A Cornell scientist discovered it: Men whose masculinity is challenged become more inclined to support war or buy an SUV, a new study finds. Their attitudes against gays change, too. Cornell University researcher Robb Willer used a survey to sample undergraduates. Participants were randomly assigned feedback that indicated their responses were either masculine of feminine. The women had no discernable … Read More
It’s Constantinople, Not Istanbul
GWOT (the global war on terror) became GSAVE (the global struggle against violent extremism) only a week ago. Now it’s back to GWOT: GRAPEVINE, Tex., Aug. 3 – President Bush publicly overruled some of his top advisers on Wednesday in a debate about what to call the conflict with Islamic extremists, saying, "Make no mistake about it, we are at … Read More
Sleeping Bag Interrogation
Here’s another example of why torture doesn’t work: Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush … Read More
Dobson-Frist Smackdown
Focus On The Family’s Dr. James Dobson is apparently unhappy about Bill Frist’s flip-flop on stem cell research: Dobson says he can’t bear being "stabbed in the back by somebody that I thought was a friend … [And] that is what I think has happened here. This is not personal … Sen. Frist has not put the knife in my … Read More
My, Oh My, Ohio
The special election for Ohio’s Second District House seat was a real nail-biter. A highly conservative area, it should have been a shoe-in for Republican nominee Jean Schmidt. But her Democratic opponent was a Bush-bashing Iraqi War veteran named Paul Hackett. He lost . . . barely, and there are lessons to learned. From The Left Coaster: Major Paul Hackett … Read More
The Never-Ending “Last” Throes
Seven Marines on Monday. Fourteen marines on Tuesday. This is insane. Among the carnage is the sad story of Steven Vincent, a freelance journalist. We wrote an op-ed piece which appeared in the New York Times last Sunday, entitled “Switched Off in Basra”. It told of how the police in Basra, who are supposedly on our side, are mostly comprised … Read More
Coalition Of The Stupid
Right-centrist blogger John Cole says it all. The following is from him, but it echoes the sentiments of every educated person regardless of political persuasion: By now you have probably already heard (the hazards of not blogging for a few hours) that President Bush has endorsed the inclusion of intelligent design in public school curricula: President Bush said Monday he … Read More
The National Council of Bible Curriculum in Public Schools . . . Lies
Every sentence in this post (apart from this one) was ripped off from Jesse Taylor at Pandagon; he did the work so I didn’t have to. How does one teach the Bible in public schools? Not like this. Hundreds of miles away, leaders of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools notched another victory. A religious advocacy group … Read More
Watch This Story
This story caught my eye: WASHINGTON, July 31 – The Central Intelligence Agency was told by an informant in the spring of 2001 that Iraq had abandoned a major element of its nuclear weapons program, but the agency did not share the information with other agencies or with senior policy makers, a former C.I.A. officer has charged. In a lawsuit … Read More
That Didn’t Take Long
Bill Frist bucks Leader George and comes out for embryonic stem cell research. Good for him. Very quickly, he is condemned by the Christian Right, who he has catered to so relentlessly: WASHINGTON, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ — The Christian Defense Coalition says Sen. Bill Frist can no longer consider himself pro-life and vote to expand funding for embryonic stem … Read More
Word Choice
As we all know by now, George Orwell Bush has deemed that the “war on terror” be renamed the “struggle against violent extremism”, so that history will not depict him as losing a war, but engaging in a struggle. I’m not sure it gets him where he wants to be. After all, Mein Kampf translates to “my struggle”. And the … Read More
A Class Act
Bush flips the bird. Quicktime video here. And so, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God. – Bush Acceptance Speech, August 3, 2000. God, are … Read More
US Military Throws A Lifeline To Terrorists?
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today rejected calls to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, saying that would be a “mistake” because it would send a “lifeline to terrorists." – Washington Post, June 23, 2005 Pentagon officials have provided little detail in discussing the possible withdrawal of forces from Iraq. The most specific estimate has … Read More
It Was A Summary Execution
Mark Honigsbaum Thursday July 28, 2005 The Guardian Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot dead in the head, was not wearing a heavy jacket that might have concealed a bomb, and did not jump the ticket barrier when challenged by armed plainclothes police, his cousin said yesterday. Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Metropolitan police, … Read More
