why dave bergman is neat

tigers move to .500 (10-10) after a 3-2 victory over the cleveland indians.

i just heard 'little surfer girl' on my way back up to school. listening to the beach boys is like wearing a velvet bathrobe on your auditory receptors.

sam brings to our attention a little write-up about hillsdale college by don herzog at the liberal philosophy blog left2right. i reproduce it here, and you can click on the link and scroll down to see comments left (no pun intended) by left2right's readers.

2½ cheers for Hillsdale

Don Herzog: April 26, 2005

I'm a big fan of Hillsdale College.  I've never been there, even though it's an easy drive from Ann Arbor.  No matter:  I'm a big fan.

Hillsdale is the plucky little liberal arts college that became famous — or infamous, depending on who you travel with — for defying the federal government.  HEW demanded that colleges receiving federal funding file an Assurance of Compliance and then track and report all kinds of data to assure they're in compliance with Title IX.  For the record, Title IX does lots more than demand gender equity in sports.  The agency then decided the requirement would extend to campuses on which any student was receiving federal funding.  Hillsdale balked.  Eventually, the Supreme Court upheld the agency's action as clearly authorized by the statute.  And over Reagan's veto, Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act to further broaden the statute's coverage.

Meanwhile, Hillsdale had had enough.  The college proudly boasts of being the country's first to ban discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and sex.  But they didn't like the idea of the feds snooping around in their internal decisions.  So they decided that they and their students would accept no federal funding.  Instead, they turned to conservative donors and raised hundreds of millions, enabling them to replace government funding with private financial aid.

Ever since, the place has been the darling of the right.  William F. Buckley, Jr., he of the waggling eyebrows, darting tongue, sardonic wit, and otiosely filigreed vocabulary, has long had a close relationship with the school.  And — fabulous research opportunity here — now you can search his published work at the school's website.  This year, at the Founders Campaign Gala, Buckley, Ann Coulter, and Dan Quayle will appear as guests.  The curriculum focuses on the traditional liberal arts, clearly with a strong conservative and libertarian bent.

Oh, the school has had its problems.  There was a huge scandal in '99.  The college president's daughter-in-law, who worked on campus, alleged that she and he had had a long-running affair.  She promptly committed suicide.  He promptly retired with a splendid golden parachute.  (He was already very highly paid.)  No, sorry, none of this bears on the worth of what Hillsdale does.  And I disdain cheap shots at right-wing moralists as hypocrites.  (Oh, okay, I snicker at Tribulation Wholesome in Ben Jonson's Alchemist.)  Indeed, I'm happy that the president and his son have reconciled.  Meanwhile, disgruntled community members formed the amusingly named Hillsdale Liberation Organization.  Their website looks like it's not been updated in some years, but it alleges imperious government by the old president and ruthless ideological intolerance and censorship on campus.  (Here are some other critical comments.)

Then too, I think Hillsdale, like other campuses, would be far better off if it were more diverse.  And I'm a big fan of Title IX, though I do think the feds should think a lot harder than they do about how cumbersome and expensive it is to demonstrate to the bureaucrats that you're complying with various legal rules.

So there's plenty I disagree with Hillsdale about.  I could add more.  The old president recently resurfaced with a lecture on American history festooned with crazy judgments:  if his intellectual agenda for the school featured that sort of thing, I shudder for the students.  And the current president is a Straussian political theorist, so I'm sure I have all kinds of deep disagreements with him, just as I'm sure his little piece attacking Grutter is way off the mark.  So why am I such a fan of Hillsdale?  Because they're intriguingly different, and not in any blatantly offensive or unacceptable way.  (I would not be a fan of Ku Klux Klan U.  But don't bother trying to persuade me that conservatism is just the polite face of racism:  that's staggeringly ignorant as well as blatantly offensive.)  No one's forced to go to Hillsdale.  The rest of us can learn from its experience thumbing its nose at the feds.  We can learn about what the problems are of a staunchly conservative little college, and how they compare and contrast to those of staunchly liberal little colleges.

But there's more, and here's what I really want to insist on.  A liberal society will have plenty of groups and institutions that defy liberal orthodoxies.  Tolerance isn't yellow-bellied "relativism," and pluralism doesn't mean smiling sweetly at Nazis.  But Hillsdale is well within the bounds of liberal tolerance and pluralism.  No self-respecting liberal should wish that one association after another fall into line and dutifully affirm the same old rules about freedom, equality, the role of government, and the like.  No self-respecting liberal should want everyone to be a liberal.  No self-respecting liberal should want such a monochrome society.

In short, my disagreements with Hillsdale are precisely why I like them so much.  So this unreconstructed liberal is a big fan of Hillsdale College.  (They do lose half a cheer — for the allegations of thought control.)  For real.

from loyal reader beau didley!

Microwaving Water!

(I did not know this, did you?)

A 26-year old man decided to have a cup of coffee. He took a cup of
water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had
done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer
for, but he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut
the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the
cup, he noted that the! water was not boiling, but suddenly the water
in the cup "blew up" into his face. The cup remained intact until he
threw it out of his hand, but all the water had flown out into his
face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he
has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face which may leave scarring.

He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the
hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a
fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a
microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be
placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stir stick,
tea bag, etc., (nothing metal).

It is however a much safer choice to boil the water in a tea kettle.

General Electric's Response:

Thanks for contacting us, I will be happy to assist you. The e-mail
that you received is correct. Microwaved water and other liquids do
not always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can actually
get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will
bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a
spoon or tea bag is put into it.

To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any
liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup
stand in the microwave for thirty seconds! before moving it or adding
anything into it.

Here is what our local science teacher had to say on the matter:
"Thanks for the microwave warning. I have seen this happen before. It
is caused by a phenomenon known as super heating. It can occur anytime
water is heated and will particularly occur if the vessel that the
water is heated in is new, or when heating a small amount of water
(less than half a cup).

What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can
form. If the cup is very new then it is unlikely to have small surface
scratches inside it that provide a place for the bubbles to form. As
the bubbles cannot form and release some of the heat has built up, the
liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat up well past
its boiling point.

What then usually happens is that the liquid is bumped or jarred,
which is just enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form
and expel the hot liquid. The rapid formation of bubbles is also why a
carbonated beverage spews when opened after having been shaken."

If you pass this on you could very well save someone from a lot of
pain and suffering.

Thank You Very Much.

the pistons won their second playoff game tonight 99-84 over the philadelphia 76ers.

more importantly, i heard on the radio that bob seger was at the game, and that he even has season tickets! way to support the boys, bob! i believe they referred to him on philadelphia radio as 'bob seger, famous for singing "turn the page"' or something like that. we true fans, though, know he's famous for a lot more than that. if i had to choose one identifying track, i think i'd have to pick 'rock and roll never forgets'.

but hey, that's just me.

the above statement is true--i should know, because it kept blowing in my mouth when i was trying to eat a soft pretzel outside a little while ago.

anyway, you might have noticed that things seem to be up and running again here. thanks to dennis again for fixing us up (see post below).

the new comments system should now be fully functional, so please feel free to share whatever half-baked idea has been distracting you for the last hour from the work you SHOULD be doing.

you've probably noticed that the comments section is different now. i wasn't able to get the old system back working again, so i consigned it to the dustbin of history. unfortunately, that also means i consigned all old comments to said bin. tut mier leid!

at least they seem to be working again. but now all the links are at the bottom of the page instead of on the right-hand side, which i think is dumb. i can't figure out what i did to the template to bring about such unforeseen and undesired consequences, but alas!, i have, and divers attempts have failed to bring them back where they belong.

ok, so i haven't really attempted anything, but that because i don't KNOW what to attempt, alright?

if anyone can help, i will give you a high-five.

P.S. after much soul-searching, i also decided to add a title section. i did this without consulting matthew, so i hope he's ok with it; it occurred in a moment of spontaneous audacity, which i'm sure he can understand.

UPDATE: den nis to the rescue! kudos and mad props to DMac for fixing the dave--warm thanks and high-fives go out to the man with the plan!

is anyone other than me having a problem getting this site to load? if so, is there anything i can do about it? email me if you have my address!

i saw old crow medicine show a few weeks ago. it was sweet. it was one of the sweetest shows i've been to in a while.

i probably should say something more about it.

anyway, i heard 'help!' by the beatles on my way to school today, and i've gotta say--those background vocals are luminous effulgence. pure pop magic.

then i heard luscious jackson's song 'naked eye' for the first time since...i don't know--high school? i couldn't believe it was on the radio. what's next? duncan sheik? chumbawumba? white town?

finally, in the words of rod stewart: 'you stole my heart, and that's what really hurts.'

CONSERVATISM IS A SPIRITUAL DISEASE: upon the election of cardinal joseph ratzinger as 265th pope, jurandir arauj, of the national conference of bishops, afro-brazilian section, had the following to say:

It seems that he is too conservative. Hopefully the Holy Spirit can help him change.

MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW: paul cites aratus in Acts 17:28. (in addition, the first part of the verse seems to be a citation of epimenides of crete, also cited by paul in Titus 1:12. Acts 17:28 will be today's verse for reviewing modern languages.

...for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

Denn in ihm leben, weben und sind wir; wie auch etliche Poeten bei euch gesagt haben: "Wir sind seines Geschlechts."

car en lui nous avons la vie, le mouvement, et l'être. C'est ce qu'ont dit aussi quelques-uns de vos poètes: De lui nous sommes la race...


Poiché in lui viviamo, ci muoviamo e siamo, come persino alcuni dei vostri poeti hanno detto: "Poiché siamo anche sua progenie".

'puesto que en él vivimos, nos movemos y existimos.' Como algunos de sus propios poetas griegos han dicho: 'De él somos descendientes.'

THE FUNNIEST EMAIL I RECEIVED TODAY:

NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM COPERATION
FROM ENGINEER GODWIN CHUKWU
RE: CONTRACT AGREEMENT.

Dear Sir

I wish to acknowledge and recognize your importance in this
business transaction which will take us only one month. I am a
member of contract awarding committee which I was the chairman.

A contract was awarded to foreign company to lay pipes from
Port-Harcourt to Warri refineries which was awarded in the year
2000, the contract was 60 million United State dollars but been a
contract awarding committee chairman I over inflated in to the tone
of 90 million United State Dollars, the work have been completed
and the company have been paid by Nigeria National Petroleum
Cooperation and they have gone, what is left now is 30 million
United State Dollars which was kept in one of the Finance/Security
Company set up by the Federal Government that is in charge of
paying foreign contractors.

I need your assistance to assist me conclude this golden
opportunity and to secure the fund into your possession, because
being the chairman, I cannot do it alone without the help of a
foreigner who will stand as the contractor who executed the job. So
furnish me with the following particulars for me to perfect the
remmittance of this fund to your posession.

1, YOUR FULL NAMES.

2,YOUR COMPANY NAME (IF ANY)

3, YOUR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

4, YOUR PRIVATE PHONE/FAX NUMBERS.

Please you should keep the business very secret and confidential to
yourself, do not tell anybody even your wife or your children till
the money gets to your account, then I will join you in your
country for a meeting and subsequent, introduce me into a
profitable business where I will invest my own share of the fund.

I have set aside 100% to be shared between me and you. I being the
contract awarding committee chairman, I will get 50%, you that is
assisting me will get 40% then 10% will be shared between both
parties for any expenses we may meet on the way during the
transaction.

Please keep it very secret and confidential to yourself.

Awaiting your urgent response for us to proceed.

Best regards

Godwin Chukwu.

as matthew pointed out in a comment below, the pistons clinched the central division championship for the 3rd time in 4 years last night with an 85-84 overtime victory in chicago, extending their winning streak to 7 games. nice work!

THE LIBERATION OF BUCHENWALD: thought i'd pass this on from my dad.

Tomorrow, April 11,  is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald [a camp near the seat of what had been the Weimar Republic] by Amercian troops.  Buchenwald had no gas chambers --- prisoners were simply worked to death.  They were required to sing while working and thus were called 'Singing Horses' by the SS guards.

The wife of the camp's commandant had lampshades made from the skin of dead prisoners.  A special chair was built to shoot Soviet prisoners in the back of the head.  For their own comfort, the SS had a riding hall, a zoo, and a brothel.

Given the age of both the liberated and the liberators, today is probably the last major remembrance they'll ever participate in.

  

the tigers got hammered a couple days ago, but hammered back yesterday afternoon with a 7-3 win to take the opening series of the season from the kansas city royals, two games to one. the series with the indians starts tonight!

LINK OF THE DAY.

AUTHOR SAUL BELLOW DIED TODAY AT AGE 89: R.I.P.

(LvDF.)

TIGERS GET OFF TO RIP-ROARING START ON OPENING DAY: bonderman allows 1 run in 7 innings and dmitri young becomes only the third player in major league history to belt 3 homers on opening day as the tigers stampede (that metaphor would work much better if they were called the 'buffalos') to an 11-2 victory.