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Dan Cole's Dubious Memorabilia

If you've come across this "blog," congratulations and condolences. I think of it as anti-social media, a place for me to post tidbits about my personal and professional histories, rants about academia, politics, sports, etc., book and music reviews, photos, and other memorabilia. It is eclectic, idiosyncratic, and unexciting. I don't mind comments, but will actively monitor them to ensure civility.

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- January 11, 2025

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Reflections on My Academic Career - Part I

- May 30, 2022

I'm currently in my second year of a three-year phased retirement from IU. After this semester, I will have one more course to teach in the 2022-23 academic year. I don't know whether the inclination is natural or not, but I've already begun reflecting on my career, the ups, the downs, the in-betweens. My reflections are not intentionally structured or organized. This will not be a chronological narrative; and it certainly will not be complete. It is not an exercise in nostalgia - I am not normally a nostalgic person, though I am sentimental. In other words, I care about the people and places currently and formerly in my life, but I have no desire to return to some earlier time in the mistaken belief that life was better then. Finally, I don't presuppose that anyone outside of my family will find any part of this, let alone the whole thing, interesting or valuable either in itself or as a socio-historical reference. For the most part, I'm writing this for myself an...

The Travesty of John Roberts and West Virginia v. EPA - A First Take

- June 30, 2022

Make no mistake, the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling today in West Virginia v. EPA is every bit as outrageous as its decision to overrule Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs case. For the first time in its history, the Court has (a) issued an advisory opinion - a legal ruling overturning a non-existent regulation; (b) manifestly misinterpreted the Clean Air Act to conclude that EPA has no authority to create incentives for fuel-switching to reduce air pollution; and (c) adopted for the first time the "major question doctrine, which basically overrules in all but name the Court's 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which had confirmed EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Immediately, this is a blow to US efforts, such as they are, to combat climate change using existing authorities. That's bad enough, but the implications for all federal efforts to protect public health and safety regulations should concern every American. Whenever a new proble...

On Reconciliation (Briefly)

- July 29, 2022

Growing older means reconciling oneself to many things: grey (or no) hair; declining athletic prowess; aches and pains that occur for no apparent reason; a daily pill box; and the inevitable. But growing older also provides opportunities for more positive forms of reconciliation, for instance, to one's own foibles and past mistakes. The most rewarding reconciliation might be with old friends who have been out of touch for a long time, not so much to rehearse (let alone relive) the past but to communicate about present conditions and concerns with people who share some of one's history and, therefore, a common frame of reference. Unfortunately, some old friends might not be open to reconciliation, whether for good reason or no reason at all. In that case, one must reconcile oneself to not reconciling.