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DILETTANTE dil·et·tante noun noun: dilettante; plural noun: dilettantes; plural noun: dilettanti a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge. Example: "a dilettante approach to science" synonyms: dabbler, amateur, nonprofessional, nonspecialist, layman, layperson Example: "there is no room for the dilettante in this business" antonyms: professional archaic: a person with an amateur interest in the arts. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day........

'They Show No Respect for Their Caesars'by Gerald A. HonigmanDec 18, '06 / 27 Kislev 5767  E-mail This  Print  Homepage The year was 1887. An Egyptian woman discovered a treasure trove of over three hundred clay cuneiform tablets that would shake the world of religion and the study of ancient history. Named for a local Bedouin tribe, the Tel El-Amarna tablets (which can now be found mostly in the Berlin and British Museums) were mostly the official correspondence between Pharaoh Amenhotep IV - Akhenaten - and his governors and vassals from places such as Canaan, Syria, Babylonia, etc. They date mostly from...

The story is told in Adrian Desmond and James Moore's authoritative biography Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist. Desmond and Moore point out that Darwin lost his faith many years before his publication of his magnum opus on evolution. When his young daughter Annie died at the age of 10, Darwin came to hate the God whom he blamed for this. This was in 1851, eight years before Darwin released his Origin of Species.

Six years after Donald Rumsfeld agreed to a second tour of duty as secretary of defense, to rebuild the military, Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker told Congress his Army "will break" if not relieved of the present burdens. Colin Powell says the Army is "almost broken." This week, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there is a significant risk that the United States today may be unable to respond quickly and fully to another crisis should it arise. Howls erupted across the spectrum for more billions for more men for the Army and Marine Corps....

I cannot believe Shep Smith is presenting himself as competent to assess the IDF campaign in Lebanon. I remember this dilettante babbling about "just carpet bombing" in Afghanistan right before the Taliban was routed. Why is it that every TV newsman with a mike in his hands thinks he can pontificate on any subject regardless of his knowledge of it? What silly philistines these newsmen are.

THE 'BORED,' BEFUDDLED POLITICS OF JOHN KERRY RETURNSCALLS FOR ALITO FILIBUSTER FROM 'SKI SLOPES' POURQUOI JOHN KERRY EST DANGEREUX POUR L'AMÉRIQUE   by Mia T, 01.28.06 JIM LEHRER: To the analysis of Shields and Brooks, syndicated columnist Mark Shields, New York Times columnist David Brooks. Mark, how do you read the John Kerry sudden push for a filibuster, what is that about? MARK SHIELDS: Well, I think there an unfortunate call for it, the venue is not ideal -- JIM LEHRER: The ski slopes. MARK SHIELDS: Yeah, the Swiss connection.... Windsurfing in the Persian GulfPOURQUOI JOHN KERRY EST DANGEREUX...

WINDSURFER WATERLOOwhy the surfboard--not the snowboard--is Kerry's Achilles' heel by Mia T, 9.26.04 THE HOT DEBATE OVER THE WINDSURFING AD [09/23 11:54 AM] There is apparently much debate about the windsurfing ad over at the Corner. Here's the CNN summary of the charges and countercharges so far: Underscoring the Bush attacks was a new television ad showing Kerry windsurfing to the strains of the "Blue Danube" waltz. A narrator reads a list of what the Bush campaign contends are the senator's vacillating positions on the Iraq war, education and Medicare. The ad ends with the tag line: "John Kerry. Whichever...

  The Peter Pan Syndrome   by Robert Mahood     Kerry is UNFIT #21: THUMBSUCKER SERIES-BOARDHEAD TO THE RESCUE- (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE)   A typical scenario for this boardhead is to be skimming back and forth across the lake on Misty, my aging Mistral Competition, in a 12 knot breeze gusting to 15. I'm hanging onto a 7.6 rig, riding a gentle natural swell occasionally punctuated by the man-made chop excreted by jet skis and stinkpots. In my adolescent ears are a symphony of boardsailing sounds: the vit, vit, vit of the board,...