A Random Assortment

~ "When Suits Become a Stumbling Block."

~ Oh my goodness: this can't be real (also--an unfortunate title): "School drops Cougars as team name because it might offend women."

~ "Email me offline" (from a listserve email): stupidest phrase ever. How does that even work?

~ Charming tidbits from PAL on Carey McWilliams:

Carey was not your usual Jersey Boy.  He was, in fact, an Orangeman and so somewhat anti-Catholic.  He once told me that if we were in Ireland, he’d have to kill me (probably joking).  He was once the discussant on a panel at which I gave a paper on Flannery O’Connor. His comment was he was sure it was good, but he wasn’t about to read O’Connor and find out for sure. ...
After the talk, we had a party in an upstairs bar in downtown Rome, GA.  I think the statute of limitations is up, and so I can admit it got out of control and many people–including Berry students–came who were not invited.  I’m not saying any Berry students actually drank alcoholic beverages.  In fact, I don’t think they did.  But they did line up with the gift of whiskey to get to talk to Carey.  He told them all kinds of wonderful stories and flattered them shamelessly and made them promises (all of which he would have kept had they insisted) for hours.  The liquor bill was astonishing, and I had no fund to pay for it.  Fortunately, the bar was about to go out of business, and the bar tender told me not to worry about it.

~ "The Brave New World of Three-Parent I.V.F."

In Britain, national law prohibits altering the germ line, but Parliament is very likely to vote later this year on whether to allow mitochondrial replacement to move forward. Likewise, this February, the F.D.A. held a meeting to examine the possibility of allowing clinical trials. If either gives the go-ahead, it will be the first time a government body expressly approves a medical procedure that combines genetic material of three people in a heritable way.