the understanding of a work, as cross-examination is to the truth in a court of law. Both are necessary to draw out ideas, and impeach fraud (be it literary or legal) that may be not be evident to some readers.

And as far as the perfect "novel about nothing" goes... I think Nabokov did that already with Pale Fire. So novelists can move on to the next challenge... assuming that literary form is still artistically valid. I don't really think so, but what do I know?

... no true philosopher ever marries. Except for Socrates, and he did it just to be ironic.

Although, even Socrates sent his wife away before he committed suicide. Her feminine sobbing would ruin the aesthetic perfection of the moment.

... no true philosopher ever marries. Except for Socrates, and he did it just to be ironic.

Although, even Socrates sent his wife away before he committed suicide. Her feminine sobbing would've ruin the aesthetic perfection of the moment.

Double post, and a grammatical error.

"would've ruined the..."

Trying to stay gender neutral about this, and not get into a big debate over a woman's right to work, I'll put it simply that some people are givers and some are takers.

It's probably easier to be a accomplished intellectual if your wife cooks for you, does the dishes, cleans the house, etc. See, e.g., Nabokov, Vonnegut.

Richard Scarry's wife brought him breakfast, lunch and dinner while he worked in his office all day. His children's book outsold Dr. Seuss. (I think Scarry qualifies as a man of genius).

So... not to generalize, but I don't happen to know many girls my age who would be willing to do all that. And, I guess that applies to men too.

So, unless you can find a dedicated and understanding spouse, stay single if you want to engage in more intellectual pursuits.

Monthly figures seem more apt to determine the trend. Why only go back one month, as cited in the article? Why not graph out the last three or four? That makes the most sense to me.

They are both relevent, of course. The year-to-year numbers show the depth of the problem, but they hold no prediction value, in my opinion.

And of course, when we here in Oceania are once again allied with the Eastasians, and at war with the Eurasians, all Brownback's comments will be retroactively deleted from the senate record.

Hope I can keep up so I don't inadvertantly commit any Thoughtcrimes...

I'm not so sure she won't at least bring this up for a vote. As noted, Mukasey has been ordered by his "client" Pres. Bush not to investigate further.

I've got to assume Pelosi is aware of the backlash among some of her constituents for her blanket refusal to pursue impeachment proceedings, and for the FISA deal. The Bush Administration probably still owes her a little something for all her loyal service, so they'll cover for her here, knowing there's really no chance anything will happen to Karl Rove.

I'm sure she could care less whether Rove is held accountable or not. But she can score some cheap political cash by holding the vote, and passing the buck to the DOJ, well aware they're not going to do anything about it.

At that point it will die... she can preserve the notion that she's still doing something while in office, and 99% of the American population won't know any different.

Nor is there any chance it can become a religion.

Religion: the use of ignorance, also known as "faith" to justify accepting vague, and illogical explanations of how the world around us "works."

Science: the use of observable physical evidence of natural phenomena to collect data, and analyze this information to explain what and how things work.

Honestly... it's the 21st century, man. It's time to get with the program.

PS - And to that weasel Ben Stein, claiming scientists are being close-minded by not willingly debating creationists. They had that debate back in 1850... YOU LOST. Who's really the close-minded one here?

Didn't see your post before I posted mine!

Everyone have a nice night!

Now the ball is back in their court to drag these jokers out in front to testify.

I bet they were hoping the court would rule the aides had immunity so they could go back to merely whining about their refusal to testify, instead of doing something about it.

In my opinion, the statements from the therapist, Ms. Duley, are the most troublesome. (Not that I believe them). The ridiculous aspersions cast on Ivins regarding the KKG sorority, alcohol abuse & pornography really don't hold any water when you think about them. But if a licensed therapist (albeit one with some criminal & substance abuse problems of her own) is claiming you threatened to kill people and go out in a blaze of glory... that seems to be the most damaging allegation so far. And since the FBI only needs to convict the now-deceased Ivins in the Media & Court of Public Opinion, it is a sticking point.

I read the article noting that Duley was still in college as of '07 - '08, but shouldn't it be even easier to find out if she was a licensed therapist at all? Does Maryland have a state board overseeing this? Or was she just holding impromptu therapy sessions open to the general public in her living room?

This morning, the "sorority link" was front page news on the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Yahoo, and CNN websites, before the NYT article questioning the evidence was up. Shortly after that, all the links to Ivins & his alleged sorority obsession were removed from those other sites.

Time to send the tube back to the Ministry of Information to delete the links and alter the content... How about "alleged Al-Qaeda #2 possibly in Iraq"? Or maybe "Marines kill X number of suspected militants in Afghanistan"? or my favorite: "golden retriever adopts tiger cubs at local zoo"?