February 2012
14 posts
“You bet that makes you throw up.”
– Rick Santorum, reiterating his reaction to President John F. Kennedy’s famous 1960 speech about the separation of church and state. (via officialssay)
"And I see them in the streets, And I see them in... →
"80. overlaps of the natural and the man-made" |... →
“What in water did Bloom, waterlover, drawer of water, watercarrier returning to...”
– From Ulysses, James Joyce (pg. 671-672; Vintage International Edition ‘90)
COVER LETTER
To Whom It May Concern:
I am delighted to be able to apply for a position that so uniquely fits the idiosyncratic nature of my qualifications. I earned my undergraduate degree in Self-indulgence and Opinions from the largest, private, Catholic (totally not Catholic) University in the nation. And later returned for a Master’s in Adjuncting at the City College and Continuing to Work at a Bar—for...
“The effect of beauty, therefore, is good to the degree that, through its...”
– W. H. Auden, “Making, Knowing, and Judging” (in The Dyer’s Hand)
Romney’s Beliefs Incompatible With Americans
US—Mitt Romney’s biographer, Michael Kranish, blamed the shaky state of the Romney campaign on the Massachusetts Governor’s inability to discuss his most important attribute: his faith. Kranish, the Washington Bureau Chief for nobody gives a shit, claimed, “If only Mitt could open up about his weirdo religion—but American’s are too closed-minded to accept another ridiculous addition to their...
Sarkozy re-election campaign full of gays and...
FRANCE—President Sarkozy’s grand plan to formally launch his re-election campaign later on Wednesday has been marred by controversy after an MP in his centre-right party denied that homosexuals had been deported from France by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Christian Vanneste’s controversial comments sparked outrage and obliged Mr Sarkozy’s camp to declare him persona non grata.
In...
Marijuana users twice as likely to cause car crash...
CANADA—People who use marijuana before driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a car crash as those who are completely sober, according to a Canadian analysis of previous studies.
Experts at Dalhousie University in Canada also found that closing your eyes, sticking your fingers in your ears, and babbling, “la la la la” while driving also increased the risk of motor vehicle accidents.
A...
Sandusky speaks after hearing on bail | Anamid...
The most heart-breaking moments of the last five months for Jerry Sandusky, other than dealing with the infinitude of guilt associated with raping little boys repeatedly, and repressing sexual urgings, have been telling his grandchildren he can’t talk to them on their birthdays.
Sandusky spoke to reporters after a hearing to relax his bail conditions.
“I just want to see my grandchildren....
“A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow...”
– The Dead by James Joyce
Obama’s Big Shtick | Barry C. Lynn | Harper's | →
In December, President Obama did something very rare among today’s politicians—he acknowledged that America’s history did not begin with the New Deal. In a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, the president led his audience all the way back to the grand campaign of 1912, when debate centered on who would rule our government, the plutocrats or the people.
Obama chose Osawatomie because it was there...
Berlin and the Artist | Robert Walser, translated... →
Over the next few days, we will be running several excerpts from Robert Walser’s Berlin Stories, which have been translated into English for the first time by Susan Bernofsky, and just published in a new edition by New York Review Classics. Walser arrived in Berlin from Switzerland in 1905 and wrote hundreds of short reflections about the city’s charms. As Bernofsky writes in her introduction,...
In the Electric Tram | Robert Walser, translated... →
This is the second in a series of excerpts from Robert Walser’s Berlin Stories, which have been translated into English for the first time by Susan Bernofsky, and just published in a new edition by New York Review Classics. The first excerpt can be found here. —The Editors
Riding the “electric” is an inexpensive pleasure. When the car arrives, you climb aboard, possibly after first politely...