The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Blog

  • 2 out of 3 Republican candidates prefer dictatorship

    OK, so that’s not entirely fair. But Glenn Greenwald has a terrific piece on why it’s not entirely unfair, either. The short version: When asked if the President of the United States should have the power to detain indefinitely American citizens without any sort of review, Mitt Rommey said he couldn’t form an opinion without consulting some “smart lawyers” — despite the fact that it clearly violated the Contitution, the upholding of which is the sworn duty of anyone holding the office Rommey had decided to seek. But it gets better. Guiliani doesn’t need lawyers; he knows he supports this sort of power trip, although (hilariously) he hopes to exercise it only “infrequently”.

    How far we have sunk, in only six years! Who could have guessed that the American habit of liberty would prove so fragile?

  • Why We’re In the Mess We’re In

    Matthew Dowd, an adviser to President Bush, today said in an interview that he was disappointed by the President’s stand on the war, on the will of the public, and, well, just about everything. It’s clear that Mr. Dowd is conflicted in taking this public stance. Said Mr. Dowd:

    I really like him, which is probably why Iā€™m so disappointed in things

    Those first four words are what have spelled our doom these past six years. More below the fold.

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  • New Look, New Feature, Lots of New Newness

    So… I’ve wanted a three-column theme for a while and for whatever reason, tonight’s the night I decided to get one. Mostly I want something that uses the real estate of my monitor more efficiently. I went with Anaconda and it seems pretty good. I’m still figuring out how to make it look like what I want. Also, this post is an attempt to check out “asides” to see what they are. And I’ve added a couple of countdown timers just for show.

  • Firing US Attorneys: Why This Matters

    I don’t have a lot of time to write, but luckily Josh Marshall has written a nice summary over at Talking Points Memo. I’d suggest taking a look if you’ve been wondering why the dismissal of 8 U.S. attorneys is such a big deal.

  • Lunacon (3)

    The third in my shameless padding series on my recent experience at Lunacon 50. This episode: Sci Fi TV 101, or Why All Your Favorite Shows are Doomed. More below the fold.
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  • Framing the furor

    Just a quick break from my Lunacon doodlings to note an excellent post “The 5 Words Bush Wants Americans to Repeat” from a blog called Frameshop. Apparently, Frameshop focuses on how people frame the debate in political circles. This particular post parses the President’s performance (ahh, alliteration!) for the key concepts he wants to use to shift the debate, such as “resignation” versus “firing”. It’s a nice, concise, clear read.

  • Lunacon (2)

    More on my experiences at Lunacon 50 (the beginning of which is also here at The Mongrel Dogs). This time up: Joss Whedon Must Die!
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  • Lunacon (1)

    This past weekend, I attended Lunacon 50, a science fiction convention held annually in Rye, New York by the New York Science Fiction Society. I wanted to attend “a con” this year and I chose Lunacon because, of the Northeast conventions I could find online, it seemed the most writer-friendly and writer-centric. Appropriately, for the next few days, I’m going to type up my thoughts and impression.

    Our story begins with an epic tale of travel and travail.
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  • Health of the Republic down, 4% to 25%

    The Health of the Republic bar has dropped another 4% in recent weeks. This is largely due to the unfolding three scandals at the Department of Justice:

    • The blatantly-political firing of eight US prosecutors
    • The new revelations about presidential interference in the internal DOJ audit of the warrantless wiretapping program
    • The rampant abuse of National Security Letters by FBI agents

    More below the fold.
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  • Quickie: Accidentally-hilarious writing

    I was flipping through the channels and came across FX’s presentation of The Day After Tomorrow. I’d never seen it before — movies like this make my teeth hurt, because the science is just so bad. But I decided to give it a go. My full opinion on the movie would likely bore you but I was struck by the following line:

    Reporter: … in the wake of the approaching storm…

    Think about that. Where, by definition, does a wake appear? Behind the object causing it. (Glad to find I retained something from Romani’s Fluid Mechanics class…) You can’t be in the wake of something approaching.

    OK, so maybe the reporter was trying to be metaphorical: People realize the storm is approaching, panic, and cause the chaos being documented. It’s still a stupid way of saying it…