There’s been some discussion of a certain controversial painting (original) of late. Interesting topic. James Lileks claims that a hypothetical “Self-Portrait of a Racial Cleanser” wouldn’t get the same treatment on campus. “The painting would be draped in a day.” How quickly we forget. In 1998, Stephen Hunter trashed Tony Kaye’s American History X in the Washington Post. He called it “rank, repelling hypocrisy.” He accused it of allowing “its fantasy versions of American Nazis to spew their blackest, cruelest vomitus of hatred” while taking “energy and vitality (and ticket-selling notoriety) from the electricity of that hatred.” ...

I got a cute spam this morning: From: service@paypal-ebay.com To: Durrell durrell@innocence.com Subject: Notification of PayPal Limited Account Access PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we would like to restore your access as soon as possible. ...

Pop quiz! What’s the difference between attending a rally organized by some pretty unpleasant Communists who support Hussein (a hard core dictator) and supporting the dictatorial Putin (original)? Apparently, a week or so. You know, Putin cheated in his elections too. Just saying. Another pop quiz! What’s the difference between supporting Putin’s right to crush his rebels however he wants and supporting Iranian students threatening an uprising (original)? Just a day, in that case. ...

It never ever dies. Senator John Warner, the probable new Armed Services Committee chairman, wants to review the Posse Comitatus. I’ve written about this before, elsewhere, but since LiveJournal has no search function I’m not gonna track it down. Suffice it to say that military training does not correspond to police training, and that there is no compelling reason to involve the military in law enforcement. “It would be nice” is not a compelling reason. Neither is “it might be handy.”

I’m a big fan of Bill Walton, for a few reasons. First, he was a great basketball player who’s never been bitter about the health problems that kept him from dominating the league. Second, he got the Celtics a title. Third, he’s a free spirit and he says what he thinks. He wrote a piece about Michael Jordan yesterday, focusing on the sixth man role. It’s exceptional. Walton’s erratic as a commentator, because he gets impatient and his passion can lead him to overcriticize. But this is exceptional, because it’s Walton telling Jordan how he felt in 1985 when he accepted the sixth man role with the Celtics. He never says it, but he’s not talking about Michael Jordan. He’s a proud man talking about what it took to go from Portland’s savoir to Boston’s sixth man. (We’ll skip the unfortunate steps inbetween.) ...

I was expecting to write a snide little comparative review of the new Matthew Scudder (original) mystery, Hope to Die, and the new Jessie Stone mystery, Death in Paradise. I was probably going to throw in some comparisons between Spenser (original) and Scudder, since they’re both aging detectives, as well. Woulda been a beauty. I’d have contrasted Lawrence Block’s gritty realistic approach to alcoholism and his honest approach to the aging of his main character with Robert Parker’s increasingly self-indulgent treatment of the same issues. I am blogger, hear me roar. ...

Katha Pollitt’s Letter to an Ex-Contrarian (from the Nation) is very much worth reading. Context: Christopher Hitchens is a leftist — former socialist, in fact — who’s been pondering the nature and necessity of our war on terrorism of late. He left The Nation because he wasn’t comfortable there any more. A complex guy. The first paragraph of Pollitt’s letter is mean-spirited; a man ought to be able to call himself a contrarian without being required to spend his life absorbing brickbats and stones. If he wants to quit writing for The Nation, he should go ahead and do it. ...

You know something’s gone terribly wrong in pundit-land when the legendary Instapundit suggests — perfectly seriously — that Turkey ought to be in the NAFTA orbit. There’s really a failure of perspective there, and it’s a very telling one. When you’re a nation that sits between Europe and the Middle East, EU trade is going to be more important to you than the “orbit” of a trade agreement on the other side of the world. Turkey would be insane to snub the EU in exchange for NAFTA involvement. ...

I’ve upgraded to Movable Type 2.51 (original). This will result in no visible changes. Huzzah!

I have been [appropriately punished](http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/315/sports/Beane_says_no_to_Red_Sox_offer .shtml “Boston Globe Online / Sports / Beane says no to Red Sox offer”) for my hubris.