David Akin

So much for that Theory

I would make the argument that most criticism . . . is a poison pill. I think one must be careful in assuming that intellectuals have some kind of insight. In fact, if the track record of intellectuals is any indication, not only have intellectuals been wrong almost all of the time, but they have been wrong in corrosive and destructive ways.

- Sander L. Gilman

Professor of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago



I like what that man said. I wish to deny the effectiveness of intellectual work. And especially, I always wish to counsel people against the decision to go into the academy because they hope to be effective beyond it.

-Stanley Fish

These comments were made April 11 at a conference in Chicago and were reported in the New York Times on April 19, 2003: "The Latest Theory is that Theory Doesn't Matter" by Emily Eakin

Notes and quotes

You publish your ideas, you share your ideas and you have your ideas critiqued. Western science is effectively an open source project.
-Tim O'Reilly, Interview in Switch

Tara Calishain, author of a new book on Google Hacks (a very cool new book, I might add, although mighty geeky) also publishes a free weekly newsletter all about Internet research.

It's called Research Buzz

Here's her description:

ResearchBuzz is designed to cover the world of Internet research. To that end this site provides almost daily updates on search engines, new data managing software, browser technology, large compendiums of information, Web directories -- whatever. If in doubt, the final question is, "Would a reference librarian find it useful?" If the answer's yes, in it goes!

The revolution's tool

"The culture wars between the religious, traditionalist right and the liberal, pluralist left have started to look like a rout everywhere but in the larger, coastal cities. Conservatives are recasting communities to be more comfortable with, if not prostrate to, received authority in the form of literalist interpretations of religious and political texts.

That success will be short-lived. Long after the next bubble has burst, the internet will have surpassed the hype generated by the last one. Not by changing the way we live and work, but by impacting the culture wars and tipping the battle decisively to the left."

Excerpted from:

- Peter Lurie
Why the Web Will Win the Culture Wars for the Left

Le Québec choisit les Liberaux

Quebecers -- and I am one, for je suis né à Montréal -- are perhaps the canniest electorate in democracy's young history. They have kept the separatist Parti Québecois in power in the province since 1994 but whenever the PQ has asked its electorate to negotiate a 'new arrangement' or "sovereignty association' with Canada, the electorate has voted 'Non' but always only by a little. It scares the rest of Canada and it scares the government in Ottawa, so much so that Quebec is able to enjoy considerable financial support from the rest of Canada. This is not a bitter, angry remark but, rather, an admiring observation. That Quebec, for all the skills and talents of its people, is still a have-not province -- in the sense that it still qualifies for transfer payments from the 'have' provinces such as Ontario -- is more a reflection on the separatists who have ruled the province and who have insisted on economic and fiscal policies that serve the Quebecois nationalist agenda, rather than the needs of its people.

So, tonight, they choose Jean Charest as their next Premier, succeeding Bernard Landry. Charest was the leader of the federal Conservatives but, seeing the writing on the wall, perhaps for that once grand party, he became a Liberal in Quebec, betting that at least he could be premier. And, today, he is, with a healthy majority.
Not sure what that wily Quebec electorate is telling the rest of us with today's electoral decision.

A great golf day, eh!

Mike Weir won the Master's golf tournament today.. For Canadians, it's a big thrill, because it's the first time a Canadian has won a major golf championship, let alone the storied Masters. The icing on the cake, of course, is that Mike hits the ball from the same side of the tee that I do. Way to go, lefty!