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Doctor Cleveland's picture

Could You Repeat That in English? We're Global.


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:

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Doctor Cleveland's picture

The Second Amendment Right to Kill You

Someone with an assault rifle shot up the University of Texas today. And then he killed himself. I'm pretty nauseated just writing that first sentence, considering UT's history. No one is dead but the gunman, who shot himself.

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Doctor Cleveland's picture

Teaching Shakespeare and the New Normal

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).

Doctor Cleveland's picture

How They Measure the "End" of a Recession

So, despite the way the economy feels in your neighborhood, there's been an official statement that the recession ended last June. Yup. All over. That is a perfectly sound statement at the same time it doesn't mean what the rest of us mean by "end of the recession."

Doctor Cleveland's picture

Bewitching Jesus


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.

Doctor Cleveland's picture

Ask Tamburlaine: Burning Korans Is a Bad Idea

Who on Earth is crazy enough to burn the Koran? Until two weeks ago, my answer has always been "raging lunatics in Elizabethan drama." You know, stage characters from the age of Shakespeare, the kind of people who are prone to cutting off their own hands, biting off their tongues and spitting them on the stage, or baking their enemies in pies and serving them for dinner. The people who make Hamlet seem well-adjusted. Certainly, I didn't think of it as the kind of thing real people did.

Doctor Cleveland's picture

What Happened to America's Economy


We're always told that economics is a complicated science, which is true, but also that bottom-line practical economics is very simple. But the simple rules we've all learned seem to have landed us into an incomprehensible mess. Let me try to recap what's happened.

Obviously, every business needs to make a profit to survive. This is done by keeping costs lower than revenues. If you're selling something, you need to make more money selling it than you spend in making or buying the product and in paying your workers.

Doctor Cleveland's picture

A Proposal for Our Libertarian and Objectivist Friends

Since David's recent blog has attracted attention from some self-described Objectivists and Libertarians, let me say a few things to those new commenters.

It's clear that you feel that all taxes are illegitimate ("stolen money"), and do not believe in any social contract (a la John Locke) by which citizens preserve the maximum freedom possible for them by delegating their personal legislative rights to a freely chosen legislative authority. In short, you don't accept taxation with representation. We can argue the point, but many of you seem quite set in your convictions.

Doctor Cleveland's picture

Welcome to Dagblog

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.

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Doctor Cleveland's picture

Obama vs. The Magicians

President Obama's response to crazy conspiracy narratives about him is predictable and cool. He doesn't want to wade into the nonsense, and in that much he's absolutely right: you can't argue people out of their irrational beliefs. And in general, Obama has put his faith in the public's preference for real-world results over conspiracy theories.

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Pages

TypeTitleAuthorRepliesLast updated
Blog entryDeath Threats Aren't Politics as Usual Doctor Cleveland114 years 6 days ago
Blog entryThe Media Changes Its Story (Not for the Last Time) Doctor Cleveland314 years 1 week ago
Blog entryOliver North & Freedom Alliance: "Debbie Schlussel is a liar" William K. Wolfrum414 years 1 week ago
Blog entryThe Logic of Electing Hypocrites Doctor Cleveland314 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryStates Tell The Feds To Go F Themselves - Me like! Larry Jankens414 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entry"Down the Republicans' Throats" Doctor Cleveland114 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryFirst Press: How Bill O'Reilly Saved Christmas Michael Wolraich1514 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryRielle Hunter in GQ - it's official, the U.S. is Italy William K. Wolfrum314 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryThe Best Post in the World: Daniel Larison Doctor Cleveland014 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryThe Business of Universities Doctor Cleveland814 years 2 weeks ago
Blog entryEveryone in the NFL arrested William K. Wolfrum114 years 3 weeks ago
Blog entryEric Massa: Trial by Combat Doctor Cleveland014 years 3 weeks ago
Blog entryOnce More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends MJS314 years 3 weeks ago
Blog entryWhy Do Liberals Hate Beauty Queens? Michael Wolraich1314 years 4 weeks ago
Blog entryGood bye, Jon Swift William K. Wolfrum614 years 4 weeks ago
Blog entryAgainst the Crocodile: Amy Bishop, Joseph Stack, and the Press Doctor Cleveland2114 years 4 weeks ago
Blog entryThe worst thing I can do to Andrew Breitbart William K. Wolfrum314 years 4 weeks ago
Blog entryGot Torts? William K. Wolfrum’s Tort Reformation is here to help William K. Wolfrum614 years 1 month ago
Blog entryAndrew Joseph Stack: Pauper with a Private Plane Doctor Cleveland1314 years 1 month ago
Blog entryThe Decline, Fall, Plunge and Demise of Journalism acanuck214 years 1 month ago
Blog entryAmy Bishop, Collegiality, and Debates About Tenure Doctor Cleveland814 years 1 month ago
Blog entryBipartisanship as Theater Doctor Cleveland514 years 1 month ago
Blog entryAbraham Lincoln attacks street performer that mocked his family William K. Wolfrum314 years 1 month ago
Blog entryGod speaks: "Beauty Pageant Contestants are going to Hell" William K. Wolfrum114 years 1 month ago
Blog entryOlympic update: gut-check time acanuck614 years 1 month ago

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