If you're interested, have a look at this book. It basically maintains that the overwhelming liberalism among Jews stems from historical persecution from the right and protection from the left. The book also says that, given the socioeconomic status of Jews in America today, it is much more sensible for them to take a conservative position. Interesting read.

Hah, that very well could be the case.

And "nali, nali" is definitely the response to thank you ("xie xie") or a compliment, meaning something along the lines of "not really," to show humility.

I'm studying for a minor in Chinese. I can confirm that the distinction between "xia yi jie" and "xia lai de" is not that significant. A bit like the difference between "coming next" and "coming after." At any rate, "xia lai de" is not incorrect.

As for the Colbert interview, I haven't seen it, but the translation offered doesn't strike me as too incorrect. Chinese sentence phrasing is very alien to English and a direct translation, when possible, often comes out unintelligible.

Interesting, it is ambiguous as to whether or not the professor meant inappropriate to hold or inappropriate to contribute to the discourse. I would imagine he thinks both, but I'm curious whether any distinction was made.

I would disagree with this--it is the professor's prerogative to set boundaries in a controlled academic setting (his class).

In that vein, he is completely vindicated in explaining, on the first day of class as it were, what will and will not fly.

Larry, I actually wrote a piece about censoring Huck Finn, I think you might enjoy it. Have a look here.

Shakespeare was certainly not wealthy enough in his time (if he was, in fact, William Shakespeare and not the Earl of Oxford) to own a theater himself, but he was a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, so in that sense it was "Shakespeare's Globe" because it was the theater a bulk of his plays were originally written for.

I wouldn't call her prudish, but I would point to her strong social agenda as evidence of the importance she places on morality--for example, her firm views on marriage and abortion.

I must say I completely disagree. Of course an attack and a tragedy are not mutually exclusive. 9/11 was both.

Islam is derived from "Salaam," which does mean "peace," although this does not relate to the particular quote I mention.

I also think this was an admirable tone for the President to strike. In the face of such aggressive, vindictive action he made the strong decision to speak to Congress with a resounding tone of reason and sensibility.

Well said, Brian.

Drew, I agree that the question of evolution/creation is far from a pertinent issue in the 2012 election.

I think the real issue, repeating Huntsman's quote, is that "We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012." A candidate who rejects evolution in the face of the staggering amount of supporting evidence comes across to masses of voters as either stubborn or painfully uninformed.

Thanks, Lance! Great post and great song.

Great post, thanks for this.

Bon Iver is great, have a listen to his Daytrotter Session. "Creature Fear" is the standout track for me.

Thanks so much everyone. Ricochet has been a great learning experience for me and I'm truly excited to continue to participate as a member on this fantastic site.

Lance, I'm so glad that you were inspired by my Radiohead post. I knew it was quite atypical material for the Ricochet crowd and it's great that you took that idea and ran with it. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for your Song of the Day posts!

Palaeologus- fair enough. The point I was driving at is that college students have the potential to become informed, active voters, something that shouldn't be jeopardized.

Instugator- the quote I was referencing in that linked article was this: "Numerous studies have shown that the type of voter fraud that New Hampshire Republicans are supposedly targeting is all but non-existent in the United States. In what's considered the most comprehensive study into the issue, Barnard College political scientist Lorraine Minnite concluded last year that extensive, intentional voter fraud is a myth." Here's a link to a PDF of that study.