Since there's nothing else to write about and the 5 remaining paid journalists in our Best Country on Earth are clearly smarter than I am (they have figured out how to get paid for journalism), here are some things that they are saying that I think are smart because I agree… Read full post »

Kru-bear wonders how anyone can be swayed by anti-government arguments against the health care plan after the failure of capitalism. Never send an economist to do the job of a highly trained student of culture!

What's the problem? Why can't progressives seal the communication deal? The way the health… Read full post »

Hello from sunny Oakland, CA. Drove across the country with two cats, started the new job, got an apartment, and three weeks later ---- internet!

And boy howdy have things been going on while I didn't have internet.

Anyway, I have many exciting and original thoughts on the issues of the… Read full post »

Hit "play." Ok now you can read.

We recently watched the new "thoughtful" sci fi movie Moon. It's a good movie for those of us who enjoy a nice, serious sci-fi movie now and then. It's also good for one of my favorite activities - comparing things! This is… Read full post »

hello dear reader(s?),

i've been absent for quite some time and i apologize.  the invisible hand leaves no stone unturned and after some upheaval i have a lot more free time on my hands. i also moved recently. a few other things are looming on the horizon, but i am planning… Read full post »

• Only one story today: why do Republicans keep shunning men (as is their tradition) for women? Are they secret feminazis? Stay tuned.

• Oh boy, a round of green shoots for everyone! Except apparently the reason why unemployment claims went down is because people have been unemployed so long they've run out of unemployment. Did I mention green shoots?
• Unhappy coinkydink or real-life Devil's Advocate? You decide: Goldman Sachs on tra
… Read full post »

Starting a new feature to highlight items that I'm constantly e-mailing to my friends and posting on my facebook. These little items might not merit a whole post, but they are worth reading. Like your daily bread, but healthier and moar sustainable!

• Former Zionist Tony Judt writes about settlements
… Read full post »

NPR's Steve Inskeep and Juan Williams discussed Republican opposition to Obama's health care initiative this morning. After repeating Democrat talking points on health care, Juan Williams repeated Republican talking poins on health care. At this point (around the 3 minute mark) we get the following e… Read full post »

This photograph is from the book Curse of the Black Gold which documents the environmental and human wreckage of 50 years of oil exploitation in the Niger Delta. More pictures from the book were featured in a Mother Jones photo essay found here.

While… Read full post »

With Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas and The Social Construction of the Ocean on my Amazon wishlist, I thought I'd give a little hello to water news from the last few days:

• Who knew that the Gulf of Mexico has a "deadzone" the size of New Jersey due to
… Read full post »

In the category of "I thought we were in agreement on this issue," presumed guilt for Guantanamo detainees is still very much an acceptable perspective for an average American to hold. I will now demonstrate this through the very scientific rhetorical technique known as "here's a conversation I had t… Read full post »

Between August and October 2005 Palestinians and their supporters expressed fears that the Israeli pullout from Gaza would give Ariel Sharon the cover he'd need to expand settlement construction in the West Bank. They were essentially accusing Sharon of magic tricks: "look at the pretty lady on the l… Read full post »

Access to housing and the right to build  new homes in Israel and the Occupied Territories has been in the news lately as the Obama and Netanyahu administrations wrangle over settlement policy.

Both Clinton and Obama have made unequivocal statements regarding the need for a stop to settlement c… Read full post »

After a long weekend off the RNC stumbled into the work week by accidentally sending copies of its Sotomayor talking points to members of the media. They are phenomenally uninteresting. Except for one part. Here it is:

"Justice Souter's retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critic… Read full post »

The Times recently did a travel piece on adventure family vacations to Israel. They also had a slideshow.

The article is a pretty standard tourist review - what to do and where to stay for ten days of fun. When I read it, a wave of familiarity washed over me like… Read full post »

Red State, the popular online community for conservative thought, recently featured a letter from a movement conservative reaching out to American black people. Here's an excerpt:

"Dear American Blacks:

Sometimes the very best act of friendship I could do is tell you that the person you think… Read full post »

The faithful stenographers at Politico share a leaked memo from GOP strategist Frank Luntz on the ideal language for conservatives to use in the upcoming health care fight. Luntz does not discuss a potential GOP plan - the memo only provides a guide for opposing a hypothetical universal health plan (… Read full post »

• What conclusions can we draw
… Read full post »

Current events rarely stray too far from political issues and swine flu is no exception. By taking a detailed look at the following three issues over the next several days I hope to draw some lines between politics and health illustrated by the current crisis.

• What conclusions can we
… Read full post »

I will never refer to anyone as "sheeple."

I will never finish a paragraph with "Wake Up, America!"

I will never urge anyone to "think about it!" when I make an interesting point.

Unless I am referring to members of the following, I will never call anyone a fascist.

In a… Read full post »

Dear Michelle Malkin,

For as long as I can remember, I've had Yahoo! as my homepage. And even though Firefox liberated us from the disaster of having to choose a single homepage many years ago (I now sport 4 pages that are all "home") Yahoo! is still the very first thing I see when… Read full post »

Soldier accounts of Gaza assault:

"The soldier was quoted as saying that the rabbis had “brought in a lot of booklets and articles,” adding, “their message was very clear: We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle. God brought us back to this land, and now… Read full post »