technical support and got a response a few hours later: “We have replicated this issue and are reporting it to the developers. We will keep you updated as status changes on this issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.” I asked Other Jeff to check out his copy, and he can’t access it either.
I wonder if there’s a problem with other issues? After all, I doubt that out of more than 4,000 issues, I have found the only inaccessible one.
10:04 PM | 4 drops of oil So, if we can get our act together (which is looking less and less likely as the days and weeks pass), Matt and I are thinking of visiting San Francisco in late October. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to stay?
11:42 PM | 6 drops of oil Saturday, September 24, 2005
On Thursday night, I did something I hadn’t done in almost three years: I left a show at intermission. Matt and I went to see an Off-Broadway musical that Matt had heard good things about. For the sake of politeness, I’m not going to name it here, but 25 percent of the cast of this show was made up of 40 percent of the cast of a really great Off-Broadway musical we saw several months ago.
The cast itself was great - the show was well-sung and well-performed by appealing actors. But the plot was implausible and clichéd, and most of the songs were bland pop-rock (though a couple of them had entertaining lyrics). And not to be such a homocentrist, but the plot was completely hetero - it was basically about straight young people hooking up in New York - and it didn’t interest me in the slightest, though that’s probably due more to the aforementioned implausible and clichéd plot. I can enjoy a good heterosexual romance as much as anyone, but when a show is what I expect “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” to be like (”It’s ‘Seinfeld’ Set to Music!”, the ads blare), I can skip it. (I’ve never seen that show, but I have some (possibly unfair) negative preconceived notions of it, based solely on that advertising line. “Seinfeld” was a great show, but any musical that compares itself to “Seinfeld” is trying too hard.)
Anyway, I knew about three minutes into the show that I wasn’t going to like it, and I resolved to leave after Act One. The tickets were only $21 each, so it wasn’t much of a loss. Matt decided to stick it out for Act Two, but I went home, after stopping off at Gristede’s for some Ben & Jerry’s (at Matt’s request, though I’ve eaten my fair share of the pint so far). When Matt came home, he said I’d made the right decision.
Incidentally, the last show I left at intermission was Vincent in Brixton. (The ticket was free.) Yawners.
I considered walking out of Drowning Crow last year, but I found it so outrageously bad that I just had to see it through. Unlike the other two shows mentioned above, it was at least entertaining.
The moral is, if you’re going to make a bad show, you may as well go all out.
12:30 AM | 4 drops of oil Stephen Sondheim and Antonin Scalia on the same stage? How the hell did I miss this?
It sounds like some twisted awards show presentation duo. “And now, presenting the award for best featured actor…”
1:19 PM | 1 drop of oil Monday, September 26, 2005
Big news in our family: my brother got engaged this weekend. My little baby brother is going to get married. He and his girlfriend fiancée (oh my god, fiancée) have been together for nearly three years and have lived together for the past year or so. We all love her. He proposed to her after dinner at Tavern on the Green, and afterwards, they came to the lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the Time Warner Center, where Matt and I, my parents, and his girlfriend’s fiancée’s parents were waiting. (Actually, Matt and I showed up a few minutes late, but close enough.) My brother was really old-fashioned about it - he officially asked her parents’ permission and everything, and they drove down from Canada to be in New York for the weekend. (The family is from Montreal.) She had no idea any of us (especially her parents) were going to be there. We had a window table and looked down on Columbus Circle - it was beautiful.
So my brother’s getting married in about a year. Another life milestone. Congratulations to him and his new fiancée, and welcome to the family!
10:38 AM | 4 drops of oil Matt and I have been getting into this new TV show on Fox called Reunion. After two episodes, it’s already become a guilty pleasure for me. Reunion is a one-hour drama that follows a group of six friends over the course of 20 years, from their high school graduation in 1986 to the present day. Each episode covers a subsequent year in the characters’ lives. Interspersed with all the flashbacks is a present-day mystery: one of the six friends has been murdered - we don’t yet know who, or by whom - and a detective is investigating it. We’ve already seen the detective interview two of the friends in their present-day, late-30s incarnations, so we know they weren’t the ones killed.
The show has an interesting structure. Most TV dramas have a continuity of action from week to week, but because each episode of this show takes place approximately a year later than the previous one, you need to play catch-up. Or, rather, the writers need to catch us up - each episode has to work in some exposition without being clunky. So far, it succeeds.
In last week’s episode, it’s 1987, and at one point, some of the characters are hanging out in Manhattan. At the beginning of one scene, we get an establishing shot of the night skyline. There, of course, are the Twin Towers, brightly gleaming against the dark sky. I had to pause the recording and stare at the image for a few seconds before I was able to move on.
One of the themes of the show was stated by one character last week: every day, we make choices that could affect our lives for years to come. No news there, of course, but it’s a theme that resonates with me. I’ve always been interested in the passage of time and how our lives change as the years go by. (See Back to the Future.)
Reunion has lots of typical soapy TV melodrama that you can find all over, say, the WB. But the structure - the flashbacks and the murder mystery - compel me to watch. And I will be watching.
1:28 PM | 1 drop of oil Tuesday, September 27, 2005
| You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating |
5:01 PM | 7 drops of oil Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I’m totally going to have to read