'Like the good guys winning a shoot out'

James writes:

Sorry if I'm riding a little high today. Over at the Social Affairs Unit blog, published out of London, Christie Davies has written a stellar review of The Dartmouth Review Pleads Innocent, the anthology I edited with Stefan Beck.

The Dartmouth Review Pleads Innocent is the inspiring story of a conservative student journal that took on the oppressive left-liberal administration at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, an American Ivy League University founded in 1769, and won. It is a very American story, rather like the good guys winning a shoot out in a western. It couldn't happen in supine Britain because we lack America's free institutions, confidence in private initiative and willingness to fight. Once upon a time we had all these good qualities but now we are hollowed out.

You can catch the entire review here. Christie well captures the spirit of the newspaper. It's a quirky publication. Dara and I just spent the weekend in Hanover, New Hampshire and had dinner with the Review's 40 or so undergraduate editors and staffers--plus a certain Jeffrey Hart. I am pleased to report that the newspaper is thriving. (You can check out the Review's website here). Love it or hate it, the newspaper remains strong after over 25 years. You've got to respect that. (And I think it's even earned Dara's respect.)

One of the surprises of the evening came out of a conversation I had with Professor Hart, Dartmouth's most famous conservative academic. It's well known to readers of this weblog that Hart has fallen out with the Bush administration and the evangelical wing of the conservative movement. If you haven't done so already, you can read my profile of Hart from the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.

Anyway, the big surprise of the evening came out of Hart's comments on the presidential primaries. Who would Hart be supporting in 2008, I wondered? McCain (whom he backed in 2000)? Giuliani, perhaps? No, the answer is Obama, followed by Edwards. In fact, Hart says he will support any Democrat candidate who has the ability to unseat a Republican. That also goes for the Senate and House. Even if (birthday boy) Abraham Lincoln were running, Hart says, he's voting Democrat until Republicans dissociate themselves from their evangelical base.

Strong words from a one-time speechwriter for Nixon and Reagan.

New Haven's Chez Panisse

Dara writes:

When I resided in Berkeley College at Yale University in the mid-90s, the dining hall food was so abysmal I moved off campus. The dingy, co-ed bathroom, minute cubicle with bunk beds I shared with my roommate, and the rodents didn't help either. All that has changed. Not only have most residential colleges at Yale undergone total renovations, but my college's dining hall has become a model for sustainable, local, and mostly organic food.

James and I have taken so many car trips lately to see his father, that we have taken to listening to Podcasts. Several recent ones were from a Princeton conference on food and ethics, which took place last November. Panelists repeatedly mentioned the Yale Sustainable Food Project as a model.

The daughter of Alice Waters, the chef who was instrumental in the "eat seasonal and local" movement, matriculated at Yale and inspired her mother to urge more organic dining. What has happened at the residential college Berkeley is staggering. The menu sounds amazing, it is seasonal, and some of it comes from a farm that is a fifteen minute walk from campus. The farm takes summer interns and I was kind of sad to learn the interns must be undergrads.

Unfortunately being on the road so much has meant a steady diet of McDonald's Snack Wraps: crispy chicken, jack cheese, lettuce, and ranch dressing in a tortilla. My theory is it is small enough to not make me sick, or for that matter thirsty for three days because of the amount of salt McDonald's pours on its food.

An update on my father's stroke

In a follow up to this post, James writes:

I am pleased to report that my father continues to improve in his alertness and articulation. I am attaching a photo I took of him over the weekend that well reflects his determined spirit. He still shows signs of confusion. He remains weak. He is also far from the point of being able to make the daily decisions that are necessary to live on one's own. I am very happy, however, that he is now able to hold small conversations, and to express his state of mind. This means that he can consider what he wants to do after he completes ‘sub acute’ rehabilitation (which still won’t be for several weeks).

I thought I would attach in this update a report from my mother, who was able to sit in on a therapist meeting yesterday morning at the rehabilitation center. Here is her report:

I went up today for the 9 AM team meeting. Carl seemed pretty alert – he was in the dining room having breakfast and saw me from afar and waved. He wheeled himself back to the room after breakfast. I mentioned how much I enjoyed seeing Christine [Panero] on Sunday, that it had been so long since I had seen her. And he said “over 20 years”, The speech therapist said his talking is so much better although he still gets confused sometimes with answering questions.

The team said they were delighted with his progress but thought there was still much more to be made – that he was nowhere near plateauing out. But we all did talk about where to go next. Everyone—including Carl—agreed that going back to Block Island to live was out of the question – he would need to drive etc. etc., and he will need assistance. So we all agreed we would shoot for Assisted Living—and their goal is to help him (and us) get him prepared for that. He said he “has a lot to think about”. He did not seem interested in a place in NYC. He seems to treasure his visits from his BI friends. He had gotten a card from a whole bunch of them and a gardenia plant. He was obviously touched. I said I did not know them and he said “that is because you do not hang around the Beachhead”. Tell everyone how much Carl enjoys visitors, that he is very touched by everyone’s concern, and that he also loves cards, that he can read them.