2/12/01 - She's wildly overrated in tennis, but dang can she screw up your hard drive. I myself haven't been burned by this latest virus making the rounds, but then again I don't use Outlook.

Investigators discover what are presumably the bones of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the atheist leader who disappeared in 1995. Which, as Verbivore of Scratching Post notes (both links from her), will hopefully stem the flow of this particular urban legend. One of my early duties here was to clear out the Chairman's mass e-mail box, and you won't believe how many impassioned pleas we get a day to put a stop to "that O'Hare woman."

Corona posts this excellent fan-made one-sheet for Fellowship of the Ring. Veddy nice work.

With the Dems currently in disarray (and what do you expect when Dubya's getting fawning puff pieces like this and this? - don't worry, the glowing press won't last), it looks like the best hope for progressive reform right now may be in the hands of Senator John McCain.

A happy few days so far for fellow space cadets - The Destiny is open for business, while the NEAR-shoemaker successfully lands on Eros. Meanwhile, the first findings of the Human Genome Project are published in two separate journals. Twenty-first century in action, baby.

Turns out Jim Morrison, not to mention scores of basketball pundits, were wrong. The EAST is the best, thanks to the fourth-quarter gut check by MVP Allan Iverson. Take that, Kobe.

Smart move - Bruce Greenwood, JFK in the recent Thirteen Days, has opted out of Basic Instinct 2 in favor of Below. Below (formerly Proteus) is a script penned by Darren Twohy (Pitch Black) and Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) about a WWII submarine crew evading both German U-boats and a Lovecraftian monster of the deep. Others on board include the lovely Olivia Williams (Rushmore, The Sixth Sense) and possibly David Boreanaz (WB's Angel). At the worst, this has to be better than Peter Weller's Leviathan.

2/9/01 - Physicists at Brookhaven National Laborary believe the actions of an unruly muon may spell trouble for the reigning scientific paradigm.

On the eve of the NBA All-Stars coming to town, David Aldridge pays homage to DC hoops history.

Meanwhile, the Big Apple, the true mecca of basketball, finds itself fast becoming Washington-in-exile for disgruntled Dems.

More Apes pics today, courtesy of MovieHeadlines.Net and Vanity Fair.

Bruce Wayne, meet Popeye Doyle. Darren Aronofsky namedrops The French Connection as a source of inspiration for his forthcoming Batman: Year One. Guy loves his heroin movies, that's fer sure.

So far, so good. The Shuttle has docked without incident. Now comes the time to grapple with Destiny.

Corona reports that Jude Law and Paul Newman are signed to join Tom Hanks and Tom Sizemore on The Road to Perdition.

Bipartisanship sounds great and all, but as the House is finding out, the devil is in the details.

John Cusack names his next projects. Both sound rather interesting...hopefully, there'll be no more Con Airs in his immediate future.

2/8/01 - Good luck, Atlantis. For the sake of our entire space exploration program, please don't screw up that payload. (Link via Lake Effect.)

The tax cut fight begins today, and, as feared, it looks like the Dems spent so much time and energy on combatting John Ashcroft that they are ill-prepared for the coming battle against Dubya's tax plan. Hopefully the Dems can try to work it so that, if a Dubya tax cut does become inevitable, at least payroll taxes will be addressed in the final bill.

Princeton gets rid of student loans, in favor of higher scholarships. Interesting...if other schools follow their lead, perhaps they could take a page from Dubya and do it retroactively...please?

In related campus news, as a follow-up to the grade inflation post of yesterday, it looks like Harvey got the controversy he wanted. What a joker. He pulled a similar stunt my freshman year, when he emphatically declared that "homosexuals undermine civilization." He was then systematically dismantled in a debate on this issue with The New Republic's Andrew Sullivan before Michael Sandel's Justice class. Mansfield seems to suffer from the delusion that making ignorant comments like this every so often makes him some kind of stalwart defender against the insidious evil of campus PC. In truth, it just makes him look like just another intolerant ass, masking his obsolete prejudices behind a veneer of "objectivity" and a pretense of martyrdom. Get a life, bud.

2/7/01 - My friend Seth courts controversy by calling for an end to The Simpsons. But, hey, even if you disagree, you can't fault my man's dental habits.

Updated the GitM Portal again. Man, there's a lot of good blogs out there. And I also happened to find another blog currently bankrolled by the Federal Government, Listen Missy.

GM Scott Layden won't quell the PG trade rumors surrounding the puzzlingly inconsistent Knicks right now. Given the choices listed in this article, however, I'd stick with Ward and Childs.

Couldn't this bunny just have gone to Subway?

Harvey "C-" Mansfield battles grade inflation at Harvard. Whatever, Harvey. He's been milking that "last true conservative manning the ramparts against permissive liberalism" schtick for years now. I took one of his classes back in the day, and he usually tries to out-droll his way out of any serious philosophical bind. As for grade inflation, it's ludicrous to think that the demise of the Gentlemen's C represents some horrible disintegration of academic standards. The reason there are more A's and B's in the Ivy League now is because admissions became less permissive - the colleges are now filled with more students with actual initiative, ability, and intellectual curiosity and less with pampered, mediocre sons and daughters of the BosWash elite (Gore and Dubya, anyone?). In short, there are more better grades today because there are more better students working harder for them.

Michael Powell, new Chairman of the FCC, holds his first press conference. And it looks like happy days are here again for the market incumbents. He also likens the Digital Divide to a "Mercedes Divide...I'd like to have mine."

Should have blogged this yesterday, but didn't. Lucasfilm releases some pics of laser-scanned Episode 2 busts for Toyfare, including first offical looks at Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku).

My brother points out this big treat for DC Comics fans. The official site has an interactive version of Alex Ross's Crisis on Infinite Earths cover painting, searchable by name or picture.

The Washington Post recounts Gore's childish post-election rant at President Clinton. I'm almost amazed at how self-deluded the ex-veep must be. It's clear from this article that Gore still thinks he lost because of Monica Lewinsky, not because he was a smarmy, insufferable, and ego-ridden chump change with a lousy campaign strategy. I know there are folks out there who insist that Gore did not lose this election, that it was stolen, etc., but the fact that Gore's race against an obvious nitwit like Dubya came so down to the wire is a testament to his inherent unlikability. And to think we're probably going to run this guy again in four years...it makes me ill. O Bradley, Where Art Thou? Shiny, get on the phone with Reich and see what you can do!

In related news, Dukakis v. Nader. Says this wag, "The real reason [Gore lost in 2000] is that he was the political personification of pathetic." Hate to beat a dead horse here, but the previous article brought all the Fear and Loathing rushing back.

Alan Lightman composes a eulogy for the speed of light.

The Dubya administration backs down from closing the AIDS and Race Relations offices in the White House. Even if such a move makes bureaucratic sense (which I doubt but can't really speak to), it'd be a terrible political move.

2/5/01 - Et tu, Lehrer? The New Republic dissects the critical role of National Public Radio in the recent Congressional crippling of the nascent Low-Power FM community service.

Will Kevin Kline play Peter Sellers? Interesting...

CNN profiles Bonnie Hammer, head of the Sci-Fi Channel. Talk about a cool job.

Dems wonder - does Dubya even understand what he signed with regard to international family planning funding?

I know, I know, it's catty. Nevertheless, I have to confess a guilty pleasure in reading the Miami Herald every time there's a Knick victory in the best rivalry in sport right now. This recent installment had everything from overtime heroics to another almost-brawl to a celebrity ejection...this time, it was Jimmy Buffett. "'I hate losing to the Knicks more than anybody,' said Heat guard Tim Hardaway, who missed 16 of 21 shots. 'We should have won the game.'"

With a Republican now safely in place in the Executive, retirement watch begins for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Possible replacements include (ugh) Orrin Hatch and Alberto Gonzalez.

New DNC Chair and old Clinton friend Terry McAuliffe states emphatically that Hillary will not run in 2004. Unfortunately, he says, Gore will.

Salon comments on the Blogger breakup.

2/2/01 - Kempa returns. Welcome back, man.

Ouch. A judge rules that calling someone "Monica" constitutes sexual harrassment. How bad is it that your name becomes synonymous with loose morals and lechery, and you're only in your mid-twenties? Knocks Murphy's Law out of the park.

Fuzzy math? Surprise, surprise, the DEA has been inflating its figures to ensure success. (Via Metafilter.) Here are some drug war numbers that might be more legitimate.

Punchcards go the way of the dinosaur (at least in Florida.) If election 2000 was good for nothing else, this type of voting reform is a step in the right direction.

I am Jack's big pink rhinocerous. Ed Norton vamps in the new comedy Death to Smoochy, currently filming in Times Square. Robin Williams is the lead, so expect some saccharine goodness to leech away the dark humor. Also starring Malkovich's Catherine Keener and Daily Show's Jon Stewart.

I completely forgot today was Groundhog Day. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow. Speaking of which, I wonder if anybody's asked Punxsutawney Phil what he thinks about global warming - you'd think he have a pretty good perspective on the issue.

Dubya Diplomacy at work: Bush invites Sen. Kennedy and family to watch Thirteen Days at the White House. I wonder how that went over - "Hey, Senator, how'd you like to come over to the ranch and watch a flick about your two dead brothers with me?" Let's just hope he picks Teddy's nickname wisely.

In the twilight days of the first Internet boom, the Boston Globe pays homage to the "Aeron" chair. Of course, Internet startups aren't the only group to invest lavishly in nice seating - these pinnacles of comfort are standard issue at the FCC too. In fact, I'm sitting in one right now.

Ashcroft is appointed, over the objection 42 Democratic Senators. Of course, we've known he'd be appointed ever since Zell Miller (D-GA) said he'd vote to confirm over two weeks ago. Perhaps now the Dems can stop fighting for lost causes (leave that to the GOP) and conserve what's left of their mojo for more important matters, such as helping McCain and Feingold pass campaign finance reform.

In related news, the Times isn't happy with the expected choice of Terry McAuliffe to head the DNC. I must say, their logic in this instance is quite persuasive.