In a recent post, I noted that the Democrats have not won a Presidential election with a Northern liberal as their candidate since FDR died, apart from JFK in 1960. With that sole exception, all the successful Democratic Presidential candidates since the death of FDR have been Southerners-Truman (Missouri) 1948, Johnson (Texas) 1964, Carter ( ( Read more... )

Another campus speech code loses another court case because of the pesky free speech bits in the US Constitution.

The US is more “small town” than folk think: In 2000, slightly more than one-half of the nation’s population lived in jurisdictions --- cities, towns, boroughs, villages and townships --- with fewer than 25,000 people or in rural areas ( Read more... )

Twice as many people were shot and killed in Chicago over the summer as American service personnel were killed in Iraq over the same period.

The evolving models of media and rumours: a) No press person likes to not be the center of attention. You want to talk about what people want to talk about. That's how you make money, for one thing. And ( Read more... )

A boat which carried Vietnamese boat people to freedom is touring the US.

Wondering if the Bush Doctrine will have longevity in the way that the Monroe and Truman Doctrines did and other Presidential doctrine’s did not..

Columnist David Brook having fun creating the perfect Convention Speech. Including the brutal line It’s about the future, and ( Read more... )

From child of illegal immigrants to Olympic gold medallist.

Looking at Obama’s record on school policy in Chicago. Bill Ayers talks about his philosophy. Which looks like it might become an election issue. As indeed it has, or at least ads about Ayers and Obama have. Obama is reacting strongly to the issue ( Read more... )

Marin County has the richest per capita income of any county in the US. It’s is Republican and conservative, right? No: it’s virulently Democratic, liberal and politically intolerant.

David Zucker is making an anti-anti-Americanism movie. About the reticence of the creative right and the intolerance of the creative left.

Hilary and Obama still ( Read more... )

Datelines from the war on sex in public, semi-public and some private places.

Another reminiscence about a victim of cancer who seemed to be one of nature’s gentlepersons.

Difficulties with restraining orders.

The Pentagon develops strategic policy on humanitarian aid and “soft power”. Suggesting that Obama just admit that the Surge worked ( Read more... )

Trying to work out which is gayer, Mamma Mia (delightful review of here) or The Dark Knight. (The latter is, according to IMDB, the best movie of all time and is certainly doing amazing box office.) But let’s not forget the gay subtext in Wall-E.

Two collge football jocks charged with stealing beer from a bar. That being a gay barA gay ( Read more... )

New Zealand cases of parents giving their kids the sorts of names that are clearly grounds for divorce.

We can feel safer in the Melbourne CBD because the dogs are coming, or something.

Federal Court rules one may annoy pilgrims.

End of the Keating Government introduced policy of mandatory detention. Via p_cat.

The Age decides having a solitary ( Read more... )

The perennial appeal of declinism.

About dis“honour” killings in the US.

A sociologist talks about his research on gangs in Chicago (which was cited in Freakonomics).

About the end of the old black American narrative. About the debate within black America about cultural collapse within black American communitiesA black law professor critiques ( Read more... )