Friday, May 18, 2007

Letters to the Editor

SIR—

Who is Cate Lunt? Her writing is very, very good. Unusually good. I would encourage her, disaffected though she may be, to cast off the pseudonym and earn the fame she deserves.

Dallek Lectures on Nixon, Kissinger

The image of a two-headed administration becomes all the more potent when you realize, as Dallek does, that though the two were as able to undercut each other as to breathe, they also collaborated as partners in deception against the American public on two major counts.

A History of Green Key Weekend: Beanies, ‘Rush,’ Chariots, No Parents

Editor’s Note: Presented here is a history of Greek Key week-end, required reading for any socially literate or historically conscious Dartmouth student. Joseph Rago ‘05 made the most recent, extensive updates and added other relevant information, much of it drawn from primary sources and personal accounts.

Kristof’s Morality of Attention

To tell the truth, Nicholas Kristof came off as a bit odd. His advocacy for the morality of mere attention is so outshone by the indelible facts he puts on display that there was something incongruous about his presentation—like a cheerfulness trying to break through miles of cloud.

TDR Tobacco Review: ‘Hard Snuff’

Like a lot of American children, I grew up putting things, usually pennies and dirt, in my mouth. When I was a boy I thought as a boy, but now that I am a man I have put away boyish things.

John Ledyard: the Original Hard Guy

The character of Ledyard—“flamboyant, talkative, iconoclastic”—truly makes this book a worthwhile read. Gifford does a pretty good job at delivering his character, but it is the spirit of John Ledyard that keeps you reading.

Dickerson’s Memos and Meetings

But the thing that impresses me is how little any of my meetings with Dickerson—I saw him once or twice a year for the rest of my time at Dartmouth—resembled the outline. If he steered our first interview in any particular direction—and based on his memo, steer it he must certainly have done—it was toward my relationship with Bill McMann and Larry Burlingame.

Was Jesus Gay? No, But Morton Smith Thought So.

I can add that it isn’t folklore. Morton Smith did not conceal his “sexual orientation.” Several Columbia students complained to me about his aggressive behavior, and one student, a particularly handsome young man in the preppy genre, told me he had even dropped one of Smith’s courses on that account.

What, Me Offend? That’s Preposterous.

It’s a depressing world out there: all kinds of offensive thoughts swirling about in all kinds of heads; logocentrism, heterosexism, and phallocracy run amok, and the worst, most cynical invective directed at witnesses for justice simply because they care about issues of importance. Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m an idealist, and no mere facts can shake my fundamental convictions.

The Last Word

History is a pact between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn.
—Edmund Burke

Barrett's Mixology

Rum Tum Tugger

Two parts cream of coconut.
One part white rum.
One part dark rum.

Shake well. Serve on ice in glass rimmed with Liquid Maalox® and crushed TUMS®.