Farewell MC Rove

As if you needed an excuse to watch this gem one more time.

So long, farewell...

Well, it's that time of year. Graduates are donning caps and gowns, the smell of fresh-cut grass is in the air and the grounds people at Notre Dame are assiduously watering the sidewalks.

Actually, it's March, but as Northwestern is on the quarter system, it's graduation time for me nonetheless. In other words, 'tis the season for interviews.

Luckily, 'tis also the season for my friends' wedding in Miami this weekend. As nice as Washington has been lately, I can't wait for a day or two in sunnier climes. More to come after I return.

Infidel

The other day I interviewed Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali native and well-known advocate for Muslim women's rights.

Hirsi Ali recently published a new book, Infidel, which tells the story of her struggles with Islam, escape from an arranged marriage and election to the Dutch Parliament.

She currently works for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. She is forced to travel with bodyguards because she has received death threats as a result of her criticism of Islam.

The article is available here:

Call her an infidel - she doesn't mind

On Wisconsin

I really feel this article speaks for itself:

Man Attacked with Sword While Watching Porn

(Thanks to Rob for the tip.)

Something Rotten

“I wouldn’t vote for that Muslim,” the elderly cab driver told me.

It was past midnight, only hours after President Bush’s State of the Union address, and I had just missed the last Metro train back to Eastern Market, my apartment and my bed.

I was exhausted after filing a story earlier in the day and covering the presidential candidates’ reactions to the speech for the Medill News Service that night.

Now, however, the sickly scent of air freshener wasn’t the only thing making me slightly nauseous.

The driver was referring to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, and, obviously, had heard the false story, spread by the Washington Times-owned Insight magazine, a Fox news program and several Web sites, that Obama had attended a madrassa or fundamentalist Islamic school during his childhood in Indonesia.

In certain countries, some of these schools are rumored to train terrorists.

However, the senator attended a public school with a large Muslim population for two years and a Catholic school for another two while in Indonesia, according to CNN.

This quarter, I’m reporting on religious issues, and I knew that Obama, D-Ill., belongs to the United Church of Christ, which I told the driver.

He ignored me, showing just how hard it can be for a journalist to correct misinformation - or prejudice.

“I may vote for a Muslim eventually,” he said. “But you see, it’s just like after World War II. I wouldn’t have voted for a Jap back then.”

As he pulled up to my apartment, I asked if he could wait until I was safely inside.

“Sure,” he said, with one last parting comment. “You’ve got to watch out for the Democrats.”

Bosnia: A House Divided

My Bosnia article has been published!

You can read it here if you're interested in hearing about my experience in the Balkans.

Google made me a hypochondriac.

Chills? Sore throat? Green toe?

Google knows what's wrong with you. Just type your questions into that handy little search bar, and you'll have technology-aided self-diagnosis in no time.

Cholera. Strep. Gangrene.

There, that was easy!

If life were a game of Oregon Trail, you might hear a few sad bars of music, and move on, leaving your fifth child Mary Sue who had succumbed to the disease behind by the creek bed.

In real time, however, you are left staring at a list of Web sites that all seem to predict your imminent death and destruction.

Stomach pain?

Tapeworm.

Yesterday and today I've typed in "chest pain right side hurts to breathe in."

Thanks to Google, reputable sites such as The American Lung Association, have informed me I could have tuberculosis, pleurisy, a pulmonary embolism, costochondritis or an anxiety attack.

You know, I may not have been having an anxiety attack before, but by the time I waded through that lists of diseases, I could definitely feel one coming on.

Another time, I noticed a strange rash on both of my elbows. Go ahead. Type "elbow rash" into Google.

Obviously, I had scabies.

As it turned out, I was merely allergic to the spray the graduate student housing staff had used to clean my couch. But by the time I had figured that out, I already needed a cure for my heart palpitations (started when patient read the word 'scabies.')

Thomas Gray once wrote, "Ignorance is bliss," and frankly, I couldn't agree more.

But, still, whenever questions arise, Google beckons. Does it have something to do with having a short attention span?

I know where I can find the answer...