Women: you'd better dress like this... Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali has a wonderful message for fellow believers: if a woman gets raped, it really is her fault. In essence, so he reasoned, who can blame a man for raping a woman if she dresses like a prostitute? "But when it comes to adultery, it's 90 per cent the women's responsibility. Why? Because a woman possesses the weapon of … [Read more...] about Being Raped: It’s Really The Woman’s Fault

(This is an update to my recent post on Bush Administration officials "rooting" for a North Korean nuclear test.) We now know that the bomb North Korea tested was a plutonium one, not a uranium one. For the significance of this, see this excellent piece by eminent nuclear physicist James Gordon Prather at The National Interest. Prather argues that the Agreed Framework … [Read more...] about Is Bush responsible for North Korea’s plutonium bomb?

An important moment for the freedom of speech in Europe, more specifically Denmark: Danish Court Rejects Cartoons Lawsuit.The City Court in Aarhus rejected claims by seven Danish Muslim groups who said the 12 drawings printed in Jyllands-Posten were meant to insult the Prophet and make a mockery of Islam. Islamic law forbids any depiction of the Prophet, even positive ones, to … [Read more...] about A Victory for the Freedom of Speech

Lesson 1. Know how to present yourself. Sound knowledgable, likable and humorous while you're, in fact, working very hard at destroying all existing opposition. … [Read more...] about How to Be a Popular Dictator

Michael Barone had the privilige - together with seven other conservative columnists - to interview U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday afternoon. Michael reports about it for USNews here. It - logically - provides for an interesting read and more: he also posted an MP3 audio recording of the entire, one hour long, interview. Bush, in essence, repeated his general … [Read more...] about Interview with George W. Bush

The men, including the former President, are wanted in connection to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Argentine prosecutors say they have proof the attack was made on the orders of the Iranian government, at the "highest levels." … [Read more...] about Argentina Asks For An Arrest Warrant For Eight Iranian Officials

Alright, so Barack Obama writes a good speech and has soaring rhetoric that sends hearts all aflutter. But now that he's in the Senate, what issues has he devoted his time to? Now you can find out. It's an impressive list of priorities, all the more so because it definitively is not all about the high profile issues. He focusing on the good because it is the good, not because … [Read more...] about The Hat and The Cattle

NOTE: We occassionally run Guest Voice posts from thoughtful readers (and those who comment under our posts). This is a two-part review of Charlie Chaplin's classic film "The Circus," written by Dan Schneider who sometimes leaves comments on this site. He has this site and this new film site. DVD Review Of The Circus Copyright © by Dan Schneider One can argue that Charlie … [Read more...] about GUEST DVD REVIEW: Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus

Majority Leader Bill Frist has some political advice for GOPers running for election this year:Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says if Republican candidates want to succeed on Election Day, they should turn their focus away from the Iraq war. "The challenge is to get Americans to focus on pocketbook issues, and not on the Iraq and terror issue," Frist said in an interview … [Read more...] about Majority Leader Bill Frist: War Schmore….

....apparently has tom toms in the background when it mentions his name. PS: He just happens to be African-American. This comes on the heels of a Republican ad widely condemned from non-lockstep Republicans and others for playing the race card. If this ad (which you can listen to at the link) plays what many think it's playing then it sounds as if The Powers That Be felt … [Read more...] about The LATEST Ad Against Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. For Tennessee’s Senate Seat

Sean Aqui cuts through the fear-filled messages to reveal what he thinks the next two years would look like. Check it out. … [Read more...] about What Will Democrat Control Really Mean?

Sure, that may be something of a rhetorical question, given that Idaho is about as red as it gets, but the good news is there's a mini rebellion going on in that state's 1st Congressional District, where Republican Bill Sali, an eight-term state representative, is embroiled in a surprisingly tough race with Democrat Larry Grant, a former Micron executive. Sali is an extremist … [Read more...] about What’s the matter with Idaho?

An open letter to the GOP from guest blogger Rod T. Straight: Recently, I was at the grocery store, buying childrens’ cereal. Having perused the cereal boxes and given them sufficient consideration, I can only say that I am shocked, outraged, and disgusted. Only now do I realize what a sick and perverted world we live in. It is a world where innocent children are used as mere … [Read more...] about All the gay cartoon characters

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, has announced that "he may call for more troops to be sent to Baghdad, possibly by increasing the overall U.S. presence in Iraq". But don't misunderstand what's going on here. John McCain and the neocon hawks may want troop levels to be substantially increased, but there is neither the military might nor the political will for … [Read more...] about Preparing for withdrawal

A common refrain among supporters of the war, and neo-conservatives in general, is that as long as the United States and the West maintain their "will" to fight the enemy, we can never lose. The only way we can be defeated in Iraq, or in the war against Islamist terrorism generally, is to lose our will and retreat. Neo-conservatives cite a host of historical examples that … [Read more...] about Iraq and the Fallacy of Will

Swastikas have begun appearing on campus at UC-Irvine but, no, it couldn't possibly be Anti-Semitism. … [Read more...] about Halloween Decorations at UC-Irvine

Are independent voters quickly shifting away from Karl Rove & Co? He thinks so and thinks we be seeing "base politics blowback." … [Read more...] about So What’s Happening To The Political Center?

Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, is interviewed by radio talk show host Sean Hannity, right. Hannity and 39 other mostly conservative radio hosts were invited to join top officials and broadcast from a large tent on the White House grounds. Story, A7. (By Susan Biddle — The Washington Post) Peter Baker reports for the Washington Post that the GOP has … [Read more...] about Never Change a Winning Strategy?

In these days of weblog humor, political satire sites, ham-handed political satire done by left- and right-wing talk show hosts, ascending Mad TV and descending Saturday Live, it's hard to find a truly DELICIOUS and laugh-out-loud piece of satire — especially one that's in book form. One does exist: it's Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman. How good is it? (1) If I had … [Read more...] about BOOK REVIEW: “Anonymous Lawyer” Is World-Class Satire

NOTE TO READERS: This ran later yesterday. Due to an error, when we redated this site for today's edition we mistakenly redated this to Oct. 22. An alert reader notified us of this error so this post is now back in its proper order. Is the Republican ad below the one that will defeat Democratic Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. in his tight campaign to become Senator of Tennessee? And … [Read more...] about The Anti-Harold Ford Ad: Is The GOP Playing “The Race Card?” (UPDATE TWO)