J O S H U A P U N D I T

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels


Watcher's Council News:A new seat has opened up on the Watcher's Council with the departure of Marc Schulman at American Future. Anyone interested in applying for the vacant Watcher's Council seat should go here to apply.


OK, here's this week's Council lineup:

1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: Between Iraq and a hard place - Why we went, how it got so screwed up and where it's going - Part 2 The second part of my admittedly contrarian examination of the past, present and future of our involvement in Iraq.I guarantee that. along with part 1, it will disturb some of you..and provide a lot of food for thought.


2. Done With Mirrors: Classical Fraud In a change of pace, Callimachus writes a fascinating piece on plagiarism in the classical music world.


3.Soccer Dad: Green thinking from the red planetFrom Soccer Dad, a funny spoof on WAPO blowhard David Ignatius' take on global warming, done from the perspective of Mars.

4. Right Wing Nut House : DEATH OF A TITAN Rick does a memorial to the recently deceased Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. As another member of the Council remarked, the definition of `liberal' sure has changed.

5. The Sundries Shack: The Separation Hypocrisy This week, Jimmie Bise targets John Edwards and his `two Americas' stance and points out what he feels is the hypocrisy of living a multimillionaire lifestyle and being a populist. Of course Edwards, like many Leftists is no such thing. He merely wants government to ensure the status quo and secure his wealth and power while taxing and regulating others to make it more difficult for them to move into the winner's circle with him...exactly the same model that has been such a colossal failure in Europe.

6. Rhymes With Right: An Idea I can get behind Greg, as an educator, likes the idea of end-of-course tests as opposed to the current system in Texas.


7. The Glittering Eye : Who were the Etruscans? The Glittering Eye's Dave Schuler is a true renaissance man. This week, he has an erudite post on the history, language and culture of the ancient Etruscans.

Don't know who they were? Visit the Glittering Eye and find out.


8. The Colossus of Rhodey: Essence of a problem Lotsa education posts this week! Hube examines the role expulsion plays in classroom discipline and the relatives roles in education played by teachers and parents.

9. You ain’t never had a friend like me: Bookworm Room Mrs. Bookworm writes her piece this week about journalism - it's nature, its recent problems and its failures.

As she puts it, the big media outlets are seeing their market share dropping, reporters distrusted and held in low estimation and the media's reputation in tatters....and then goes on to examine why.

Frankly, I think the biggest factor in the low ratings and low opinion of the media started with the widespread use of blogging, the internet and the `new media'...because now most of us know how baldly we were lied to over the years, and the same scam just isn't as possible as it was when you had three networks and a handful of influential newspapers deciding what the news was going to be and how it would be reported. The dinosaur media is simply too involved in its inherent bias and it may be too late to put that particular toothpaste back in the tube.

Of course, this also coincided with the Left's takeover of the universities and the J-schools in the 1970's, something that's also become quite well known recently...

10. Eternity Road: Acceptances And Severances Part 3: Association By Exclusion And Its Consequences Francis continues his examination of relationships....

11.The Education Wonks: Student Sex Scandal Rocks Indiana School District Sex in a 6th grade classroom while the teacher was `distracted'? And the school hushed it up? Two words: school choice.

That's this week's lineup..enjoy!