American Airlines’ pathetic campaign to protect its monopolistic practices in Dallas-Fort Worth has reached a new low with this jaw-droppingly asinine press release that actually accuses Southwest of monopolistic behavior.

On the heels of two Dallas-area congressmen introducing legislation to repeal the Wright Amendment and evidence that DFW Airport tried to cover up findings by its own consultant that ending Wright would lower air fares, DFW board members like Dallas’ mayor are even recognizing that Wright’s days are numbered—but American still isn’t budging. (þ: Xrlq and Vance of Begging to Differ)

Surfing around via Technorati, I found this blog post with satellite photos of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and a few other Memphis bridges.

Not entirely conincidentally, I started Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America on the flight back from Durham, and probably would have finished it if I hadn’t fallen asleep on the Baltimore-Jackson leg; what I didn’t realize, since I bought the book at least a year ago, but only now got around to reading it, is that the author is a future colleague. Small world and all that.

While I was off in North Carolina, apparently five current or former Tennessee legislators, including John Ford, were indicted for alleged involvement in influence-peddling after a two-year sting operation by Tennessee and federal authorities. I can’t say I’m particularly surprised that the long arm of the law has caught up with Ford, although I am surprised it wasn’t due to his TennCare or child care shenanigans.

I haven’t really been on the case, but Mike Hollihan has, so just start at the top and keep scrolling.

If you go to North Carolina, you’d probably expect you won’t see anything from Jackson there. If you did, you’d be wrong:

More photos from Duke and Durham are over in my Flickr photostream.

Well, I managed to get back from Durham OK today in more-or-less one piece. I don’t think I’m entirely conscious at the moment, since I had to get up at 6:15 Eastern to make my flight, but that’s OK. I think I have an apartment, but all the i’s and t’s aren’t properly dotted and crossed yet. Durham photos coming sometime soon. Last, but not least, huzzah and kudos to the incomparable Kelly (and Friday) for a ride back from the airport.

Well, that was fun while it lasted:

Fourteen Republican and Democratic senators announced this evening they had reached a compromise designed to prevent a showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominations.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking for the group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats, announced the agreement at a news conference at 7:40 p.m.

Under the deal, the Democrats agreed to accept cloture votes on three of President Bush’s judicial nominees: Priscilla R. Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor.

In return, the Republicans pledged not to support the so-called “nuclear option” to end the ability of the minority to use filibusters to block nominees.

I suppose it’s interesting that the guaranteed votes are for the three nominees anyone had ever heard of. Now at least Washington can move on to its next kabuki theatre event. (þ: Robert Tagorda)

Update: Steve at Begging to Differ provides a conventional wisdom watch (McCain, Reid win; Bush, Frist lose) that sounds reasonably right to me, while Stephen Bainbridge thinks it was a worthwhile compromise. I tend to agree with BTD Steve that Republicans probably won’t get the credit for being “bipartisan,” but if you’re the sort of person who likes the small-c conservative nature of the filibuster, Bainbridge points out it’s the smart long-term move—although, should the Democrats ever regain the majority, there’s nothing stopping them from going “nuclear” absent some (highly unlikely) pangs of conscience due to further hypocrisy on their part.

I have just discovered why horoscopes have that “for entertainment purposes only” disclaimer at the bottom:

If I believed a single word of it, it would be a word too much. Though I have to say that if I’d known before I got here that North Carolina was full of attractive young women, I’d have moved here eons ago.

I spent today looking at more apartments than I really care to remember. I don’t know that I accomplished much, but I think the day at least let me narrow down my possibilities a bit.

Now if only I could get over the massive high-speed Internet withdrawal I’m suffering I’d be set—dragging my butt to various places with WiFi is a poor substitute for having my own access at the hotel.

I finished Moneyball on the flight from Jackson to BWI today. As I mentioned at the other place, the story of people getting ahead by bringing data to the problem warmed my little empiricist heart to no end. Plus, Michael Lewis is a really good writer—the ideas he expresses come across clearly and with good humor (compare, if you will, Jill Jonnes’ horribly-written Empires of Light, about a topic that ought to be at least as interesting; the difference is as between night and day).

I realize I’m probably the last person in America to read the book, but if you haven’t (particularly if you like baseball), do so immediately.

I made it safely to Durham on time and in one piece, thanks (in no particular order) to Kamilla (who got me to the airport), Southwest Airlines, and my rental Pontiac Bonneville. I did a bit of driving around after checking into the hotel, and found my way over to Borders in Chapel Hill (where this entry is being posted from).

Now the tough part—finding somewhere to live next year—which begins in earnest tomorrow.

When I told my Civil Liberties class that one way porn producers tried to defend themselves in court was to produce adult films with “serious” artistic and political themes (one of the prongs of the Miller test), it never occurred to me that there might be a porn star who also has a career a lawyer. You learn something new every day… (þ: OTB)

I guess you can say I’m very conflicted:

What Kind of American English Do You Speak? (þ: Sarah Hempel)

Continuing a theme, Tom Traina has a worthwhile post on Lochner and Roe. I don’t have anything to add beyond what I already said in comments to Tom’s post.

Ah, there’s nothing like a controversy combining college football and religion to add to the excitement of the upcoming 2005 season. The spotlight, of course, is on DeBerry due to the Air Force Academy’s apparent religious indoctrination problem, but you’d be naïve not to think that the same thing goes on in the locker rooms of other great American public universities and high schools—ask Bobby Bowden for one. And, if you go beyond the formalities, one suspects that it’s easier to be considered a “team leader” in the locker room if you have an FCA membership card in your wallet.

Like Kevin Aylward’s favorite school district, DeBerry and the academy are clearly running afoul of the law, even under the weaker “neutrality” test of religious establishment adopted by the conservative wing of the Supreme Court. If his players really want to be “saved,” I’m sure there are other people who can take care of it for him.

You can tell things have gotten bad in Washington when even Democrats are being compared with Adolph Hitler. I think Ed Cone put it best:

Yes, it’s bad, it’s deplorable, a United States Senator should not say such things. But let’s maintain perspective: it’s Rick Santorum. What do you expect?

Original story here for those who haven’t heard enough Hitler comparisons in the past six months.

Kevin Aylward apparently thinks people who violate court orders with impunity should get off scot-free since the people who are calling for enforcement of the court order have, in the past, defended people Kevin doesn’t like. For that matter, I don’t really like those people too, but neither do I particularly like people who confuse public schools with Sunday school.

The debate over the evolving nature of the pre-tenure academy continues today with more contributions from Mike Munger and Stephen Karlson. Again, I have little to add in terms of insight, which may just be the result of my relatively weak socialization into the norms of the academy.

Anyway, I’ve got to pretend to get ready for my trip in 38 hours, so back to work on that.

I keep fluctuating between having 18 and 20 friends in Friendster, which is very confusing. Database replication is apparently a much more inexact science than you’d think…

A bunch of us went out this evening to wish farewell to our friend Chad, who is moving to Atlanta on Thursday. So begins the winnowing (or at least seeding into the wind) of our little circle of friends.

I may or may not blather on more about this later at Signifying Even Less, where I’m trying to move my more personal crud (saving this place for the political and work-related things I post). First, however, I have to watch House on TiVo delay.

The New York Times today attempts to get to the bottom of the question of the evolutionary purpose [or lack thereof] of the female orgasm:

[Lloyd’s preferred] theory holds that female orgasms are simply artifacts – a byproduct of the parallel development of male and female embryos in the first eight or nine weeks of life.

In that early period, the nerve and tissue pathways are laid down for various reflexes, including the orgasm, Dr. Lloyd said. As development progresses, male hormones saturate the embryo, and sexuality is defined.

In boys, the penis develops, along with the potential to have orgasms and ejaculate, while “females get the nerve pathways for orgasm by initially having the same body plan.” ...

The female orgasm, she said, “is for fun.”

Or not, as the case may be. (þ: memeorandum)

Steven Taylor links a story that says Fox blames the furor over his recent comments about Mexican immigrants doing jobs that “even” African-Americans won’t do on a misinterpretation. Political scientist Michelle Dion, who is in Mexico City and read the original remarks in Spanish, notes that Mexicans were also outraged by the remarks—but for different reasons. She also has more on the retraction/apology.

Mike Munger and Stephen Karlson are having a bit of a back-and-forth over the evolving nature of work habits in the academy. I don’t have anything in particular to add, although I will say that being passed over for tenure-track opportunities does have some minor advantages in terms of the time commitment (outweighted, of course, by the iterant lifestyle).

Now to dig out those R&Rs and rejects and get some work done on them by June 1st (when students will want to be educated again)...

Update: Additional thoughts from Michelle Dion on the additional problems faced by junior comparativists.

James Joyner links a MarketWatch piece that claims the New York Times is going to put its op-ed columnists behind a subscription wall; the Times has confirmed this in its own article. While comparisons to New Coke may be premature, I have to wonder who’s really going to pay $50 a year to read Paul Krugman, David Brooks, and MoDo.

One also has to wonder why the Times would want to abandon the mindshare that comes from getting linked from the blogosphere; PaidContent.org has an interview that indicates that some sort of “affiliate program” is in the works, but I don’t think the opportunity for right-wingers to make fun of Paul Krugman’s continuing descent into moonbattery—or for leftists to mock John Tierney and David Brooks—is really worth the subscription fee in the first place (presumably some of which would be kicked back to referrers through the affiliate program). Indeed, the point of having an op-ed page is to influence public opinion; the idea that the Times would curtail its ability to influence local and regional elites, and thus shape public debate over the issues, runs directly counter to that goal.

There are other thoughts from Erik Kennedy of Ars Technica, Steven Taylor, and Julian Sanchez.

Eszter Hargittai and Brendan Nyhan point out (as I noticed sometime in the past few days when surfing eJobs) that the American Political Science Association has condemned the AUT boycott of Israeli universities. I’m glad to see the $77 I sent the association last year (not to mention the hundreds of dollars I have spent in the past) has finally produced something of even minor value.

Of course, the complete uselessness of the APSA has been a recurring theme on this weblog…

Well, that explains all the German spam messages that have been flooding my Gmail account; I swear I had more spam than real messages in my Inbox today when I checked. (þ: Steven Taylor)