Author: david

  • Jump for Joy

    I believe this song, “Jump for Joy,” is extremely obscure, and that’s amazing. I only happened to hear it, barely listening to an old a Sarah Vaughn record. I stopped short, “Did she just say that?” It’s a blithe and satirical “protest song” Duke Ellington wrote in 1941 for an all-black musical review of the…

  • The Straitjacket of Socialism

    It would be mighty convenient if everybody put the “Printer Friendly” button in the same place on their Web pages. But that’s exactly what the communists would do!

  • Lawful Combatants, but not POWs

    US changes status of 14 detainees, AP, 8/10/07 “…Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chito Peppler said the proceedings….do not distinguish between lawful and unlawful combatants.” DKo: So, we took lawful combatants prisoner in the War in Afghanistan and they were not Prisoners of War. –Probably a bunch of unpaid parking tickets.

  • Etiquette Tip: Belated Birthday or Holiday Cards

    Sometimes you just don’t manage to get all your cards out on time. Nevertheless, you don’t want to appear rude. So here’s an easy etiquette tip that solves the problem. Write at the top on the front of the card: I can’t understand why this is just now reaching you! I mailed it weeks ago.

  • Shiite Insurgents. Shiite Insurgents!

    “Shiite Insurgents.” The Bush administration has been rolling this surprising combination out in recent weeks. I think we’ll be hearing more of it. For years, “Insurgents” has meant Sunnis, because they are trying to bring down the government. Shiite fighters, have been “Militants,” and “Extremists,” but they haven’t been “Insurgents.” Whom would they be insurgent…

  • Seeing Strange Things

    Every so often I like to just stop and click over to the Ames Room for a moment, because it really helps undermine my perspective on things. It gets my vote for the greatest of all optical illusions. The two people you see are actually the same height. It’s just that someone has carefully constructed…