Does Christopher Hitchens need to fine tune his arguments supporting the Iraq War? The Might Middle says yes. … [Read more...] about A Hitch In The Argument

If you're looking for signs of how adults fail young people, you don't have to look any further than this. … [Read more...] about Vulgarization By Default

Via Andrew Sullivan, this story on gay Penguins: A good friend of mine worked on "Rock Island" at the Baltimore Zoo for several years after college. Rock Island is the home of the zoo's colony of African (Black-footed) penguins. If memory serves, African penguins mate for life rather than seasonally -- which included the for-life pair of Bob and Dave. Apparently some of the … [Read more...] about Wonder How That Happened?

Crooks And Liars' John Amato, in his first Huffington Post piece, puts conservative commentator Ann Coulter under the microscope. Amato (whose constantly updated blog is a must read since it started off as a great read and gets better and better each day) is particularly irked over Coulter's suggestion that New Yorkers are somehow cowards. Read the entire post — but … [Read more...] about Countering Coulter

...Not to co-opt Joe's catchphrase, but I think this qualifies. Issuing a blanket pardon to your own flacks during the heart of a corruption investigation? Governor Ernie Fletcher might have moved to the top of the GOP's sleaze hierarchy. … [Read more...] about Serious Chutzpah

The evaluations of Bush on Darfur, Clinton on Rwanda, and America toward both are one and the same: horrible. … [Read more...] about There’s Plenty of Blame to go Around

...if you are not asking the correct question. The furor around Cindy Sheehan exists for a reason, and it is not simply the right-wing canard of "a biased MainStream Media". It would behoove any of those who care about the direction our nation chooses to take to understand what is occurring and, more importantly, why. … [Read more...] about The answer is not obvious…

Both Bitch Ph.D. and Kevin Drum have linked to this post, but if you haven't been there already I highly encourage you to read one woman's experience as an aid worker in Darfur. No bones about it, this is horrifying stuff: She finished her mission in Chad, then went to Zimbabwe for three more weeks before she came home. She brought home a pretty good case of PTSD. What she … [Read more...] about Hell and Back

An angry Katrina smashed into New Orleans, angrily bringing 135 mph winds, knocking out power, flooding streets and some houses and — and creating a new crisis by ripping off pieces of the city's fabled Superdome, where many had fled to be safe from the storm. But there was a guarded sense of relief: the Category 5 hurricane had been downgraded to Category Three. A CNN … [Read more...] about Downgraded Katrina Smashes Into New Orleans And Damages Superdome

CNN: New Orleans takes a beating "Total structural failure" in parts of city Section of Superdome roof opens up Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds Coastal Mississippi may bear brunt of storm Three dead in evacuation Apparently power is out in the entire city but some emergency generators are working. There are anywhere from 10,000 - 30,000 people in the Superdome - I've … [Read more...] about Update on Hurricane Katrina

So what's at root in the sharp divide between anti-war critics and staunch pro-Bush/pro-war administration defenders? Peter Daou tackles the issue in this MUST READ analysis (read it and join the debate on our comments) in Salon. This detailed exploration by Daou (who makes no bones about his own point of view) is one of those pieces that if you quote from it, you could … [Read more...] about Ethics Debate Over Iraq And Terrorism: Moral Strength vs. Material Strength?

Cross-posted at The Reaction: As I mentioned recently (see here), Senator John McCain has come out in recent days in support of the teaching of (so-called) intelligent design alongside evolution in America's schools. In so doing, he has aligned himself with President Bush and (insert sarcasm here) no less an enlightened practitioner of modern medicine and defender of the … [Read more...] about Is it time to take on intelligent design?

We always knew our government here had ideas that were fried... … [Read more...] about California As A “Nanny State”

You may see some changes on our blogroll over the next few weeks. For one thing, we need to remove blogs that are basically inactive or abandoned so if it hasn't been updated in about a month we'll probably remove it (and can put it back later if the blogger lets me know). Also, there have been a small number of blogs that had us on the blogroll but removed us — and we … [Read more...] about A Word On Our Blogroll

Is it a "suicide bomber" or a "homicide bomber?" Which is the correct phrase — and what issues are involved in choosing what to call a person who blows him/her/itself up and anyone of any age, race, religious or sex around him/her/it to make a political statement? Guarding The Henhouse takes a serious, thoughtful look at this issue. … [Read more...] about “Suicide Bomber” Or Not?

...if the irony meters for all those associated with the current Bush administration have either been burned out or simply turned off. … [Read more...] about At times, one begins to wonder…

Cross-posted at The Reaction: I'd like to get provocative. And I'd like to do so by referring favourably, more or less, to a certain bow-tied conservative commentator. No, not Tucker Carlson, but George Will — to me, one of the more palatable right-wing pundits, an old-fashioned tory who often breaks from the ranks of the talking-point-spewing apologists for the Bush … [Read more...] about The overstated shrillness of the Democratic Party

In case you missed it, here's one of the stories of the year: Apparently, one of Thailand's cabinet ministers may have received silicone injections to enlarge his penis. Honest. … [Read more...] about One night in Bangkok…

New Orleans sounds like it's a weather horror story about to happen — and if you live there get out of town now:The mayor of New Orleans ordered the immediate evacuation of the city today as Hurricane Katrina, now a Category 5 storm packing 175 mph winds, bore down on the Louisiana coast after gathering strength in the Gulf of Mexico. Mayor Ray Nagin issued the mandatory … [Read more...] about Katrina’s Winds 175 MPH As New Orleans Orders Evacuation

David Adesnik notes similarities in anti-Americanism. … [Read more...] about Oxford 1968 And 2000