To know, and not to do, is not to know.
--Ralph Nader, quoting a Chinese proverb.
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Of life and law and things that matter (to me): bioethics, the experience of illness, law and legal education, Jewish affairs, religion and state, contemporary culture, politics and public affairs, and, of course, words. Email communications: thewisebard@gmail.com
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Resources & Old Favorites
About Me
- Alan Jay Weisbard
- Alan Jay Weisbard teaches law, bioethics, Jewish studies and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.
On Comments (updated 8/1/2007)
The raison d'etre of this blog is twofold: first, to promote thoughtful, reflective discussion of issues I care about, and second, to provide a vehicle to give vent to MY self-indulgent and egomaniacal tendencies (that is to say, not necessarily to yours).
I have generally been disappointed in the quality of comments, particularly anonymous ones, on most blogs that I have encountered. Most typically, they shed far more heat than light; in some cases, they have ignited firestorms. Accordingly, at least early on (and until I acquire more technical skill, savvy, and experience in blogging), I will not permit anonymous posting and will moderate all comments before they appear.
Preference will go to comments that I (in my sole and unreviewable discretion) consider especially thoughtful, reflective, and constructive to advancing understanding. (As a frequently rejected author of letters to the editor, I have now successfully internalized the aggressor.) Wit counts. Points of information (asking or providing) are also fine. And, at least until my ego is adequately sated, assuming that to be possible, I may choose to publish otherwise dubious rave reviews, expressions of agreement, and mash notes.
I have generally been disappointed in the quality of comments, particularly anonymous ones, on most blogs that I have encountered. Most typically, they shed far more heat than light; in some cases, they have ignited firestorms. Accordingly, at least early on (and until I acquire more technical skill, savvy, and experience in blogging), I will not permit anonymous posting and will moderate all comments before they appear.
Preference will go to comments that I (in my sole and unreviewable discretion) consider especially thoughtful, reflective, and constructive to advancing understanding. (As a frequently rejected author of letters to the editor, I have now successfully internalized the aggressor.) Wit counts. Points of information (asking or providing) are also fine. And, at least until my ego is adequately sated, assuming that to be possible, I may choose to publish otherwise dubious rave reviews, expressions of agreement, and mash notes.
On Times and Revisions
Until I get the hang of this, I reserve the right (lawyer that I am) to affix phony times to my postings, so that messages line up in the right order (not necessarily truly chronologically), and to make revisions in prior postings (to cope with my chronic inability to let anything go before I have revised it into oblivion). This way at least something gets posted, and I can always disappear it (at least from those who don't know the tricks of finding it, which so far includes me).
Acknowledgments
Thanks to H. S. E., L. V. K., Nina Camic, and Ann Althouse, among other colleagues, and to my children (who wish to remain anonymous for their own protection), for encouraging me to start this, and to my wife for--so far--putting up with it. (Two days in, and she's upset that I'm playing with my blog and not cooking Shabbos dinner. Haven't even cleared the table! Trouble looms.) L.V.K. suggested the name for the blog, which, it turns out, was a taunt on my surname hurled at me back in grade school. (Glad those days are past.) Ann, with whom I typically disagree on most matters of national and educational politics, has been particularly encouraging and has provided a strong voice on important and controversial matters. (And, she has offered to link to my puny new blog, promising the way to instant fame and success!)
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