Conservative Conscience Redux

According to this article, Barry Goldwater’s book, The Conscience of a Conservative, is being reissued. Timely reading? Depends on what audience at which this is aimed. I seriously doubt conservatives of the Rove/Norquist stripe will have much sympathy with Goldwater, who now seems admirable and even iconic compared to the…

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Urban spelunking

In an article recently published on BldgBlog (HT: Boing Boing), there's an absolutely fascinating interview with Michael Cook, a Canadian writer and photographer who devotes himself to exploring the subterranean infrastructure - that is to say, the storm sewers, spillways, abandoned hydroelectric complexes, dams, and all manner of tunnels and…

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Falwell

Jerry Falwell is dead.  At 73, he passed away, at his desk, apparently still working, even though doctors have (probably) been telling him to lay off for some time.  He had heart problems. Whatever one's personal feelings may be, it ill-behooves us to beat up on someone so soon after…

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“It Was A Pleasure To Burn…”

February's Big Read in Missouri has selected a surprising novel--Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  I should not assume everyone today has read it, so briefly it is a novel about a future in which it is illegal to read books.  The fire department, because all houses are built of fireproof…

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RIP Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins has passed away. We’ve lost one of the sharpest voices in political journalism, an erudite and empassioned observer. The CNN report is here. I’ve followed Molly’s words on and off for the better part of two decades and I have found her cool judgment and sound reasoning cause…

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