The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Orlando's picture

    Hey Ross Douthat: What’s Your Point?

    I love it when men pontificate about what is wrong with women. Really (not really). I mean it (I don’t mean it).

    Love. It.

    That’s why I was so pleased to see Ross Douthat’s New York Times column today in which he discusses a new paper that a couple of economists have written, detailing how American women are less happy today than their 1960s counterparts (and also less happy than men).

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    acanuck's picture

    Vancouver 2010: coolest Olympics ever!

    The torch design for next year's Winter Olympics was apparently unveiled months ago. Only now have some sharp-eyed reporters started asking each other, "Hey, what does that look a bit like to you?"

    Personally, I love it. It sums up in one image the best British Columbia has to offer: winter sports and B.C. Bud. Now if only the organizers can sign up gold medalist Ross Rebagliati to kick off the torch relay.

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    Larry Jankens's picture

    Memorial Day: A Time for Honor... And Shame

    Memorial Day is a day that we honor our troops and their sacrifices. However, I think we should also take some time to shame some of the people that put them in harms way by enabling war profiteering for an ill-conceived war. After all, putting outmoded neocon foreign policy ideals and the pursuit of money in front of your own soldiers is something these people should be ashamed of.

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    DF's picture

    Is Healthcare Reform DOA?

    This Bill Moyers interview is a must-watch for anyone who cares about meaningful healthcare reform:

    Washington's abuzz about health care, but why isn't a single-payer plan an option on the table? Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney Wolfe and Physicians for a National Health Program's Dr. David Himmelstein on the political and logistical feasibility of health care reform.

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    acanuck's picture

    Memo to the president: here's how you shut Gitmo

    Orlando posed a puzzler yesterday: if you shut the Camp Delta prison, what do you do with inmates who have committed no known war crimes or acts of terrorism, but who still pose a security threat? How do you keep them from taking up arms or otherwise waging jihad against the U.S. and its allies?

    It's triflingly simple: Ask them to promise not to.

    "Huh?" I can hear you all saying. "That's crazy talk, acanuck. What's to stop them from breaking their word?" Well, first of all, the concept of "parole" has an honored place in Arab and Muslim history. It resonates.

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    Orlando's picture

    Stuff I Want to Learn: National Security

    Right after the election was over, I started a series of posts called Stuff I Learned, about the history of American presidents, as I read a book called The American Presidency. I didn't get very far into the book, and now I can't find it. I'm not all that worried about finishing, not being a fan of non-fiction.

    So, at least for now, I won't be sharing with you the stuff I learned about American history. Instead, I'm hoping you'll share with me stuff you already know, because I'm confused.

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    DF's picture

    Makin' the Sausage: Say That Five Times, Fast

    I don't think that many people would be all that shocked or alarmed if I were to write that politics can be downright silly at times.  Even so, creative legislators continue to come up new tactics that seem to defy all logic.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    History Lesson

    I took a walking tour of Westminster, London the other day. It was just drizzly enough to make you open an umbrella and at least windy enough to invert the umbrella once opened. English weather likes to tease visitors. The moment you think it's about to pour, it changes it's mind and goes all sunny. But as soon as you're ready to declare the rain past, it grays up and drizzles all over again.

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    Larry Jankens's picture

    First the "Gay Storm" now "I'm Confused"

    Don't worry kids, I'm confused too! Enjoy the ridiculous video and discuss. You'll be confused too.

    Larry Jankens's picture

    Harvard Study Concludes: Church Sucks!

    A new study by Harvard researcher Robert Putnam (from Bowling Alone fame) says that the percentage of young Americans who claim they have no religious affiliation that usually hovers between 5-10% has skyrocketed to 30-40%. While this trend started in the 90’s and has continued through Generation X and Y this is still a startling change. Putnam is releasing his findings and his corresponding musing in a new book, “American Grace” due out later this year.

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