We’ve been doing these discussion groups every Sunday for the last six months, but I thought I’d try something completely radical today: a non-political topic. (I figure readers will either love the diversion or hate it; I guess I’ll find out soon enough.) Earlier this week, I was among at least seven people nationwide to […]
It doesn’t happen too terribly often, so when the U.S. House of Representatives at least drifts in the direction of madness, it’s worth paying attention to. It seemed like House Republicans had stumbled upon one of their famously clever ideas. With Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, […]
Guest Post by Morbo I used to think Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist theocracy would collapse under the weight of America’s oppressive, offensive and all-consuming popular culture. The majority of the Iranian population is young, and many of them are chaffing at the repressive rules of the mullahs. But a recent article in The New Yorker has […]
Guest Post by Morbo Wal-Mart is about to enter a huge smackdown with the legislature of the state Maryland — and for once it’s not clear that the obnoxious, union-busting retail giant will win. Both chambers of the Maryland legislature passed a bill in April that would require companies with more than 10,000 employees to […]
Guest Post by Morbo Intelligent Design advocates aren’t the only ones out there advocating scientific illiteracy these days. The loopy New Age crowd continues to hold up its end. Exhibit A: Vacuous celebrities paying people to burn their flesh with glass cups. Yes, you too can be like Gwyneth Paltrow and pay someone big bucks […]
Guest Post by Morbo Two recent stories from the world of science really have me really worked up. Researchers with a San Francisco firm have just announced that two kidney dialysis patients from Argentina have received the world’s first blood vessels grown in a lab dish — using snippets of their own skin. Meanwhile, a […]
Guest Post by Morbo About twice a year, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer writes a piece that actually makes sense. One ran last week. It is about “intelligent design” and is worth a look. Krauthammer called ID “today’s tarted-up version of creationism.” It’s a good line, and I wish I had thought of it. As I […]
Slate’s Fred Kaplan wrote a good piece earlier this week about Bush’s latest defense for the war. It seemed right at the time, but as the week has progressed, I’ve grown less sure. President George W. Bush has suddenly shifted rhetoric on the war in Iraq. Until recently, the administration’s line was basically, “Everything we […]
When Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court, the right was not only pleased to have vanquished the candidate they disapproved of, but said that a genuinely conservative nominee could finally spark a national discussion about the federal judiciary. It was a conversation they claimed to welcome. But as Dahlia Lithwick explained, it […]
When Patrick Fitzgerald saw the term of his original grand jury expire last month, he was not expected to convene a new one. After all, after indicting Scooter Libby, Fitzgerald said the “substantial bulk” of his work had been “completed.” And yet, as of today, there’s a new grand jury. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said […]