The campus paper is full of letters about the Larry Summers resignation. This one is by a Harvard alumnus who graduated in 2001, and . . . . well, read it for yourself: As an alumnus of Harvard College,

I first heard about the promotion from this Telegraph editorial.  Fascinating.  More from the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong website. This means the Vatican will have 2 ethnically Chinese cardinals: Paul Shan of Taiwan and the new cardinal

I confess, I thought this was just too funny. Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian just said that "Brokeback Mountain" was an analogy for US-Taiwan relations!  And then Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou went on and talked about it too. I wasn't g

Interesting little op-ed piece from Stanford University's Stanford Review (a student-run newspaper) on the US policy toward Taiwan.  Here is a piece of it: The United States is justified i

This op-ed was from yesterday's Washington Post.  I didn't see it until today because yesterday I was far too busy teaching (and going crazy over student silliness -- but that is another rant for another post!). Notice who the co-authors are: W

Gentle reader, right now it seems like there is a boycott happening every 3 minutes around the world! Just LOOK at the news stories you get if you Google the news for "boycott." I couldn't resist writing a satire to match: "Everybody

The rumors are official.  The president of Harvard is stepping down.  Here is the story and the letter of resignation from the Harvard website. Ave atque vale, Lawrence Summers, who is paying a terrible price for daring to challenge campus

This is NOT A SATIRE, gentle reader.  The news story has this headline: "Hamas Leader Says Group Misunderstood." It's understandable if you thought at first that this was a satire.  After all, it sounds a lot like this satire: &q

Yes, yes, I know I said earlier that I wasn't going to post on the Danish cartoon jihad any longer because I really had nothing new to say. Well, I have something kind of new.  Here's some of the news from the Ivy League: a Harvard student news

The background information is that the French attempted to send an old warship to India for Indian workers to dismantle.  The ship, though, has now been found to be full of the toxic substance asbestos, and Indian officials have banned the ship,

You all probably already know this, but hearings are under way in Washington about Internet companies and their dealings with China.  The New York Times story is just the latest that I've read, so here is a piece of it as politicians both Republ

Here is a fun little quiz which I found at Samizdata this morning.  It just told me I'd on the crew of Moya.  I always did love "Farscape"!  You scored as Moya (Farscape). You are

Hey, I said I love the Olympic Games, and I still love them (spent part of yesterday afternoon watching women's curling, and -- I HEARD YOU LAUGHING AT ME!!!!). But I have to say, I am sick and tired of all the media hype of Bode Miller.  Every

Interesting report from Germany, where a German Muslim cultural institute has dared Iran's crazy, Holocaust-denying  leader to visit Auschwitz. Here is a piece of it: BERLIN --  A Muslim c

When I talk about "colorful Italian politicians," I'm usually talking about Silvio Berlusconi -- who, for his sheer flamboyance, is always entertaining to watch, whether you agree with him or not. This time, the colorful Italian politician

A rather humorous solution to the Arab-Danish conflict.  "Date -- Don't Hate!" Link xie-xie to Sandmonkey, who has his own post on it too. Well, this whole idea is certainly better than some loony extremists who are declaring war on

I can't make this up! CNN reports that the Japanese have created a Hello Kitty robot receptionist  that will perform secretarial tasks like greet visitors and answer telephones. I am . . . speechless. UPDATE: Photo here!

Egyptian blogger Big Pharaoh hits the target and psychoanalyzes the cartoon rioters with his latest entry.  Go read the whole thing.  Here is a piece of it: There is a kind of euphoria spirit g

Here's a fact for all you  history buffs out there:  Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1809. History now remembers him as a great American leader.  At the time of his presidency, though, he was widely reviled both at home and ab

As I'm sure most of you have heard, a massive blizzard is pounding the East Coast!  Airports are closed all up and down the East Coast, and public officials are urging people to stay at home unless travel is absolutely necessary.  The roads

The Opening Ceremonies last night were really spectacular for the most part, and now the 2006 Winter Games are officially in progress! (I will note in passing that, as usual, I am not happy about Taiwan being forced to use the name "Chinese Tai

Sometimes when I'm reading the newspapers online, I can't help but be bemused and amused by the headlines.  Sometimes, if you hread completely unrelated headlines together, you get odd results.  Let me give you an example. I just ran acros

I just came across a critique of the EU that had this paragraph at the end.  It is such a snide bit of writing that I reproduce it for your amusement: The European Union serves several purposes, non

Have you had enough of the Danish cartoon chaos?  I'm about to stop mentioning it on my blog because it is just too maddening, and I can't say anything new or interesting on it anyway. Go on repeating Voltaire on freedom of expression!

No, really!  I'm not making this up. Right now in a theater in the UK, there is a musical theater production called "Thatcher: The Musical"!  It's a satirical production all about (who else?) the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Tha