What a glorious day!  A new day for Iraq, a new beginning.  The images of Iraqis singing, dancing, and holding up their ink-stained fingers at the polling places are unforgettable.  It was like the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.  It was amazin

This was way too cute to pass up! Did you know that Taiwanese president Chen likes dolphins?  Neither did I!

For the first time in 55 years.It's got a lot of people hoping this means better ties between the two.  Well, here's hoping -- though Beijing's demand that Taiwan accept the one-China policy as a prerequisite for any real talks kind of dampens that

Look, a news headline that's actually not spewing doom and gloom (for once):"Jubilant Iraqi Exiles Vote in Landmark Election."The usual gloom-filled news can make one cynical about everything, but take a look at these quotes below -- freedo

So asks this news story.But do we all know the answer to that?  How free is campus speech?  Hm?Heck, gentle reader, you can say anything you want.  As long as it's politically correct.Here's a bit from the article:In the two weeks since Harvard U

The Financial Times has a story about how the cinematic version of ancient Rome doesn't look much like the actual ancient Rome -- or the actual as far as we can surmise.Close your eyes and picture ancient Rome. What do you see? Eagles, gladiators and

Absolutely horrible.  It's in the single digits here, and the wind chill is making all that much worse.The snow is really pretty, and the clear sunny skies very nice -- but as a friend of mine pointed out, clear skies just encourage the cold.Waaaaaa

It's an odd little thing, but here goes . . .Check out the news story.  Here is the quote that caught my nerdy eye:"Gladiators were entertainers, sports stars, and they were the privately owned, pampered Beckhams of their day. They did not go i

*Zoooooooooooooooooom!*Test runs have started for Taiwan's first high-speed train!  It should open for service in October.  Very cool.The trains are from Japan -- and they're the first Japanese bullet trains to be exported from there too.

Have a glance at these links at Instapundit.Have a look too at this student editorial from Dartmouth which argues the value of having a lot of different viewpoints on campus.  Here's a goodly snippet of it:What is the harm in having a predominantly

To our Aussie friends,Happy Australia Day!And a record number of some 12,000 folks have chosen today to become Australian citizens, too.  PM John Howard also paid tribute to immigrants.Here, learn a bit about the Land Down Under.  Want more? Try

It actually did look kind of nice today with all the snow.   But keep in mind that around here, the city has to spend an average of $1 million per each inch of snow for snow removal, plowing, salting, etc. etc.Check out a snowy campus.  The white

The discovery of a forgotten workshop of the great Leonardo da Vinci . . .Spectacular news for fans and researchers of the Italian Renaissance.  Here's the tale:ROME (Reuters) - A forgotten workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, complete with 500-year-old f

Well, if you're a fan of the Texas A&M Aggies, the two are probably about the same thing!I'm a bit late on the tale, but it's too good to pass up -- especially for all you fellow Texans and/or UT Longhorns out there.During the Inauguration Parad

Here is the story, which you've probably already heard -- terrorist head honcho Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has come out and flatly declared war on democracy.There it is.  For me and everyone else who's seen the War on Terror all along as a war between fre

Well, we got a couple *more* inches last night.  I think I'm tired of the white stuff already.  I'm on campus today, and even in my ridiculous snow footwear, it's kinda hard to climb hills.  But!  I think I'll spice up the day with some photoblo

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!It is freezing, I've been dreaming of dumplings amid the snowstorms, and now it's clear that I'm not the only one. Get a load of . . .HARBIN, China (AP) -- In the dead of winter, on a narrow side street in the midd

In the winter storm, I'd completely forgotten to note that yesterday Viktor Yushchenko was inaugurated as president of Ukraine.  It's been a remarkable process in that nation -- the Orange Revolution and democracy won out.  Congrats, all.The fabulo

OK, I'm sick and tired of every talking head on the news analyzing, re-analyzing, and overanalyzing Bush's inauguration speech. Enough already!  Here's a copy of thing so you can play "talking head pundit" too.I will say this, though -- it

I got up, checked my morning news, and couldn't help laughing at this headline from Hahvahd:"Faust To Lead New Initiative"Oh, wait!  Not that Faust!Am I the only one who thought instantly of Marlowe's and Goethe's Faust, though?  Seems mo

Cloudcuckooland Princeton has come up with an intellectual project that I can actually grasp.Hooray for Peter Rabbit, gentle reader.

The winter winds are howling!A peek outside just about blinded me instantaneously.  There is some serious snow out there, and the sun has finally appeared!Hey, gentle reader, need an antidote to winter?  Check out these gorgeous panoramic scenes fr

Snow dump on the Nerd Coast! It's been snowing since 10 AM yesterday morning, and there's still some white stuff falling from the gray skies.  So far, there's a good foot of snow outside -- at the very least.The news folks are on the air constantly

More academics than ever are blogging, apparently!I think it's good for the Ivory Tower -- as in helping academics break out of it.  And in the BBC article, there is a fabulous quote:"Academics can become too insular, constructing their own lan

More on the tangle from the International Herald Tribune, with the usual pithy commentary from the folks at No Pasaran.My pick of the lines from the IHT article?  It's gotta to be about the difference between American and European views on the EU's