1:55 AM :: Stephen (contact)

Updating "The Jumbler": Following the kind suggestion of a YLS classmate (to wit: "your word jumbler is junk and needs work"), I've decided to update the text-jumbling GAWK script to a new version. (Read about the program here.) Although the new code is slightly less elegant than the old, it now makes sure that the randomly jumbled word always differs from the original word, with a minor exception for repeated strings like "aaaa". I usually prioritize elegance over functionality, but as they say, the customer is always king...

 

4:59 PM :: Stephen (contact)

Two Years On: Well, after a prolonged absence, I've returned to posting, to note this blog's birthday (and mine). I think it's been a good two years thus far. The blog has risen far from its humble beginnings; it's been alternately described as a "blog to add," "utterly childish," in "plain error," etc. And these are somewhat happier times than last year, when I spent my birthday sick as a dog.

Unfortunately, I've found the blog much more difficult to maintain now that I'm out of Oxford and in law school, where we have actual work to do. Hopefully, though, I'll find time to post more often. I'll be using the holiday to stock up on food, reading, and much-needed sleep. Back on Monday.

 

6:35 PM :: Stephen (contact)

Letter to the Editor: Just published in Harvard Magazine:

To the Editor:

I am astounded that [Professor Lisa L.] Martin can write an article on unilateralism and fail to mention Kosovo ["Self-Binding," September-October, p. 33]. Unlike the United States-led invasion of Iraq, which could plausibly claim to enforce past UN resolutions, the NATO campaign against Serbia lacked even the shadow of UN authorization. I, for one, thought the Kosovo campaign was just and necessary, and that it illustrated the occasional need to step beyond multilateral bonds in protecting peace and security. Yet Martin's failure to mention it, even as she accuses the current administration of merely "go[ing] through the motions" of seeking UN support, makes me wonder whether her "multilateralism" is simply another word for the approval of France and Germany.

Stephen E. Sachs '02
New Haven, Conn.