Wow. This is dagblog, huh? I don't even recognize the place. Readership is flourishing, the pace of posts is snowballing. Frightening dagger logo be damned, it even looks like an official bloggy thingy now.

I've been blogging angrily about SUNY ALbany's foolish attempt to "globalize" by cutting French, Italian, and Russian from the curriculum.

If you, like me, consider this decision foolish and bad for the education of SUNY Albany's students, please consider signing this petition to restore those crucial languages to SUNY Albany. Thanks.

Earlier this week, I blogged about SUNY Albany's plan to fulfill its "world-wide" mission by cutting almost all of their European language programs and declaring its intention to fire the full-time tenured faculty who teach French, Russian, Italian, and the classics. At the same time, Albany cut its theater major.

When you have access to a pug puppy, you take advantage of said access. So I present, with no further delay:

Alfredo the Pug Puppy

University administrators in the United States currently have two diametrically opposed habits.

First, they love to proclaim that their university is becoming more "global." You hear this all the time.

Second, they tend to cut foreign languages from the curriculum.

So, for example:

My friends, it is time we all accept a universal truth – the U.S. economy is dead. It is now being kept alive only by the exceedingly rich throwing money at things. This too shall end. And capitalism will be no more.

My profession has a lot of annual rituals, some obvious and some not, and one of them happened the week before last: the annual job list went live (and, in another annual ritual, came precariously close to crashing for the first afternoon).

Hi folks! I'm glad to see so many new Dagbloggers. I'm in the middle of an epic holiday but I'm planning on spending a good deal of time in October, catching up on my Dag reading. 

So, Saturday night the news was that Christine O'Donnell "dabbled into witchcraft" before becoming a hard-line evangelical Christian. And you know what? I wasn't surprised at all. Surely I wasn't surprised that a candidate like O'Donnell was attracted to the supernatural, since all of her politics are about magical thinking. I shrugged it off, and Sunday morning I went to church.

Some are born eyes wide open. They are the few that have an innate understanding of life from the get go. They understand love, and responsibility and the importance of others. I was not one of those people.

I see that Dagblog is getting a diverse group of new voices via Readers Blogs. As a regular  contributor, I'd like to say hi and tell you a little about myself:

1) My name is William K. Wolfrum

2) DagBlog is my bitch.

Lebaran is this weekend which means I have successfully completed my first Ramadan in a Muslim country. I wasn't affected much. My area of the city has almost as many Christians as Muslims, so the restaurants were still crowded at lunch time. I was more careful about eating, and drinking alcohol, outside during daylight hours and I didn't eat in front of my Muslim co-workers prior to sundown, but other than that, life went on normally.

Hi, all. We have some new readers and new reader bloggers today, for a sad reason. Some people are coming here out of fear that Talking Points Memo may shut down its reader blogs.

Everybody here at Dagblog would like to see the TPMCafe stay open. Most of us met each other, as bloggers, at that page, and we would like to see it thrive.

But whatever the fate for TPMCafe, we would like you to know that you are all welcome here, and that we will always be glad to see you.

I am kind, giving and strong. I am fair and law-abiding. I am smart and resourceful. I respect others and I do no harm. I follow the words of Jesus Christ. I am an American Boy.

Summer has turned quickly into fall,
The air much colder,
The sea air so sweet,
Leaves falling from the trees,
Like ten  thousand passions.
...Where you and I will always meet.

From time to time I’ve been known to escape the confines of this blog, and this week is one of those times, as I have some stories up at The National, an English newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.

The stories – given to me by former colleague Paul Oberjuerge – were on sporting venues in South America. The three stories:

When I came to Indonesia in the middle of January 2010, I came with a few preconceived notions:

1. It was going to be hot;

2. The food was going to be great; and

3. The country had the largest Muslim population in the world.

“You see, you’re one of the good Blacks,” I told my friend Al, at a high school graduation party. “It’s the bad Blacks that are the niggers.”

“I think I hate you now, Bill,” said Al, walking away.

It was 25 years ago when that scene took place, and his words still haunt me. Partly because I haven’t spoken to Al since. But mostly because that those words started me on a path toward acceptance and enlightenment that I remain on to this day.

How do I know, he asked me if I was investing in gold or selling gold. OMG, this guy, even though he is a landscaper, or some such thing, has three kids, gets his health care from the state because he doesn't make much money, recevies food stamps, and aid to go to school. But he always rants about ObamaCare, socialism, fascism, etc! What? Yes you are thinking the same thing I am. However, Beck is ripping off poor folk, who don't know any better, and I feel bad for them.