Those damned cartoons

I've been following the controversy over the 12 drawings of Mohammed that have caused such a ruckus in Europe and the Muslim world.

A look at the cartoons themselves shows that the fuss over them is far out of proportion to the artwork itself: A few are unquestionably inflammatory; a couple are neutral or complimentary; at least one is intentionally ambuguous; and a few convey their message so poorly that no point is made or are just asinine.

It's hard to believe that so few media outlets in this country have shown the drawings.

Here, Eugene Volokh gets a lot right. Excerpts won't do it justice; go and read the whole thing.

George Tirebiter, are you listening?

From a report in the Austin American-Statesman:

Hamburger patties and other debris are covering two soutbbound lanes and the shoulder of Interstate 35 near Slaughter Lane after an accident this morning involving two tractor-trailer rigs.

The Texas Department of Transportation is working to clear the mess, but the lanes will likely be closed for at least three more hours (until noon or so), the Austin Police Department said this morning.

No way I could make this up

Osama bin Laden's niece signs with an agency to shop her own reality series: "Osama bin Laden's niece signs with an agency to shop her own reality series" (reality blurred

Blogger widget

Alas, Blogger's new widget for Tiger isn't as cool or helpful as anticipated. I can readily format in bold or italic with just a keystroke, but blockquoting is no easier--it still requires hand coding--and linking is actually harder.

I'd love it if Blogger had better Mac support. Darn.

Hokey smokes!

Look at what Ron found: The HOUSE OF LASCARIS-COMNENUS: From the ROMAN EMPIRE to NEW BYZANTIUM.

NEW BYZANTIUM is The AMERICAS

We are sincerely pleased you have come to visit our Site and we extend to you our warmest greeting in the highest tradition of BYZANTIUM. Our Principal goal is to impart to you heretofore intentionally little known facts about BYZANTIUM as the foundation of Western Civilization. We will avoid knowingly withholding the truth as an aim to social disorientation. Practice of historical deception must cease. We hope that you will enjoy our contribution to the fullest. Welcome.