Ron Rosenbaum, in Slate, has discovered and dissected the worst op-ed article ever written: Stanley Fish's "Getting Coffee Is Hard to Do," in the August 5 New York Times. Rosenbaum spends three amusing pages shredding Fish's article, examining the many, many instances of "unintentional humor" and "comic cluelessness." And he pegs early on one of the shopworn observations Fish attempts to pass off as insight. As Fish notes: First you have to get in......

Nowhere is racial bigotry more starkly communicated than during coverage of the NFL draft. If you're interested in the race of a recently-drafted player, you don't need to glance up to look at the guy's photo. No, just listen to the commentators: White draftees are "lunchpail guys" who have "motors that won't quit." Black players are "natural athletes" with "character issues." Then we move on to the narration of the game film where we......

They're talking; are you listening? Here's the round-up on speakers of note. Thursday, September 14 >Town Hall fielder's choice: at 7:00pm, rabble-rouser Jim Hightower ($10) on sustainable communities, or at 7:30pm, Irwin Redlener ($5) on what’s wrong with our approach to preventing and responding to mega-disasters. >Elliott Bay. 8:00pm. Jennifer Gilmore reads from her debut novel, "Golden Country," about the Jewish Immigrant Experience Project. Free, our hand to God! Friday, September 15 >Third Place......

Tony Kornheiser, who languished for years as a poor man's Dave Barry until ESPN gave him a sports talk show, has returned to his roots and written a painfully unfunny column denigrating the city of Seattle, in advance of Saturday's Hawks/Skins playoff rumble. Kornheiser, you see, is a D.C. native, and since D.C.'s team is playing Seattle's team, of course the first thing that a sane person like Kornheiser thinks to do is insult Seattle......