"For a minute I thought this was going to be another Anne Carson post."

Wrote Smilin' Jack in the comments to the post that begins "His English mastiff was dying, so he hired her to read its mind. But when she met the man with the messy hair, he kept apologizing for his casual outfit."

And isn't this a lovely tribute to the literature Nobelist who's found her way into a few of my posts? 

There are some writers who rearrange your vision so that other things look as though they are influenced by her mind. That may be what Carson did to Jack and it may be what Carson did to me. Maybe I am picking out different things to blog or finding excerpts in some new way, framing the post differently, and maybe Jack is reading these things differently. 

Don't you want writers to shake up your world? Don't you want to live in the enchanted world where dogs send you messages that psychics step up to translate? 

Carson says some things about dogs. Like this, from page 142 of the Kindle edition of "Wrong Norma" (commission earned): 

The idea of restoring the sense of German-American ethnicity.

Here's an op-ed in the NYT, "Whatever Happened to German America?," written by Erik Kirschbaum, author of "Burning Beethoven: The Eradication of German Culture in the United States During World War I.”

It may be that an identity lost can never be regained. But why not try? It would be good for everyone, reminding millions of Americans that they too are the products of an immigrant culture, which not long ago was forced into silence by fear and intolerance.

It rubs me the wrong way — and as you can tell from my name, I'm partly German-American (the Pennsylvania Dutch kind) — this idea of instilling German ethnic pride on the "why not?" theory and the generic notion that we're all immigrants.

We're all Americans too, if you want to enthuse about what we "all" are. Kirschbaum groundlessly assumes that consciousness of ethnicity will be a moderating force, reminding us of humble beginnings and oppression and generating magnanimity.

I'm not surprised that NYT omitted a comments section for that op-ed.

IN THE COMMENTS: Smilin' Jack said...

...as you can tell from my name, I'm partly German-American...

Make that "self-hating German-American", otherwise it would be Althaus.

Well, it's not as if I changed it. It was changed in the early 1800s, probably by people who got exasperated by seeing the sound "house" getting spelled as "house." I'd rather see the name fully anglicized. It seems unbalanced, as it is, but Oldhouse is a very unusual name. There are fewer than 119 Americans with that last name, which is something I looked up here, where I went to confirm by belief that Althouse is much more common than Althaus. In fact, there are 2,437 Americans with the last name Althouse, and only 1,205 with Althaus. As for Ann Althouse, there are 4 of us.

"It would be strange indeed to give a clause that makes federal law supreme a reading that limits Congress’s power to enforce that law..."

"... by imposing mandatory private enforcement — a limitation unheard — of with regard to state legislatures," wrote Justice Scalia in an opinion called Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, issued this morning.

To say that the Supremacy Clause does not confer a right of action is not to diminish the significant role that courts play in assuring the supremacy of federal law. For once a case or controversy properly comes before a court, judges are bound by federal law....

The dissent agrees with us that the Supremacy Clause does not provide an implied right of action, and that Congress may displace the equitable relief that is traditionally available to enforce federal law. It disagrees only with our conclusion that such displacement has occurred here.

The dissenting opinion is by Justice Sotomayor, who is joined by Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Kagan.  The statute the 2 sides are interpreting is the Medicaid Act.

ADDED: In the comments, Smilin' Jack says: "WTF? Have they run out of those Easter-Bunny-Display-in-National-Park cases? At least those were funny."

Yes, let's get back to talking about cake. The important thing in America right now is cake. Why are we all hepped up to talk about RFRA (which had previously bored the bejeezus out of everyone)? Cake.

Why stop with Boltage? I recommend Voltage!

Citizen Dave (formerly Madison's Mayor Dave) thinks children could be helped with their "incredible... obesity" if the government would fit them with a product called Boltage:

Boltage is... a chip that can go in a kid's backpack or helmet. When the child crosses in front of a reader at school it sends a message to mom or dad letting them know that their kid has arrived safely. But the system also works as an exercise incentive by keeping track of how much kids walk and bike, letting them know exactly how much they've helped the planet by reducing CO2, and giving them small rewards and recognitions along the way. 

... We could get it started here at a school in Madison for as little as about $5,000. 

Why not new Boltage with Voltage? An electric shock when the little plumpsters slow down or stop for too long. That'd give them some incentive to run around.

ADDED: You know, Boltage is not a joke. It's a real product. This is not satire:

So what's with the flying bunny?