Bill Flanigen |

If Hillary wins in 2008, who might New York Governor Eliot Spitzer appoint to replace her in the Senate? Take a wild guess. Historical note: No President since Andrew Johnson has served in national office after serving as President. Interestingly, Johnson was also impeached and spared in the Senate, and returned in 1875 to...
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If you have nine dollars and a couple hours to spare, head on over to Georgetown and watch “Breach.” As an espionage history junkie (and inveterate nightowl), I was excited to get the chance to watch it tonight, and it was a decent movie. Chris Cooper’s performance was wonderful. It’s not the first time...
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“Is the pornification of our culture is in any way good, for individuals or communities?I’m willing to wager that Bill will say, yes, it is the free exercise of consenting adults, which is always good.” I’m sorry, John, but you wager wrong here. The “pornification” of society–the commercialization of sex, the commodification of beauty–is...
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The Independent (UK) reports on the latest fad sweeping the highly-competitive West Coast coffee shop market. Call it…”Hooters’ Syndrome“? Favorite line: Coming with a theme for a coffee bar is nothing new in America. In Los Angeles, there are cafes where you can buy second-hand books, get cut-price legal advice, throw pots, or listen...
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This Week’s “Flanigen’s List of Books You’re an Idiot For Not Reading”: Radicals For Capitalism, A (Free-Wheeling) History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement by Brian Doherty Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency by Al Franken (No joke – you need to read this book,...
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The Times of India featured an online article today. I post it not because the news itself is especially shocking or surprising (it’s about the House passing that non-binding resolution on Bush’s mini-Surge), but because I’m really starting to like the way those Indian journalists write. When journalists at FOX News, CNN, or MSNBC...
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Point-Counterpoint on Dr. Drew Faust, the new President of Harvard: Christopher Lacaria (2/11) Giselle Barcia, et al (2/16) While I won’t reflect on Dr. Faust’s actual qualifications for the job, because I don’t know very much about her, I feel comfortable asking this: is anyone here deluded enough to believe that Faust’s gender had...
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David Wiegel at Reason Magazine lists 20 questions that the press (whether liberal, conservative, libertarian, or pastafarian) should be asking the candidates for the D/R Presidential nominations in ’08. He hits most of the important issues, if you ask me: Iraq, Iran, media censorship, campaign finance reform, immigration, executive powers, and Mike Huckabee’s ridiculous...
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I wish I could tell you all that at tonight’s S.A. Presidential Debate, Senator Marc Abanto leapt from his chair and throttled Casey Pond, or that panelist Gabriel Okolski stirred tempers by referring to David “Tito” Wilkinson as a “bright, clean” candidate, or…well, I wish I could tell you something terribly interesting. Unfortunately, the...
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I’ll be attending the (pointless?) SA Presidential Candidate “debate” in the Jack Morton Auditorium this evening. I will have notebook, pencil, and tape recorder in hand to wade through all of the inanity. Thus begins the search for someone at least half-qualified to lead the Student Association next year. More later.
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