Monthly Archives: March 2007

I Do So Swear

Posted on March 31, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Bitch Ph.D nails the problem with a recently reported study on the relationship between day care and “disruptive behavior”: first, that “disruptive behavior” is (like “antisocial behavior” and a number of other synonymous terms) very much an eye-of-the-beholder category, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Popular Culture | 4 Comments

On the Watchtower

Posted on March 30, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Hey, we have yet to discuss the season finale of Battlestar Galactica, gang. I actually can’t make up my mind. The season had a lot of very weak work in it once the New Caprica storyline was over. Most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 8 Comments

Compulsive Nitpick

Posted on March 30, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Michael Wines has an article about Zimbabwe in today’s New York Times that is a pretty good analysis of how Mugabe stays in power. He maybe overstates the extent to which portions of the ruling party want to boot the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 1 Comment

More on Free Slave-Holding Phallocratic Fascists Defending Freedom

Posted on March 30, 2007 by Timothy Burke

War Nerd says it way better than I did.

Posted in Politics, Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Free Slave-Holding Phallocrats Defending Freedom From Squirmy Middle Easternesque Drag Queens, or A Meditation on Historical Accuracy

Posted on March 28, 2007 by Timothy Burke

[cross-posted at Cliopatria] If you want to see a Rube Goldberg machine, you could play the game Mouse Trap. Or watch any number of videos available online. Or read Victor Davis Hanson’s appraisal of ‘300’ appearing in the op-ed pages … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 25 Comments

Champagne in the Castle

Posted on March 27, 2007 by Timothy Burke

This story has led to the resignation of the head of the Smithsonian. A familiar pattern in both business and public life, but often times these scandals don’t touch the people they really ought to touch. Namely, the people whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments

The Granularity of Respect

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Timothy Burke

There was a surprisingly heated discussion in a meeting I was at today about adding transgendered identities to a list of recognized identities in our anti-discrimination policy. Part of the problem, in my view, was that the document we were … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics | 9 Comments

With Your Words, You Have Treated Me Completely Unfairly

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Timothy Burke

For the ultimate in student complaints about pedagogy, you must read this thread at Acephalous.

Posted in Academia | Comments Off on With Your Words, You Have Treated Me Completely Unfairly

The Problem With the Problem of Zimbabwe

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I have some issues with Daniel Davies’ post about Zimbabwe at Crooked Timber (but maybe less of a problem with his post at Aaronovitch Watch on the same subject, if I read it right.) I start by wondering what civil … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 5 Comments

Down With W. Up With I.

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Timothy Burke

When I first arrived at Swarthmore, we had a category of classes called PDCs, Primary Distribution Courses. Students were required to take six of them in their first two years here, two in each division. A PDC was supposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy | 17 Comments