I published this post at my own blog yesterday, which created quite some debate, so I thought I should publish it here as well. E.J. Dionne writes: Why can’t the left get any respect? Whenever you use the word “left” in American politics, you feel almost compelled to add quotation marks. Today’s left is not talking about nationalizing industry, abolishing capitalism or destroying the rich. What passes for “left” in American politics is quite moderate by historical...

This will not make Bush very happy: his approval ratings are, with 26%, at an all time low. No President, except for Nixon, ever had such low approval – and high disapproval ratings. Of those asked, 65% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. This 65% includes 1/3 of all Republican voters. Nixon’s record is 23% – it will be interesting to see whether Bush will break Nixon’s record. Before Bush supporters start defending him by saying that the war is to blame: Bush...

Well, I’m the exception on the rule I suppose: The eldest children in families tend to develop higher I.Q.’s than their siblings, researchers are reporting today, in a large study that could settle more than a half-century of scientific debate about the relationship between I.Q. and birth order. The average difference in I.Q. was slight — three points higher in the eldest child than in the closest sibling — but significant, the researchers said. And they said the results...

Stephen Schwartz says no. Schwartz’s conclusion: Ultimately, such policies cannot be decided from inside the Beltway. The future of Iraq remains with the Iraqis. It is somewhat strange to see experts in a place once identified with “realism” and the status quo, and now, often enough, with a critique of neoconservative democratization, suddenly embrace a plan for the partition of Iraq. Take it from someone who has spent 20 years involved with ex-Yugoslavia: partition is potentially...

Jules Crittenden roots for Julius Caesar. Sadly for Jules St Paul and Aristotle are tied for first place. What about Emperor Justinianus (or Justinian for Americans)?

ABC News has an interesting article up about Bush’s decision Wednesday to veto the latest stem cell bill. As ABC points out, Bush may believe that using stem cells for scientific research is immoral, the far majority (68%) of Americans disagree. Moreover, 60% “favor loosening the current restrictions on federal funding for this research, as the legislation Bush has rejected would have done.” As should be expected, Republicans and Democrats disagree quite strongly with each other...

This is going to make quite some Democrats very unhappy: Ralph Nader says he is seriously considering running for president in 2008 because he foresees another Tweedledum-Tweedledee election that offers little real choice to voters. In an interview Nader told The Politico: “You know the two parties are still converging — they don’t even debate the military budget anymore. I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties.” When asked about the...

Libby Spencer believes that Michael Bloomberg will, most certainly, run for President. John Cole notes that “Bloomberg was, for all intents and purposes, the real RINO, and conservatism will not suffer with his departure, but the GOP sure was happy to have him around when he was with the party.” Wondering what The Populist looks like? Go here to find out. And yes, if it walks a cult and talks like a cult, it most likely is a cult. Andrew Sullivan notes that Maxim presents the hottest...

In a surprising development (on the face of it at least), quite some Republicans are siding with Senator Barack Obama: There is an interesting phenomenon that has arisen over the last few months: a trend of moderate Republicans who want to vote for Barack Obama. It may seem counterintuitive, conservatives supporting a candidate who wants to tax the wealthy and embrace the conventions in the Kyoto Accord, but there is something in Obama’s message about ridding politics of partisanship that...

Jules Crittenden hits the nail right on its head: Unabashed, unrepentant terrorist Hamas, still bent on destroying Israel, vs. corrupt, ineffectual ostensibly repentant terrorism-enabling Fatah, which allowed this state of affairs to develop. The Palestinians, having divided, were in the process of conquering themselves. Not surprisingly, utter murderousness trumped weaseling deception, and Hamas emerged the victor. But like everything else in the Middle East, it’s never that simple. Hamas’...

Thomas Friedman wrote a good column for the New York Times about Britain’s University and College Union decision to call on its members to boycott Israel. Friedman’s main point: the decision, or call, to boycott Israel is based on bias. To be more precise, on anti-Semitism. As Friedman explains, the situation in Israel is far more complicated than the anti-Zionists like to portray it. Many Israelis believe, according to Friedman, that the decision to occupy Gaza and the West Bank was...

Rich Horton wrote another column for my blog, and it is – if I may say so – another must read. The subject: political junkies. Excerpt: Ah, the joys of being young and in a near perpetual state of indignation. Today, I have a lot more sympathy with my old professors. Yes, I still think it wouldn’t kill them to have some basic knowledge of the present political scene, even if they do nothing else in their careers but study sub-Saharan Africa or IR formal modelling. (Subscribe to...

Kevin Sullivan has an interesting post up about employers vs. family. Justin Gardner notes that Michael Bloomberg talks like a candidate. Bye bye Nifong. Isaac Newton – one of mankind’s greatest scientists – believed that the would end no earlier than 2060. Something – I bet – many people did not know about Newton is that he was more than ‘just’ a scientist: he was also deeply, deeply religious. Central Sanity has a new co-blogger. And lastly, two quotes...

Every now and then I like to publish a guest post: either by blogreaders, other bloggers or experts in their own field (whatever field that may be). A couple of days ago, I published a post about John Kerry’s proposal about energy, fuel efficiency, global warming, etc. After publishing it, I came in contact with the so-called “Auto Alliance” who support the Pryor-Bond-Levin-Voinovich Amendment. Today, I am happy to announce that Charlie Territo, Director of Communications for the...

The Associated Press reports (via Yahoo!): Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Monday said his campaign made a “dumb mistake” when it circulated a memo criticizing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton’s financial ties to India. In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama disavowed the memo which carried the headline — “Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab) — and referred to Bill and Hillary Clintons’ investments in India; her fundraising among Indian-Americans;...

Pieter Dorsman writes: One of the drawbacks of the political blogosphere is that there is very little dialogue between the left and right sides, or the anti-war and pro-war camps. And if it ever happens, it isn’t all that pleasant to read. Yet, the time has come to get an exchange of ideas going and I was prompted to do so after reading Barry Lando’s Web of Deceit and noticing that it was mostly discussed on the left side of the blogosphere. That in my mind is somewhat absurd as Lando...

A USA Today poll has found that Hillary Clinton has established a comfortable lead over Barack Obama. If former Vice President Al Gore is included in the poll, Clinton leads Obama 33%-21%. If Gore is excluded she leads with 39%-26%. Furthermore, “if the Democratic contest came down to Clinton or Obama, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents chose Clinton, 53%-42%.” The results for the GOP (candidates): Giuliani leads the field at 28%, down 4 points from two weeks earlier. Thompson...

To me! Today, I turned 23 years old. The last year was one of the best years of my life. I met the girl I love, who I want to spend the rest of my life, who I love more than I love myself; I switched to a study I find incredibly interesting; I was invited to blog for a fantastic blog (TMV); I started a new blog of my own, which has become reasonably successful in a relatively short amount of time… It was a good year. A big thank you to those who have supported me the last 12 months and a very...

Here are some couple of interesting articles about the situation in Palestine / Gaza and the West Bank: - Jules Crittenden makes fun of poor Yasser Arafat whose nobel peace prize was stolen by Hamas. - “Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday issued a decree outlawing the armed groups of Hamas and said its members would be prosecuted.” Abbas wrote he has decided to “consider the Executive Unit and the militias of the Hamas movement illegal, due to their military...

Kevin Sullivan (one of the rising stars in the blogosphere) has a great post up, in response to this article at The American Prospect by Ezra Klein. In it, Ezra takes on ‘liberal hawks.’ As is obvious to anyone who reads Ezra on a regular basis, he is not exactly a fan of his hawkish liberal brethren. Kevin, however, explains: Ironically, Klein seems to confront hawkish vagueness with vagueness. He insinuates that there’s a cottage industry of “liberal hawk” scholars...

Mike Nifong has been found guily of ethics violations by the North Carolina State Bar: The penalty phase of trial began Saturday afternoon. Nifong’s punishment could range from a written reprimand to disbarment. He already announced Friday his intention to resign as district attorney. With that, the long saga of what was once known as the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal is over. Nifong’s conviction was widely anticipated as justice for the three players who were indicted in spring 2006 on...

The Boston Globe reports that Senator John Kerry “blasted the leading Republican presidential candidates on foreign policy yesterday,” a speech at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Kerry said that “‘it should disturb all of us’ that the GOP contenders are taking increasingly hawkish stances on national security issues like Iran and the Guantanamo Bay detention center.” Two days ago, Pamela Leavey published the Senator’s...

The New York Times reports that Mike Nifong, the prosecutor in the Duke rape case, says he plans to quit his job. He admitted that he “had ‘crossed the line’ of ethical standards in some of the public statements he made about the Duke University lacrosse players he charged with rape.” Nifong made his announcement “on the stand at the end of several hours of testimony in a state bar association hearing on whether he had violated ethical standards for prosecutors.”...

The Washington Post has an article up by Robin Wright about the situation in Iran. Iranian authorities are – as most of you will know – enforcing Islamic law very strictly again these days. Female government officials, for instance, go out on the streets to check whether women wear the kind of clothes they are supposed to wear. If they do not dress ‘Islamic’ enough, the women are told they should change their clothes and, sometimes, women are taken away for a not-so-friendly...

Bryan Caplan wrote, what seems to be, a very interesting book, in which he tries to explain “why democracies choose bad policies.” A review of the book appeared at the Economist. ANYONE who follows an election campaign too closely will sometimes get the feeling that politicians think voters are idiots. A new book says they are. Or rather, Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University, makes the slightly politer claim that voters systematically favour irrational policies....