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Amost Famous

I'm profiled in the summer issue of the Tufts Magazine (where I once used to work)!

"I don’t think John Kerry presents the ability to lead the country in any direction. His record of changing his stances and decisions is going to come out very clearly, and the people of this country are going to see that this guy has no plan to lead us anywhere. The Bush administration showed strong leadership in the face of terrorism and on social and economic issues. They are providing a course for America to a better future for our generation and our children’s generation."

I was also quoted in a lengthy article about young Republicans in the North Shore Sunday:

Much was made about the way former Vermont governor Howard Dean utilized the Internet in getting young people excited about his campaign for the White House, but as Tufts' Tsipman explains, Democrats weren't the only ones taking notice of Dean's technique.

"I think the Internet has been huge in the way it's been used by young conservatives," says Tsipman. "I thought the Dean phenomenon was pretty amazing, but the Bush campaign team that's targeted at college students is absolutely fantastic.

"Plus there are books and conferences and great college programs for conservatives," he adds. "It's all these things that gets students energized, gets them interested and gets them out to vote."

Chirac's Outbursts Worry World Leaders

From Mort Rosenblum, outspoken veteran of the AP and author of "Who Stole the News?":

Chirac's Outbursts Worry World Leaders
By MORT ROSENBLUM, AP

PARIS (July 25) - Jacques Chirac, whose refusal to join the Iraq invasion gained him I-told-you-so clout, is worrying allies with blunt outbursts that some say raise the risks in an overheated world.

At a time when fighting terrorism needs a united front, arrogance in Paris and Washington alike is breeding discord, analysts and diplomats say.

The crux is simple: While George W. Bush wants to destroy terrorism, Chirac insists that at best, it can only be contained.

But things have gone beyond the two men's apparent mutual dislike to drag in other leaders.

Turkey, for instance, badly wants to join the European Union. But last month, when Bush endorsed Turkey's ambitions, Chirac essentially told him to mind his own business, saying Europe doesn't tell the United States how to deal with Mexico.

Chirac has enraged eastern European newcomers to the European Union by warning them against supporting the Iraq invasion. He is engaged in a nasty exchange with Ariel Sharon over the Israeli prime minister's claim that France is engulfed in "the wildest anti-Semitism" and that its Jews should get out. And he has angered the Muslim world by championing a ban on schoolgirls' wearing Islamic head scarves at school.

Chirac also sent a message to this month's international AIDS conference in Thailand accusing Washington of tying aid to trade and calling it "tantamount to blackmail."

Bush Leads Kerry in Electoral Votes

Ron Fournier of the AP has a nice breakdown of how the Presidential race is shaping up.

Scans uncover secrets of the womb

"A new type of ultrasound scan has produced vivid pictures of a 12 week-old foetus 'walking' in the womb."

"The images have shown:
From 12 weeks, unborn babies can stretch, kick and leap around the womb - well before the mother can feel movement
From 18 weeks, they can open their eyes although most doctors thought eyelids were fused until 26 weeks
From 26 weeks, they appear to exhibit a whole range of typical baby behaviour and moods, including scratching, smiling, crying, hiccuping, and sucking.
Until recently it was thought that smiling did not start until six weeks after birth."

Twelve weeks is just three months. Wow.

Via the ever-brilliant John Coleman.