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On British TV last night, Gail Trimble, a Classics scholar at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, singlehandedly trounced the opposing team in University Challenge. To some a smug, bluestocking know-it-all, to others a role model. Cue the fightback and lots of questions about whether we, as a society, actually like really clever people and specifically, clever women?.
comment posted at 5:53 AM on Feb-24-09

Denise Long, the first woman to be drafted by the NBA.
comment posted at 10:41 AM on Feb-13-09
comment posted at 5:49 AM on Feb-14-09

O.J. Simpson has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for armed robbery. Simpson will remain in custody if he appeals. He may be eligible for parole in six years. An L.A. Times timeline of Simpson's legal history.
comment posted at 12:02 PM on Dec-5-08
comment posted at 1:51 PM on Dec-5-08

Cynthia Dixon, at the time employed by the University of Toledo, read this Toledo Free Press opinion piece, and wrote this response, which got her fired. Back in May the UT President responded to the growing controversy on local TV. Now Dixon is suing. (text of the suit)
comment posted at 12:27 PM on Dec-4-08
comment posted at 1:17 PM on Dec-4-08

From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre.
comment posted at 1:38 PM on Nov-14-08

Sports activism is dead? - so asks Andy Kroll in his review of Dave Zirin's new book, A People's History of Sports in the United States.

"And since the ‘80s, the money, TV time, and narcissism have only increased. Most professional athletes could care less — that is, if they even know at all — that their sponsors’ shoes and jerseys are made in squalid conditions in third world countries."

Author Zirin argues that “[w]e can pretend sports isn’t political just as well as we can pretend there is no such thing as gravity if we fall out of an airplane.”
comment posted at 6:00 AM on Oct-6-08

The Congress for the New Urbanism has just released Freeways Without Future, their top-10 list of aging highways that should be demolished in favor of city-friendly boulevards. "There's a whole generation of elevated highways in cities that are at the end of their design life," says John Norquist, head of the Congress for the New Urbanism. "Instead of rebuilding them at enormous expense, cities have an opportunity to undo what proved to be major urban-planning blunder." Take that, Robert Moses.
comment posted at 5:42 AM on Sep-29-08

There are still some smart people left on Wall St. Hedge fund manager, John Paulson, made a cool $15B for his fund as the housing market imploded. His cut? $3-4B. Not too shabby for a year's worth of work.
comment posted at 10:38 AM on Sep-26-08

Morton Sobel, co-defendant with Julius Rosenberg, acknowledges spying. Confirms Julius Rosenberg participated in spying, Ethel Rosenberg likely framed. National Archives releases transcripts.
comment posted at 6:56 AM on Sep-12-08
comment posted at 1:57 PM on Sep-17-08

In the 1950s, American Communists fled to China. The idealists returned home and got book deals. But one pragmatist remained behind.
comment posted at 2:45 PM on Aug-29-08

Clear passenger data stolen. A unencrypted laptop with the personal data, including name, address, SSi number, passport number, date of birth, etc. of every one of the 33,000+ users of the the Clear system has been stolen. The Clear system allows travelers who register and pay an annual fee to bypass airport security lines by using a smart card in some airports. TSA has suspended new registrations until Verified Identity Pass, Inc., a subsidiary of GE, figures out how to install PGP. VIP is the only private contractor allowed to register users to the Clear system. Via
comment posted at 12:16 PM on Aug-5-08

My favorite poet, Kay Ryan has been named United States Poet Laureate.
comment posted at 2:38 PM on Jul-18-08

[G]ays do not belong in the U.S. military because American troops need to be hardened warriors. "We aren't the Brits. We're not the Europeans. We're not the Swedes," says Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. The choicest quote from the 16 Dec 2007 60 Minutes investigation into gays in the military (recently updated).
comment posted at 6:13 AM on Jul-15-08

Dianne Odell passed away today. After contracting polio at age 3, she spent 58 years in an iron lung. "It's the only thing I know," she said. "I'm comfortable with it. I've never had a bedsore, which is remarkable." In 1998 she got a computer and, using voice dictation software, wrote a childrens' book. She died after the power failed and family members were unable to start a backup generator. As late as 1988 polio was still present in 125 countries around the world. Today it has been eradicated in all but 7 countries.
comment posted at 2:10 PM on May-28-08

Take my arm, my love. Don't write a check from a joint bank account. Hide all the photographs in your home and office which would identify you as a couple. Take off your wedding rings. Touch each other, and talk to each other, in public, in ways that could only be interpreted as you being "friends." A thoughtful post on "self-editing," homophobia, and the day-to-day experience of many LGBT folks, at Shakesville (aka Shakespeare's Sister), by Teh Portly Dyke.
comment posted at 8:42 AM on May-6-08
comment posted at 6:21 AM on May-7-08
comment posted at 5:08 AM on May-8-08

The blood substitute PolyHeme has been previously discussed on MetaFilter, but new evidence shows that PolyHeme actually raises the chances of death by nearly 30%. PolyHeme was notable mostly for the reaction to its clinical trials, which, controversially, did not require patient consent.
comment posted at 1:14 PM on Apr-29-08

"If Communists liked what we did, that was their good luck," said Lee Hays, founding member of the Almanac Singers. A fascinating portrait of one of the linchpins of the politically engaged folk movement of the '40s and '50s. Hays sang beside the more celebrated (and, on one important day in Bob Dylan history, infamous) Pete Seeger on such classic Almanac albums as Talking Union. [Listen here.]
comment posted at 5:54 AM on Feb-19-08

People with a History is "an online guide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans history." Ranging from the first stirrings of civilization to the modern day, People with a History gathers together original sources and academic articles dealing with queerness throughout history. To give you a feel for the wealth of material on the site, here are a few pages that caught my interest: The Vikings and Homosexuality, Coptic Spell: Spell for a Man to Obtain a Male Lover, an acount of a gay marriage ceremony described by Michel de Montaigne, But Among Our Own Selves (an 18th Century gay ballad), a chapter from The Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon, a 7th Century Byzantine monk and bishop, which mentions adelphopoiesis, or the rite of brothermaking, Wu Tsao, 19th Century Chinese lesbian poet, and finally Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men.
comment posted at 7:06 AM on Feb-3-08

Nearly 60,000* American children (mostly girls) are abducted by strangers each year. After seeing a security video documenting a young girl's abduction, 15-year-old Dallas Jessup convinced her Filipino street fighting instructor to work with her on a school project and together they developed a method intended to teach young girls how to avoid Carla Brucia's fate. The resulting 47 minute video, Just Yell Fire, is viewable free of charge and teaches easy self defense moves created to help a potential victim avoid abduction or date rape. If there's a girl you love and want to protect from harm, the tips in this video may just save her life someday.
comment posted at 1:54 PM on Jan-8-08

Most of the news stories about the release of failed assassin Sara Jane Moore mention that her attempt at President Ford was foiled by Oliver Sipple (wikipedia), who is generally described as "a disabled Vietnam Veteran/Marine". The current news stories don't mention that he was gay, but neither did most of the press accounts at the time, except for San Francisco's legendary columnist Herb Caen. An infamous, and ultimately tragic, 'outing'.
comment posted at 5:42 AM on Jan-7-08

Lie, bitch, flirt your way to the top of the high school ladder
"Coolest Girl In School has been touted as Grand Theft Auto for girls"
Interview with the Ladies who made it.
The ways of Mean Girls in a game.
comment posted at 5:49 AM on Jan-4-08

Love in the Time of Dementia Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s husband, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has a romance with another woman, and the former justice is thrilled — even visits with the new couple while they hold hands on the porch swing — because it is a relief to see her husband of 55 years so content. (More on their story from AFP.) This is also the plot of the wonderful Alice Munro short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” which became the recent movie Away from Her.
comment posted at 8:24 AM on Nov-19-07
comment posted at 12:21 PM on Nov-19-07

The pleasant but hagiographical Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (production company website w/ trailer) is playing in New York and Los Angeles. The movie is entirely uncritical... prompting this response by Ron Radosh who is interviewed in the film, but whose critical comments were left out. But most interesting is this followup article by Radosh describing Seeger's response and a new song against Stalin. The filmmaker comes out worst in Radosh's account...
comment posted at 6:41 AM on Nov-16-07

Don't make Barney Frank angry.
comment posted at 5:02 AM on Nov-8-07
comment posted at 10:54 AM on Nov-8-07

Last weekend, The Oregonian's Sports columnist John Canzano wrote about the two DUIIs by the son of the Oregon Ducks' coach. On Saturday, the Ducks football team beat the USC Trojans. The next day, Canzano wrote a story about the win. Before he wrote that story however, he wrote a blog post on what happened during the fourth quarter. Columnists are often held to different standards than reporters; and bloggers are often held to even different standards. It seems journalists are still learning the ropes of what standards they are held to under these different media. As a commenter JPound added to the post, "Before blogs, this unfortunate interaction would only have seen the light of day in a memoir."
comment posted at 2:27 PM on Oct-29-07

Little Boxes is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 that lampoons the development of suburbia and what many consider its bourgeois conformist values. [1]

During the first season of the Showtime series Weeds, Malvina's original recording was used during the opening credits. In the second season, the song was performed by a different artist each episode — Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie, Engelbert Humperdinck, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Maestro Charles Barnett, Aiden Hawkin, Ozomatli , The Submarines, Tim DeLaughter, Regina Spektor, and Jenny Lewis. [Malvina's recording was used again for the season finale.] Randy Newman just kicked off the third season, which the network promoted with a Little Boxes music video contest. Kevin Nealon and Romany Malco were notable among the participating cast members.
comment posted at 11:03 AM on Aug-15-07

Bisexual, but Only on the Internet : Could this be a new 21st century version of LUGs and hasbians?
comment posted at 6:43 AM on May-29-07

Human Rights Watch indepth report on male rape in US prisons. "I've been sentenced for a D.U.I. offense. My 3rd one. When I first came to prison, I had no idea what to expect. Certainly none of this. I'm a tall white male, who unfortunately has a small amount of feminine characteristics. And very shy. These characteristics have got me raped so many times I have no more feelings physically. "
comment posted at 5:50 AM on Feb-12-07

No spotted dick until you finish your bubble and squeak! An American girl eats her way through the UK, detailing her adventures tasting such traditional delicacies such as haggis and scotch eggs.
comment posted at 3:19 PM on Feb-7-07

As MIDEM - arguably the world's most important music conference - gets under way this week in Cannes, an ominous milestone has been reached here in the United States. Last week, the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack registered the lowest record sales for a No. 1 album since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking data. This week, the soundtrack's sales dropped 9%, but it has managed to hold on to the top spot with a paltry 60,000 units sold. (So, What song was No. 1 on Billboard the day you were born?)
comment posted at 2:36 PM on Jan-25-07

[Newsfilter] Riots in Toledo, OH have broken out after Neo-Nazis gathered to take back the city. Their goal was to overpower the local predominantly black gangs in a demonstration march. Violence broke out and the march never took place; instead, the gangs began rioting. Fox News is covering it.
comment posted at 10:05 AM on Oct-16-05

Bush teleconference with troops staged. Nothing in the article says who is responsible for organizing the staged question and answer session, The White House, military officials, or others in the defense department. Just that it infact was staged, and that the troops were coached for 45 minutes prior to the actual teleconference. When Bush, in an unscripted move, asked an officer if he had anything to say, he stammered through a sentence, in stark contrast to the well put together responses to all the other questions, thanking the President and saying, "I like you." More PR from the Bush administration.
comment posted at 7:30 AM on Oct-14-05

"Keith, Keith, I'm only 31!" Those were the last words of Johnny Gammage, a black motorist who died just inside the city limits of Pittsburgh, when he was pulled over by police from from some of the Steel City's wealthiest, whitest suburbs, some time between 1:47 and 2:10 AM, 10 years ago today. It made national headlines at the time, but now you won't even find "Johnny Gammage" in Wikipedia--and while the nation fixes on a more recent incident, even the city that was torn apart by the scandal of it is passing the tenth anniversary virtually unnoticed.
comment posted at 6:54 AM on Oct-13-05

Bling Bling Barbie.
comment posted at 11:08 AM on Oct-8-05

Know Thy Neighbor --playing hardball with those who sign a petition amending Massachusetts' Constitution to end same-sex marriage there. All who sign it will have their names and addresses posted on the site. It's the brainchild of Thomas Lang and Alexander Westerhoff, one of the first gay couples married in Massachusetts. A little more here, including this: ...altering the state Constitution is a big deal, and if the backers of this (or any) constitutional amendment can't find 66,000 Massachusetts residents who feel strongly enough about doing so that they're willing to make their support public, then maybe the measure shouldn't be on the ballot after all. ...
comment posted at 6:55 AM on Sep-10-05

Paying for Katrina: Republican congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee suggested today that the costs associated with Katrina were 'good reason to at least delay' expanding the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Should the elderly and poor be expected to bear this burden?
comment posted at 7:05 AM on Sep-10-05

Dept. of Homeland Security: Emergencies and Disasters

Preparing America In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.

Clearly, we are in good hands.
comment posted at 8:10 AM on Sep-4-05

Learning from Europe: Rebuilding New Orleans Into the New Amsterdam/Venice of the Gulf. Canals ,built in and around parts of New Orleans, could be an engineering and asthetic marvel. It would also and provide testament to the beauty,soul,and rebirth of this great city and people. Living with the sea is a science that places like the Netherlands have mastered over the years. Before we What would Frederick Law Olmsted do?
comment posted at 6:53 AM on Sep-3-05

Gay outrage over penguin sex test BBC News is reporting that gay rights activists are protesting the plans of a zoo in northern Germany to test the sexual orientation of "six male penguins which have displayed homosexual traits". Omitted from the BBC article is a summary of what the protesters are actually concerned about, but The Scotsman is there.
comment posted at 5:16 AM on Feb-15-05

Hans Hoppe is in trouble. Why? In one of his lectures at UNLV, the world-renowned economist stated that homosexuals plan less for the future than heterosexuals. According to Hoppe, homosexuals tend not to have children, so they have little stake in the world beyond their own time. Other poor future planners include the very young (no concept of the future) and the very old (their time is almost up). A student filed a compaint against Hoppe for his "anti-gay" remarks, and UNLV wants to issue a letter of reprimand and force Hoppe to give up his next pay increase. So should an economics professor be forced to consider his students feelings prior to presenting economic theories? As Hoppe fights back, the libertarian community voices its support.
comment posted at 6:52 AM on Feb-13-05

If you have a cat, you'll recognize many of these immediately. Although some of them are availiable in a book, many of these have only appeared in the comic so far. Luckily, someone with far more spare time than I have has collected them for our enjoyment.
comment posted at 7:07 AM on Jan-5-05

You'll surprisingly discover that while monogamous, heterosexual, drug-free, non-adventurous travelers might seem a bit boring at some parties, they're hugely popular at blood banks! (An actual television station editorial, via tvbarn2.)
comment posted at 5:32 AM on Nov-29-04