The New York Times is reporting that “[t]housands of American and Iraqi troops laid siege on Saturday to [the town of Husayba] near the Syrian border in one of the largest military assaults since American-led forces stormed the guerrilla stronghold of Falluja last year”. More: American commanders say Husayba has become a bastion for cells of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that claims credit for many of the deadliest suicide bombings...

Congratulations, Professor Drezner, from The Reaction — a blog run by a Tufts grad (and a co-blogger here at TMV). Yes, I was there from 1991 to 1995, studying history and political theory and editing and writing (political commentary, film criticism) for The Tufts Daily, one of the great student newspapers in the country. Like so many others, I’ve long been a fan of Drezner’s work, and it’ll be nice to have him blogging from the cozy confines of Walnut Hill, right on the...

The words of Michael “Brownie” Brown — former FEMA director, current member of FEMA’s payroll. We know that Michael Brown, former FEMA chief, fiddled while Rome burned, that is, ate dinner while New Orleans flooded and people died. But did you know it was even worse? Yes, the title of this post is a direct quote from an e-mail Brown wrote to a high-ranking FEMA official the day of the hurricane. Want more? A few days later: “I’m trapped now, please rescue me.”...

There’s a lot of discussion in the blogosphere about Bush’s astonishingly low approval ratings. I’ve got more here, including links to some top bloggers on the subject.

Lately, I’ve been doing my bit to bring a dose of civility to the blogosphere. (Some conservatives don’t seem to be interested, however, or are at least highly suspicious of liberals and moderates.) There may have been more unity than usual across the spectrum in response to the Miers nomination, but a new poll shows that the Alito nomination has brought back the usual polarization — 49 percent for Alito, 30 percent against, with 73 percent of Republicans and only 33 percent of...

You’ll be missed, Aaron Brown. Aaron Brown is out and Anderson Cooper is moving up. I don’t mind Cooper, but I’ve always like Aaron Brown, from the days I first watched him doing the overnight show on ABC. While Cooper showboats in hurricanes and empathizes incessantly with victims of one tragedy or another, Brown brings a quiet, calming assuredness to television news. Where Cooper is the one who feels, however smart he may be, Brown is the one who thinks. Cooper is the rising star...

With respect to the Alito nomination, but also with respect to all the issues that divide us both in the blogosphere and beyond, I have a few more thoughts at The Reaction on why we need a more civilized debate instead of the usual name-calling and vindictiveness that often characterizes our efforts. In my view, this great medium deserves no less. Nor do our readers.

Is George Lucas a postmodern genius?

From the Canada desk: Last night, “Gomery” was the #9 search item at Technorati. Who knew there would be so much blogospheric attention on corruption in Canada? So what’s going on up here? What’s this corruption story that’s dominating our news? Here’s all the latest from The Globe and Mail, our leading newspaper. In brief: Mr. Justice John Gomery, our version of a special prosecutor, led a Commission of Inquiry into “a pro-federalism advertising and sponsorship...

Some of you may remember my “Miers Withdrawal Watch” series at The Reaction. If not, the name more or less speaks for itself. It was a five-part series looking at reactions to the Miers nomination from around the blogosphere and, to a lesser extent, the MSM. Part 5, with links to the previous 4, is here. In the end, as you all know, Miers withdrew, meaning that my watch was not in vain. ********** Well, now I’d like to introduce you to another ongoing series at The Reaction: Scalitovision...

There’s an interesting question before the Supreme Court: Do religious groups have the right to use regulated substances (i.e., narcotic drugs) for religious purposes? Thus far, the justices (with Kennedy as the lone exception) seem to be siding with the New Mexico church against the government’s hardline position.

I’m tempted to say yes. And now it has a “war room” to try to revamp its image. Good luck with that. (Note: I bought a DVD at Wal-Mart the other day. It was really cheap. Thanks, Sam.)

Scooter who?

I’m lovin’ it.

This is serious. The BBC is also reporting that “[s]cientists from Brazil and the US say new research suggests deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has been underestimated by at least 60%”. Apparently, “selective logging” is to blame for part of it. The researchers, who used satellite technology from NASA, “concluded that the area of rainforest destroyed between 1999 and 2002 was thousands of square kilometres bigger than previously thought. They also found that about...

Yes, cow entrails. Did you know that Sweden is home to the first ever biogas-powered train and that the city of Linkoping’s buses and taxis all run on entrail-derived biogas? Click here for more.

From the Times: “Democrats invoked a rarely used rule [yesterday] that sent the Senate into a two-hour closed session, infuriating Republicans but producing an agreement for a bipartisan look at whether the Republican leadership was dragging its feet on a promised inquiry into the Bush administration’s use of prewar intelligence on Iraq.” The GOP was not amused. I’m happy that the Democrats are refusing to play the White House’s spin game and move on from Plamegate to...

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.) The Washington Post is reporting that President Bush will “announce a new Supreme Court nomination today, moving quickly after a weekend of consultations to put forward a replacement for the ill-fated choice of Harriet Miers in hopes of recapturing political momentum, according to Republicans close to the White House”. The three leading candidates: Alito, Luttig, and Batchelder. “Any of the three would draw support from many conservative activists,...

Generally, they’re good for liberals and bad for conservatives — at least for conservatives who claim to be originalists (as if it’s possible to know the “original intent” of the Framers, as if what applied back in 1789 can possibly apply in full in 2005). Plus, my fellow blogger Vivek Krishnamurthy, now at Yale Law School, comments on conservatism, originalism, and precedent. Definitely worth a read. It looks like we who oppose such strident originalism have no less...

According to The Washington Post, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has called on Karl Rove to resign. Appearing on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Reid also said that “Bush and Vice President Cheney owe an apology to the American public”. Reid: “I think Karl Rove should step down. Here is a man who the president said if he was involved, if anyone in the administration was involved, out they would go. Anybody who is involved in this, they’re gone.” I’ve got...

He’s bruised and battered, but anything’s possible.

Earlier today, my fellow co-blogger Holly reported on a Chicago Tribune article that suggests that Bush will nominate either Alito or Luttig — perhaps as early as today (but, I would think, more likely early tomorrow morning to set up the week’s news cycle). I’ve got more on these two “leading” candidates over at The Reaction, including a link to a positive take on Luttig that I wrote back in July, before Roberts was nominated. As some of you know, I generally find myself...

According to the AP, officials in the United Arab Emirates have revealed that Saddam agreed to go into exile in order to avoid war: Saddam Hussein accepted an 11th-hour offer to flee into exile weeks ahead of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, but Arab League officials scuttled the proposal, officials in this Gulf state claimed. The exile initiative was spearheaded by the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at an emergency Arab summit held in Egypt in February 2003,...

A truly gruesome story.

From Bloomberg: India’s capital New Delhi was rocked by three explosions that killed at least 41 people and injured hundreds in crowded market places as people shopped for the main Hindu festival of Diwali and the Muslim festival of Eid. The death toll is likely to rise, Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters in New Delhi today. Television channels such as NDTV 24×7 have put the toll as high as 65. The home minister said at least 50 people had been injured. The blasts left men, women...