potluck:
The most maddening and sad intellectual weakness I have seen in two years spent within the blogosphere has been the inability of so many young lawyers and law students to know when distinctions make a difference, and whether analogies are weak or strong. Thus, Adam Cohen‘s op/ed piece in today’s NYT should be required reading for all educators and all who wish to fulfill the role of lawyer, pundit, politician or citizen competently. (“An SAT without analogies is like: (A) a confused citizenry . . . “, March 13, 2005)
Cohen notes:
Intentionally misleading comparisons are becoming the dominant mode of public discourse. The ability to tell true analogies from false ones has never been more important.
Don’t forget that today is Blogshine Sunday. Our contribution is here.
Last night, I read the first chapter (15 pages, available here) of Jonathan Safran Foer’s second novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is now in bookstores and has been getting tantalizing reviews. Chapter One introduces us to the precocious Oskar, in his first-person voice, and made me want to get to know this special 9-year old, who takes us on an adventure as he reacts to his father’s death on 9/11. Reviewer Pam Houston said:
“Foer has created an unforgettable character in Oskar, and a funny, wise, deeply compassionate novel that will renew readers faith that the right book at the right time sill has the power to change the world.”
cranberry frost
the crackle of ice
before the canoe
undulating hills —
echoes of the train whistle
echo
pausing
halfway through a life
with chrysanthemums
………………………… by Jim Kacian
“pausing” The Heron’s Nest (in mem. Elizabeth Searle Lamb, March 2005); “cranberry frost” – Mainichi Daily News Best of 2001; “undulating hills” – Mainichi Daily News Best of 2000
they point out
the differences –
meeting twins
…………………… by dagosan [March 23, 2005] 
update: See our post “analogically correct” (April 12, 2005), about Harvard Law Prof. Lloyd L. Weinreb’s book Legal Reason: The Use of Analogy in Legal Argument (Cambridge Press 2005).