Jan
10
2007

URLs du Jour

Stardate 2007-01-10

  • "The name's Kirk. James Kirk."

    No, I can't see it. But I couldn't see him as 007, either.

  • Another entry in our occasional series, "Ripping Holes in New York Times Articles": Thomas Sowell ridicules the headline of a recent story on the increased percentage of Asian-descent students at schools that have jettisoned race-based admissions:
    At 41 percent Asian, Berkeley could be the new face of merit-based admissions. The problem for everybody else: lots less room at elite colleges.
    Sowell comments:
    Anybody of any race who takes a place at any college leaves one less place for somebody else. Does an Asian American take up any more space than anybody else? Are they all Sumo wrestlers?
    To the slight credit of the NYT article's author: the "less room" terminology doesn't actually appear in the article, or, as near as I can tell in the Web version of the story's headline.

    A small personal anecdote: back in the day, I went to a junior high school with a high Jewish population, which turned out to be an eye-opening experience, academically speaking. (Also, in late September of 1963, I got to learn what "Rosh Hashana" meant: "75% of your classmates disappear.")

    I'll shamelessly generalize: "diversity" doesn't matter; what really benefits students is being in the midst of a bunch of smart and hard-working kids.

  • In keeping with our "more Accuweather" policy, we quote their Joe Bastardi, which is apparently his real name:
    Those who think that winter 2006-2007 is going to remain mild are in for a shock," said Bastardi. "Winter is likely to come with a vengeance. A week from now, we'll start seeing truly cold air across much of the country, and we expect this change to last."

    Added Bastardi, "Whether we end up with seasonably cold weather, or something far worse, remains to be seen. There are indications that this winter could parallel severe winters of the past. Even should we not see an extremely cold and snowy conclusion to winter, you can be sure that by the end of the month, when those in the Northeast are shoveling out their driveways and sidewalks, the mild weather we're experiencing now will be a distant memory."

    Now, before you go out and buy a couple extra snowblowers: last May, Bastardi also predicted a scarifying 2006 hurricane season (in a gutsy move, Accuweather left the page up), so you might want to be appropriately skeptical. (Via the Blog Hero.)

  • In our "Compare and Contrast" series (of which this is the first, and perhaps to be the only, entry):

    • Over at Atlantic Ave., Amy Kane writes on her vacation:
      Ice. Bait. Beer. These are the three most beautiful words in the English language in the Florida Keys.

    • And then Dave Barry chimes in:
      A GOOD NEWS STORY SHOULD CONTAIN ALL THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS

      Stupid criminals, Florida, and beer.

    No, I'm not sure what this odd convergence implies. But it may have something to do with the famous quote:
    Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
        (Homer Simpson)
    That, and other beer quotes, are here.


Last Modified 2012-10-21 6:47 AM EDT