Archive for September, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Roth

Philip Roth on Hillary Clinton’s candidacy: “If anybody can lose 50 states for the Democrats, I think she can.”

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Bipartisan legislation would keep library records private

A bipartisan group of Senators has introduced legislation intended to safeguard readers’ privacy by curbing abuse of the Patriot Act’s National Security Letter powers. National Security Letters are administrative subpoenas that “give the government virtually unlimited access to electronic communications transactions records, including those of Internet service providers and public libraries. Recipients of NSLs are bound to perpetual silence by . . .

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In the churchyard at Stinsford

A rumor persists that Thomas Hardy’s heart “was accidentally devoured by his housekeeper’s cat, and that the heart of a pig was buried in its place.” See also.

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Tolstoy on Chekhov

Leo Tolstoy didn’t care for Anton Chekhov’s plays. “‘Where is the drama?‘ he is said to have complained about ‘Uncle Vanya.’”

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