I’m sometimes at a loss for words when writing about Afghanistan because I have family there, because I know many ordinary Afghans see the United States as an unwelcome occupying force at this point, because I believe that we’ve seriously dropped the ball and have an obligation to ensure the Taliban never regains power, and because I don’t have a clue what the right strategy is. That’s why reading articles like this one pisses me off to no end. A snippet: Taleban militants...

I’m skeptical, but there’s data. Taller people average about 1.5% higher wages, and that holds up for both men and women. Researchers attribute about half of that to higher educational attainment and half due to taller people selecting higher status occupations. But does that mean they’re smarter? I wonder if there isn’t some sort of difficult-to-measure confidence variable that gives taller individuals an advantage. That is, biologically we’re inclined to perceive...

Remember a few years ago when social conservatives flocked to see March of the Penguins because, in part, penguins are one of only six monogamous animals on the planet and their story was supposed to reinforce the innate beauty of monogamy… or something? Well, it looks like penguins can once again serve as a metaphor for culture war social issues. A couple of gay penguins in a zoo in China have been thrown out of their colony for trying to steal the eggs of other parent couples (“I told...

Looks like the NATO forces in Afghanistan are indirectly funding the Taliban insurgency they’re fighting against. The Times has the story of why contractors supplying military bases are forced to pay protection money to the Taliban in order to avoid attacks: The business of moving supplies from the Pakistani port of Karachi to British, US and other military contingents in the country is largely subcontracted to local trucking companies. These must run the gauntlet of the increasingly dangerous...

Via Secular Right comes this interesting graph suggesting people who pray more tend to be more partisan (or perhaps people who are more partisan tend to pray more). One of Andrew Sullivan’s readers offers up the best explanation I’ve seen: “The more willing you are to “believe” in anything, the more likely you are to “believe” in something else.” But it isn’t necessarily a lack of belief that makes one a moderate or independent. I don’t...

Obama plans to give what he called “a major address” in an “Islamic capital” soon after taking office. Would he do it in Baghdad maybe? Somewhere in Saudi Arabia? Either way, it will do a lot of good. The whole clash-of-civilizations theory was in many ways a self-fulfilling prophecy. It didn’t have to be that way, even after September 11. But Bush’s with-us-or-against us approach drove a wedge between moderates in both cultures. Not that Obama will capitulate...

So says a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Does that fact make the Wal-Mart worker’s death at the feet of shoppers last Friday any more tragic? Either way it was a senseless death. But there seems to be something qualitatively different between a parent looking to capitalize on low prices so they can see a child’s eyes light up on Christmas morning and someone just looking to pimp-out their living room with a bigger flat-screen TV. As...

Maureen Dowd strikes fear into the hearts of writers: Indians are writing about everything from the Pasadena Christmas tree-lighting ceremony to kitchen remodeling to city debates about eliminating plastic shopping bags. “In brutal terms,” said Macpherson, whose father was a typesetter, printer and photographer, “it’s going to get to the point where saving the industry may require some people losing their jobs. The newspaper industry is coming to a General Motors moment —...

I’m seeing a lot of petitions going around here on the East coast in reaction to Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, most with vague calls to “repeal Prop 8″ and no specific indication of how or even to whom the petition will ultimately be sent. Young liberals are fired up and ready to fight for gay rights, but for the most part the movement seems directionless and unorganized. There’s something about the intense focus on Prop 8 that bugs me, though. I agree with...

FDR had his fireside chats, Obama will have YouTube. His administration plans to bring government into the 21st century in a big way. From the Washington Post: Today, President-elect Obama will record the weekly Democratic address not just on radio but also on video — a first. The address, typically four minutes long, will be turned into a YouTube video and posted on Obama’s transition site, Change.gov, once the radio address is made public on Saturday morning. In addition to regularly...

One of the untold stories about the effects of U.S. involvement in the Middle East has been the escalating power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for control of the region. At the height of the insurgency in Iraq, for instance, Saudi Arabia—a supposed U.S. ally—was funneling money and volunteers to the Sunni insurgency to undermine the Maliki government, which it feared could become too susceptible to Iranian influence. The insurgency was prolonged by both countries funding militants...

The NY Times said essentially what I said about how this election defined a generation, only they, of course, said it earlier and better: These young voters and those slightly older, who together may forever be known as Generation O, were the ground troops of the campaign. They opened hundreds of Obama offices in remote areas, registered voters and persuaded older relatives to take a chance on the man with the middle name Hussein. They saw in Mr. Obama, 47, who was born at the tail end of the baby...

This is coming from Dave Barry, so I’m not entirely sure it’s legitimate, but then again, Ben Smith over at Politico seemed to take it seriously, so I blame my gullibility on him. Apparently, Obama was once a member of the “Lawn Rangers” a group that “wowed the Midwest corn-festival circuit with their synchronized mowing maneuvers, broom tossing and plunger wagging.” I’ll let Dave Barry explain. As you may know, I am a veteran member of the world-famous...

President-elect Obama has hit the ground running and is already preparing plans to close Guantanamo Bay, a move championed by legal scholars (aka elitist terrorist-lovers in some circles) from both parties. But what to do with the detainees? Under plans being put together in Obama’s camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts. A third group of detainees — the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information —...

The New Hampshire State Senate became the first legislative body in the country to have a majority female membership on Tuesday. Thirteen of the 24 seats are now held by women. History being made all around.

The day after the election, I received an e-mail from my father: “Congratulations to you and your generation. The torch has been passed.” Obviously he didn’t mean in terms in governance. Although a torch has been passed in that sense, my generation wasn’t the recipient; I’m 26, and Obama is closer to a Baby Boomer than a Millennial (or Generation Y, or whatever we’re supposed to be called). But for all the election of the first African-American symbolized, it...

CNN has an interesting post-election interview with Colin Powell, whose endorsement of Obama grabbed headlines a few weeks ago. Keep in mind that this is a man who has been to war, who broke barriers of his own as a general, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Secretary of State. His public persona, even in politics, has been that of a stoic warrior. But upon hearing that Obama was the president-elect of the United States, he reacted the way many Americans reacted last night: He wept. Video...

With Obama having an incredibly strong polling day and FiveThirtyEight now projecting his win percentage at 98.1% today, perhaps we shouldn’t be asking if Obama will win tomorrow, but when. Nate Silver, Doug Mataconis at Donklephant, and the Swing State Project have all provided useful guides for hour-by-hour poll closings. Here’s what you should watch for (all times Eastern, and although there are some very interesting Senate races, I only focused on the McCain-Obama match up): 6:00...

Here’s Palin defending her attacks on Obama’s associations with Ayers, Wright, etc., and blaming the media for portraying comments like “he pals around with terrorists” as negative: “If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the...

When Obama hit his peak numbers a week or two ago, conventional wisdom said the race would tighten somewhat as we got closer to the election. But as has happened so many times this year, conventional wisdom has turned out wrong, so far. Above is an aggregate of all national polls taken this year. While McCain seems to be improving from his nadir of two weeks ago, we haven’t seen a corresponding drop in Obama’s numbers. They remain steady above 50%, and if anything continue to improve....

John McCain is apparently set on continuing his current socialism-themed attack on Obama based on “newly-discovered” comments Obama made in 2001 while discussing the civil rights movement on NPR. The line of attack can basically be summed up with the headline Drudge is running right now: “2001 Obama: Tragedy That ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ Not Pursued By Supreme Court.” Now, there’s taking quotes out of context, and there’s just making stuff up, and...

Whether you’re voting for McCain or Obama, stories like this have got to make you proud of what this election represents for those Americans who fought and died for civil rights not that long ago. A story from an African-American early voter: For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old...

Sarah Palin and John McCain elaborated on their definition of “elitist” in an interview last night with Brian Williams: WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite? PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they’re better than anyone else. And– John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America’s starting to reach...

Sarah Palin doesn’t seem to be coping very well with the idea that people in some parts of the country don’t think she’s qualified to be VP and, quite frankly, don’t like her very much: “We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets...

Pretty good performances by both, and it’s refreshing to see them roast each other lightheartedly the day after a heated debate. My favorite line was from Obama: “Most people don’t know this, but Barack is Swahili for ‘that one.’” Watch them both if you have a few minutes. Obama: McCain: