Spring Break Link Dumping...

Five good ones:

1) 15 minutes of genius from John Stewart. Those of you who know me know I like to label myself a sort of libertarian, but these days, I really do feel label-less. I mean, who wants to call themselves a conservative or a libertarian if Glenn Beck is claiming to be one? I could go on about this, but it makes me agitated...and I don't want to be agitated on the last weekday of Spring Break. Anyway, watch the clip. At first, towards the end, I thought "well, it's getting a bit silly and over the top," but then I realized that makes it a perfect response to the craziness of the Glenn Beck universe. And the thing is, when Beck does it, it isn't just silly--it's scary.

2) An wonderful column about the virtues of the small academic conference, via insidehighered.com. I've said for a long time that PAC is one of my favorite conferences to go to, for many of the reasons Kevin Brown lists here. I wasn't able to go this year, but hope to next year.

3) For my friends who are still dissertating, insidehighered.com also offered some advice for finishing up: forget perfectionism. Seriously.

4) Maryland, a state I could swim to if I wanted to (it's just across the river from campus), isn't part of the South anymore. Good to know. (Tell me there aren't at least 10 academic articles lurking in the language of this story...on regionalism, politics, state identity, tourism, etc.)

5) Jesse James, the most hated man in America. True story. Team Sandra all the way for me. Honestly, have you ever heard a bad thing about this woman?

Newswatch...

From the Onion...


Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

Andrew Sullivan also linked to the Onion clip--and the one below, too, that I didn't see the first time he posted it. It's pretty spot on, too.



This is, of course, why it is so depressing to watch the news these days.