2008 Woodie Awards
You might have seen this article from the Times about the Department of Education “inadvertently” removing evolutionary biology from its list of majors that are eligible for federal aid. The well has been poisoned again folks, and this time it isn’t through the more obvious conduit of placing statements supporting intelligent design in textbooks, but by “accidentally” discouraging people from majoring in a perfectly legitimate field that is on the same level and as scientific a pursuit as chemistry, physics, or biology. I find it shocking that conduct on the federal level could be changed by as nonsense an idea as intelligent design. First global warming, now this; there is never only one cockroach in the kitchen.
After an extended break, the PPN blog is up and running again! Check back here in the future for updates. Until then, we here at PPN would like to know if you can support our print publication via a subscription. Here is a letter about how you can contribute, from our editor-in-chief Robby Braun. On the other hand, you can also support us by placing an advertisement in the magazine: a brochure with the relevant information can be found here. Thank you for your help!
Stay tuned while we make improvements to our website.
I confess that I have never read a single Harry Potter book (I think I saw one of the movies) and only have the foggiest idea of what the plot entails (it involves a boy wizard I take it?) but even so, I was intrigued by the buzz surrounding J.K. Rowling’s admission that two central characters die in the final installment of her immensely successful series.
One of Rowling’s rationales for taking this rather drastic route is that “killing[ing] them off…means there can be no non-author-written sequels.” In other words, she hopes to prevent other individuals from drafting future Harry Potter books and mooching off her ingenuity. But let’s be realistic – does anyone truly believe that killing Harry, Hermione, and/or Ron will stop starved (or not so starved) writers from earning a buck and seizing an opportunity when they see one?
How hard is it to write prequels, new novels that develop existing storylines or, take a page out of the Hogwarts’ method by exercising the mighty power of the pen to pull off a magic act of the writer’s own invention, à la “actually, Harry was still alive and trapped in another dimension!” Granted, I have no idea how the characters die but I can probably envision a half dozen ways to resurrect the hapless victims. At the risk of going out on a limb, I’m guessing, so can all would-be authors.
Rowling also revealed that she didn’t specify which characters meet their maker, partly out of a desire not “to receive hate mail.” Come on. Did Rowling honestly think that simply informing fans that two of their beloved protagonists die wouldn’t incite angry letters? I imagine that by now the endless string of burlap mail bags have started to arrive. Remember the famous scene in “Miracle on 34th Street”? Yea, something like that.
Check out the new documentary that is coming out highlighting the dangers of a warming Earth. Politicians can never really be trusted to successfully educate the public on this issue. There should be more films like this one, and more scientifically oriented movies like The Day After Tomorrow.
President Bush’s new plan, or at the very least, hope, is to tighten our borders. Given Bush’s past experience as a border-state governor, I am shocked why it has taken so long for him to announce that he has a plan for tightening our borders and also will put effort (a speech on Monday night) in backing it. The plans proposed in Congress of making undocumented immigrants criminals and having an official process to legalize them are both absurd. The first would severely disrupt life as we know it and the second can lead to employers taking advantage of their illegal employees, not to mention, it would drive costs, and therefore prices, up at many businesses that currently employ these workers. The alternative, therefore, would be to focus on borders and have a greater patrol staff on the perimeter.
There’s a brilliant article in the New York Times magazine by Russell Shorto. Entitled “Contra-Contraception,” it outlines the latest front in the Republican’s War on Sexual Freedom. With dozens of new restrictions on abortion in place, and a likely revisiting of Roe v. Wade when the South Dakota abortion ban comes before the court, some conservatives are looking at access to contraception as the next freedom to take away.
A number of steps have already been taken toward this end. “Pharmacist Moral Choice Laws” protect drug store employees who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control or Plan B from disciplinary action. President Bush’s Abstinence-Only education programs rely on lies to scare teenagers away from practicing safe sex. And, the FDA has been packed with religious conservatives who (in addition to lying about the benefits of medical marijuana) have blocked the over-the-counter sale of Plan B.
Lastly, how sick is this?
In addition to providing an information center for the abstinence industry that has blossomed in recent years, [abstinence-only movement leader Leslee Unruh] takes her message directly to kids. Besides “Girls Gone Mild,” she sponsors “Purity Balls,” which fathers attend with their teenage daughters. “We think the relationship between fathers and their daughters is the key,” she told me. At the purity ball, a father gives a “purity ring” to his daughter — a symbol of the promise she makes to maintain her virginity for her future husband. Then, during her marriage ceremony, the daughter gives the ring to her new husband. Abstinence Clearinghouse’s Web site advertises the purity ball as an event “which celebrates your ‘little girl’ and her gift of sexual purity.”
The idea that a girl’s sexual purity is her father’s property until she gives it to her husband is a disgusting notion that smacks of 19th century conceptions of gender. Read the entire article so you won’t be blindsided when Griswold v. Connecticut is revisited by the Roberts court.
I’m blogging for the Katrina Project, an effort to raise money for the New Orleans Library System. Check it out (and consider donating).
Chris Kromm is upset because the progressive blogosphere doesn’t care about May Day. Kevin Drum agrees with Marc Cooper that the big boycott in support of a humane immigration policy is a bad idea. I think a rally’s a fine idea, even if its supported by communists, but people should remember that battles like this are won by lobbying in the halls of Congress and making backroom deals with legislators before votes, not through mobilizations.
The Student Bill of Rights here at Princeton passed. Was this perhaps due to the tone of faint praise the Daily Princetonian editorial board took in telling students not to vote for it?
The editorial board’s convention-bound logic on this matter, as on the LGBT center, has been rather gutless.
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