There have been numerous posts recently about how people write, either for the web, or otherwise. For web-based writing tasks, the usual suspects like Simplenote, Notational Velocity or [insert favorite text editor] keep popping up. One application that I read about in a recent blog post is called Scrivener and is actually geared more towards traditional writing.

I have a few masters papers due in the coming weeks and reading about Scrivener and exploring the program has provided one of the few “holy shit” moments I’ve had with a piece of software. I had been pondering how I was going to use the various note/writing apps to organize and write. No more. I paid the license fee after about ten minutes. The ability to compile your work into whatever program you need for final output is borderline magic. Check it out if you do any serious writing, no matter what it’s for.

I now shudder to think I was going to do the majority of my work in Microsoft Word.

A survey of Yale students shows that a majority of students support the return of ROTC to campus.

Not so fast. Colman McCarthy writes in the Washington Post:

“It should not be forgotten that schools have legitimate and moral reasons for keeping the military at bay, regardless of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” They can stand with those who for reasons of conscience reject military solutions to conflicts.”

And…

“Their pride in running programs in women’s studies, black studies, and gay and lesbian studies is well-founded, but schools have small claims to greatness so long as the study of peace is not equal to the other departments when it comes to size and funding.”

It gets better:

“I admire those who join armies, whether America’s or the Taliban’s: for their discipline, for their loyalty to their buddies and to their principles, for their sacrifices to be away from home.”

Nothing like a good dose of moral equivalence to get your point across. More goodness:

“ROTC and its warrior ethic taint the intellectual purity of a school, if by purity we mean trying to rise above the foul idea that nations can kill and destroy their way to peace.”

Oh, I see. Intellectual purity is the goal of higher education. Explains the rigid adherence to liberal dogma. I have two reactions to the foul hate speech of peacenik cretins such as Mr. McCarthy. One is to refer them to the John Stuart Mill quote on my About page.

The other is to punch them in the face.

UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg is all over it. As is Moe Lane.

More Updates: Stephen Green and Victor David Hanson, who has this gem:

“Examine questions of free speech, intellectual diversity, and tolerance for minority opinion on an average campus, and the notion of “intellectual purity” is rendered Orwellian.”

Two fascinating articles about the Stuxnet worm used to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities:

Jonathan Last in the Weekly Standard

Ed Barnes at Fox News

This was no group of punks screwing around. I’m sure the truth will never come out, but this would make an excellent book.