Virtual Memories

I was pretty ecstatic this morning when I read the news that the parliament of Lebanon chose to dissolve, facing popular protest against Syrian occupation/influence. Good article today in the Wall Street Journal (subscription only, so no link) about the history of the Syrian occupation. It somehow manages to avoid mention of the Israeli invasion, [...]

Official VM buddy Mitch Prothero has an update from Beirut: In a land where civil war is endemic but political protest is almost unknown, long-feuding Muslims, Christians and Druze are camping out just blocks from the parliament saying they will not leave until either Syrian troops leave their country or the government falls. The latter [...]

Neat article in the Nation about the Deism predominant among America’s founding fathers. I’ve always had a chuckle when I’ve heard America referred to as a Christian nation. Here’s a snippet from Ben Franklin, a few weeks before his death: As for Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think his [...]

Last August, a group in Sweden flew me over to Stockholm and Malmo for a week, to tour me around the country’s biotech industry, so that I could write about it in my magazine. I wrote all about it and posted some good pix: here, here, here, here, here, and here. What I didn’t write [...]

I read an article in the NYPost [link defunct] detailing the story of a woman who cut off her boyfriend’s schlong: The attack occurred around midnight Saturday, after the 44-year-old man argued with alleged knife-wielder Kim Tran about their impending breakup. It seems he was already married to her aunt, the Anchorage Daily News reported, [...]

Hunter S. Thompson shot himself to death yesterday. I enjoyed some of his writing, but a lot of times he was a figure I appreciated more in theory than in practice. Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of his work generated a frustrating question for me: What causes a really talented journalist to pursue such a bizarre life-path? [...]

Superman is a dick.

I didn’t like Kurt Andersen’s novel, but he wrote a pretty good piece in this week’s New York magazine, about the conflict between liberal ideology and honesty in New York City: If partisanship makes us abandon intellectual honesty, if we oppose what our opponents say or do simply because they are the ones saying or [...]

Music (of all kinds, but particularly yesteryear’s dumb pop variety) is a huge part of my life, so I’ve decided to launch another blog to host my musical ramblings. So if you’re interested in this sorta thing, head on over to the blog of my DJ-wannabe-alter-ego, Mad Mix. I’ll write about new music discoveries, any [...]

The most disturbing thing about this new study on binge-drinking-by-region isn’t that North Dakota has the highest rate in the country. Nor that Oregon residents prefer pot to alcohol. Nor is it the relatively obvious point that Utah has the lowest rate. No, the most disturbing thing is the study’s definition of binge drinking: “Binge [...]