Sunday, November 15, 2009

15 Nov 2009 04:20 pm

Mental Health Break

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

15 Nov 2009 02:45 pm

Branding The Children

It's best to start young:

[C]ompanies seeking an edge over their rivals should ensure that children are exposed to their brands as early in life as possible. That's according to Andrew Ellis and colleagues, whose new research shows that the classic "age-of-acquisition" effect in psychology applies to brand names as much as it does to everyday words.

15 Nov 2009 02:07 pm

Water As Nesting Dolls

Kottke captions a 3QD find:

When you shoot video of water drops falling into a puddle in super slow motion, it turns out that they bounce in really interesting ways.

15 Nov 2009 01:55 pm

How The Blind See

Mary Bates explains:

In essence, when blind people hear the actions of others, they use the same network of cortical brain areas that sighted people use when they observe such actions. This fits into what we already know about how some regions of the brain are recruited for different uses by blind people. For example, congenitally blind individuals rely on areas in the visual cortex to acquire information about an object’s shape and movement through other senses like touch and hearing. As Ricciardi, Pietrini and colleagues point out, the recruitment of visual brain areas for nonvisual recognition in congenitally blind individuals indicates that neither visual experience nor visual imagery is required to form an abstract representation of objects.

15 Nov 2009 12:53 pm

On Remaining Catholic, Ctd

Continue reading "On Remaining Catholic, Ctd" »

15 Nov 2009 11:03 am

Last Meals

Slate marks the death of the DC Sniper by studying final food requests of prisoners about to be executed:

The last meals of death row inmates are often quite memorable. Karla Faye Tucker requested a fruit plate but didn't eat it. John Wayne Gacy asked for shrimp, fried chicken, French fries, and a pound of strawberries. Timothy McVeigh ate two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Instead of a last meal, Tennessee convict Philip Workman requested that pizza be distributed to the homeless in Nashville. (Prison officials denied his request, but local groups passed out pizza in his honor.) Before his execution in 2000, convicted rapist and murderer Odell Barnes requested a last meal of "Justice, Equality, World Peace." In 1992, Arkansas convict Ricky Ray Rector, who had brain damage from shooting himself in the head after killing a police officer, ate a final meal of steak, fried chicken, and cherry Kool-Aid, but famously said he wanted to save his pecan pie for later.

15 Nov 2009 09:43 am

"Jesus Fixes Everything"

Tara McKelvey argues that the religiosity of Bush-era appointees had a detrimental effect on soldiers with PTSD:

[Paul] Sullivan was working as an analyst at the Veterans Benefits Administration in Washington in early 2005 when he was called to a meeting with a top political appointee at the VA, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Michael McLendon. McLendon, an intensely focused man in a neatly pressed suit, kept a Bible on his desk at the office. Sullivan explained to McLendon and the other attendees that the rise in benefits claims the VA was noticing was caused partly by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were suffering from PTSD. “That’s too many,” McLendon said, then hit his hand on the table. “They are too young” to be filing claims, and they are doing it “too soon.” He hit the table again. The claims, he said, are “costing us too much money,” and if the veterans “believed in God and country . . . they would not come home with PTSD.”

Continue reading ""Jesus Fixes Everything"" »

15 Nov 2009 08:18 am

Charity And Justice In Washington DC

A reader writes:

Continue reading "Charity And Justice In Washington DC" »

15 Nov 2009 01:24 am

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Summary Before The Next Round

On the eve of Palin's latest version of reality, the Dish offers a recap of all the demonstrable lies she has told in the public record. We reprint the list as a public service and invite readers to run the new "book" through exactly the same empirical wringer, so we can compile an up-to-date and comprehensive list of the fantasies, delusions, lies and non-facts that Palin is so pathologically and unalterably attached to. Remember: we are not including contested stories that we cannot prove definitively one way or another or the usual spin that politicians use, or even hypocrisy or shading of facts. We are merely including things she has said or written that can be definitively proven as untrue, by incontestable evidence in the public record.

After you have read these, ask yourself: what wouldn't Sarah Palin lie about if she felt she had to?

Palin lied when she said the dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, had nothing to do with his refusal to fire state trooper Mike Wooten; in fact, the Branchflower Report concluded that she repeatedly abused her power when dealing with both men.

Palin lied when she repeatedly claimed to have said, "Thanks, but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere; in fact, she openly campaigned for the federal project when running for governor.

Palin lied when she denied that Wasilla's police chief and librarian had been fired; in fact, both were given letters of termination the previous day.

Palin lied when she wrote in the NYT that a comprehensive review by Alaska wildlife officials showed that polar bears were not endangered; in fact, email correspondence between those scientists showed the opposite.

Palin lied when she claimed in her convention speech that an oil gas pipeline "began" under her guidance; in fact, the pipeline was years from breaking ground, if at all.

Palin lied when she told Charlie Gibson that she does not pass judgment on gay people; in fact, she opposes all rights between gay spouses and belongs to a church that promotes conversion therapy.

Palin lied when she denied having said that humans do not contribute to climate change; in fact, she had previously proclaimed that human activity was not to blame.

Palin lied when she claimed that Alaska produces 20 percent of the country's domestic energy supply; in fact, the actual figures, based on any interpretation of her words, are much, much lower.

Palin lied when she told voters she improvised her convention speech when her teleprompter stopped working properly; in fact, all reports showed that the machine had functioned perfectly and that her speech had closely followed the script.

Palin lied when she recalled asking her daughters to vote on whether she should accept the VP offer; in fact, her story contradicts details given by her husband, the McCain campaign, and even Palin herself. (She later added another version.)

Continue reading "The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Summary Before The Next Round" »

15 Nov 2009 12:10 am

"A Narrative That Is Completely False"

The Dish is going to wait for the actual "book" "by" Sarah Palin before analyzing its factual accuracy. The excerpts are so far incomplete and context is missing. The odd lies compiled by the Dish were strictly limited to statements she has made that are directly contradicted by clear and available evidence that she simply refuses to acknowledge. But the first pushback from the McCain campaign does not, shall we say, surprise me. Check this out as an hors d'oeuvre.

As this blog persistently demonstrated in last year's campaign, Palin is a delusional fantasist, existing in a world of her own imagination, asserting fact after fact that are demonstrably untrue, and unable to adjust to the actual reality after it has been demonstrated beyond any empirical doubt. The campaign's media strategy of making sure she was never in a position to be asked anything in an uncontrolled setting, and of never holding an open press conference (unprecedented in the history of presidential campaigns) were a response to this. The only interview that dared stray even a little from this fawning celebrity-deference, Katie Couric's, revealed Palin to be an astonishingly inept know-nothing, camouflaged by incessant victimology.

She is a deeply disturbed individual whose grip on reality is very weak, and whose self-awareness is close to nil. This much is not a leap, let alone unfair. It is simply unavoidable if one examines her surreal invention of reality - even when she must surely know that the evidence exists out there to contradict her.

As I have long noted, this is not the usual political mendacity and spin. It is far weirder and more disturbing than that. She creates her own reality. And the fact-indifferent, editor-free marketing company, HarperCollins, is only too willing to make some money off it.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

14 Nov 2009 08:24 pm

Face Of The Day

Indian child labourer All Amin who works in a brick field, speaks during a press conference in Kolkata on November 13, 2009 on the eve of Children's Day. In India, Children's Day is commemerated on November 14, the date which marks the birth anniversary of independent India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru while November 20 is celebrated as Children's Day globally. By Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty.

14 Nov 2009 07:29 pm

Double The Tips

Sager highlights a story about NYC cab drivers being required to let customers pay with credit card. The cab drivers resisted but are now making more money as a result:

The story boils down to loss aversion blinding the cabbies to two salient facts about credit cards: 1) They make people spend more, 2) They can be programmed with “default” tip amounts much higher than what drivers were typically receiving with cash.

Continue reading "Double The Tips" »

14 Nov 2009 06:51 pm

You Aught To Remember: Torture Porn

Number 63 on Matt Sigli's countdown:

The modest bloodbaths of past slasher films proved too tame for the insatiable bloodlust of 21st Century audiences; we now had an appetite for scenes of distended violence, maximum bloodletting on the side please. The visceral thrills of viscera proved too tantalizing to refrain from indulging. Do, Do, Do...the Strappado! Torture porn is a game of chicken between director and audience. [...]

Popular offenders include: Eli Roth's Hostel and Hostel II, Wolf Creek (it's torture mate!), remakes of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its new prequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Captivity and Touristas (a film in which the violence had become so explicit and banal that it felt more like viewing surgery footage than a fictional horror film). Other filmmakers would not want their work to be classified alongside these cheap exploitative pics but Lars Von Trier's recent provocation Anti-Christ and, especially, Mel Gibson's two hour gladiatorial exercise in sadism masquerading as religious devotional, The Passion Of The Christ, are as much part of the genre as is any of Eli Roth's less highbrow entries. The film series that defined what torture porn was all about was, of course, the Saw films.

The Atlantic's James Parker touched upon the genre in his April essay, "Don't Fear the Reaper":

Continue reading "You Aught To Remember: Torture Porn" »

14 Nov 2009 06:32 pm

On "Crap," Ctd

Steven Pressfield's thoughts fit nicely in the thread:

When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, your mind becomes powerfully concentrated. You begin to understand that writing/reading is, above all, a transaction. The reader donates his time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. In return, you the writer, must give him something worthy of his gift to you. 

Ben Casnocha's two cents:

Continue reading "On "Crap," Ctd" »

14 Nov 2009 05:54 pm

The View From Your Window

Bloomingfield Hills, Michigan, 3.36 pm

14 Nov 2009 05:17 pm

Countering Hayek

Bruce Bartlett defends the "Europeanization" of America:

I don't mean to imply that Europeanization is unambiguously good; only that it's not unambiguously bad, as virtually all conservatives believe. There are many ways I think we could learn from the Europeans and they from us. One way we can learn from them is how to have a tax system that raises considerably more revenue as a share of the economy than ours does without killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

 

At a minimum, I think it's safe to say that Hayek was wrong about the inevitability of totalitarianism arising from growth in the size of government. The collapse of communism is proof enough of that.

14 Nov 2009 04:48 pm

Worst Love Letter Ever?

Lord Byron is spinning, at 10,000 rpm, in his grave.

14 Nov 2009 04:20 pm

Mental Health Break

(Hat tip: Likecool)

14 Nov 2009 03:37 pm

Dandelion And Orchid Children

The Atlantic has a wonderful article in the new issue by David Dobbs on how the same genes can be advantageous or debilitating:

Gene variants generally considered misfortunes (poor Jim, he got the "bad" gene) can instead now be understood as highly leveraged evolutionary bets, with both high risks and high potential rewards: gambles that help create a diversified-portfolio approach to survival, with selection favoring parents who happen to invest in both dandelions and orchids.

Continue reading "Dandelion And Orchid Children" »

14 Nov 2009 03:03 pm

What Once Was Common

Kottke:

From a book called Obsolete, a list of things that were once common but not so much anymore: blind dates, mix tapes, getting lost, porn magazines, looking old, operators, camera film, hitchhiking, body hair, writing letters, basketball players in short shorts, privacy, cash, and, yes, books.

And real conservatives.

14 Nov 2009 03:02 pm

Awkward Science Fair Projects

A gallery of 35 WTFs.

14 Nov 2009 02:56 pm

Hannity's "Apology"

A reader writes:

When I first heard that Hannity was offering up an apology (confession?) for his video lie, I was impressed. I honestly didn't think he had it in him. And then I watched the damn thing. Turns out I was right. Forget the tone, which I found gratingly smug. Or the final punchline thanking Stewart's writers for watching, a lame attempt to diffuse the troubling transgression with humor. What keeps nagging at me is his claim that it was some sort of accident. That no one meant for it to happen. Sorry, but I don't buy that for a second. Those sorts of things don't simply "happen".

Let me explain.

I have been working in television for the past 15 years. I know in detail how these things work: 1) you are assigned a story, 2) you send out a crew to shoot the necessary footage, 3) the footage is brought back to the studio and loaded into the Avid, or whatever editing system you are using, 4) you cut together your piece based on THE FOOTAGE AT HAND.

Continue reading "Hannity's "Apology"" »

14 Nov 2009 02:50 pm

Does It Matter If Political Candidates Are Good-Looking?

Yes, but not enough to swing an election.

14 Nov 2009 01:45 pm

Sarah Palin, Obsessive Daily Dish Reader

Sources with access to Palin have indeed told to me that the Wasilla whack-job was an obsessive reader of this blog as it dared to ask factual questions about her past that could be easily answered. I have no way of knowing this myself, and regard it as odd that a vice-presidential candidate would be hell-bent on suing a blogger who, presumably, was merely making a total ass of himself in wondering if Palin's surreal account of her last pregnancy was factually accurate.

Or is there something there - of some unknown sort - that she desperately wanted to intimidate and suppress? As Bubble would note: "Who can say?" What can Levi possibly mean that "she knows what I got on her?"

The MSM won't touch this, of course.

Continue reading "Sarah Palin, Obsessive Daily Dish Reader" »

14 Nov 2009 01:03 pm

Wikis Of The Week

Best of Wikipedia:

Redshirt is a slang term for a minor stock character in an adventure drama who dies violently  soon after being introduced to dramatize the dangerous situation faced by the main characters. The term originated with the science fiction television series Star Trek, from the red shirts worn by Starfleet security officers, who frequently beamed down with a landing party, only to become the first, and sometimes only, victims within the party.

Blogawiki:

Continue reading "Wikis Of The Week" »

14 Nov 2009 12:21 pm

An Ivory Tower With A Rainbow Hued Foundation

Petrelis pushes HRC to open itself up to the public:

Imagine if [HRC executive director Joe] Solmonese began holding regular monthly town halls at HRC's state-of-the-art media center at their DC headquarters, with any member of the gay public allowed to ask direct questions and questions submitted from gays around the country via email, YouTube and Twitter, and all of it streamed on HRC's web site.

Continue reading "An Ivory Tower With A Rainbow Hued Foundation" »

14 Nov 2009 11:39 am

A Nose Never Forgets

Jonah Lehrer connects smell and memory:

Why is smell so sentimental? One possibility, which is supported by this recent experiment, is that the olfactory cortex has a direct neural link to the hippocampus. In contrast, all of our other senses (sight, touch and hearing) are first processed somewhere else - they go to the thalamus - and only then make their way to our memory center. This helps explain why we're so dependent on metaphors to describe taste and smell. We always describe foods by comparing them to something else, which we've tasted before. ("These madeleines taste just like my grandmother's madeleines!" Or: "These madeleines taste like the inside of a lemon poppy seed cake!") In contrast, we have a rich language of adjectives to describe what we see and hear, which allows us to define the sensory stimulus in lucid detail. As a result, we don't have to lean so heavily on simile and comparison.

14 Nov 2009 10:53 am

Shortsighted On King Dollar

Matt Steinglass argues that the American obsession with a falling dollar isn't irrational:

People have been reporting Americans’ discomfort with the idea of a falling dollar as if it were completely irrational and based on linguistic confusion, as if Americans just like the idea of “strength”.

Continue reading "Shortsighted On King Dollar" »

14 Nov 2009 10:06 am

The Barbarian Inside The Gate

"I was very struck also by Janet Napolitano’s comment, I hadn’t read it before to see her say that, that the number one priority is to bring [Hasan] to justice is such a knee-jerk comment and such a stupid comment. He’s going to be brought to justice. He is not going to be innocent of murder. There are a lot of eyewitnesses to that. They should just go ahead and convict him and put him to death," - William Kristol, appearing on Fox News.

Let us be clear: this is a fascist statement.

You begin to understand now why these goons instituted torture. They have total contempt for the Western system of justice, utter contempt for the rule of law. Kristol here is all but calling for a lynching. This is what "conservatism" has come to: the worship of violence and revenge. It makes the Cheney years more comprehensible, doesn't it?

14 Nov 2009 10:02 am

The Aughts In Seven Minutes

Newsweek makes a commemorative video.

14 Nov 2009 09:18 am

"I Just Know," Ctd

A reader writes:

That e-mail you highlighted struck a chord. I am 39, straight and happily married for 21+ years to my high school sweetheart. Since my childhood I have always defended gays, even before I knew who among my close friends were gay.  For this I was ridiculed and rejected by many - including members of my family - but mostly I was myself labeled gay by these critics.  Being called effeminate and gay was something that, as a sensitive, artistic kid, I had dealt with plenty growing up.  Honestly, the label was meaningless to me since I didn't associate homosexuality with anything bad.  That and I knew who I was.

As a tenth-grader I met and fell in love with my soulmate.  It was a strange period, though, and shortly thereafter I dropped out of school to become a hairdresser.  At cosmetology school I met an incredibly gifted hairdresser with whom I clicked and left home to move in with.  That he was gay made no difference to me or my girlfriend, who was a regular fixture at our house.

Continue reading ""I Just Know," Ctd" »

14 Nov 2009 08:29 am

The Long Debate

Ezra Klein interviews Greg Koger, the author of an upcoming book on the filibuster. Koger:

The benefit to the majority can be that public attention focuses. They know the bill is there and they know the Republicans are blocking it. That becomes the basis for news coverage. When will the bill be done? What's going on today? In that sense, you can win. The point is not that you exhaust the Republicans, but that you embarrass them. X number of people died today. I hope that whatever you had to say was more important.

Friday, November 13, 2009

13 Nov 2009 11:15 pm

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish we aired reaction from Ambinder and Marcy Wheeler over news that KSM and others will stand trial in a civilian court near Ground Zero. Andrew reacted to word that Obama will tackle the deficit head-on next year. He also responded to Dreher's questioning of him remaining a Catholic and laid into Hannity's corruption of conservatism.

In advance of the Oprah interview airing on Monday, we discovered that Palin will go after McCain staffers, her book has little accuracy, it also has no index, and that she is "too dumb" for Althouse.

Most of all, we learned that Palin wanted to sue the Dish.

-- C.B.

13 Nov 2009 08:50 pm

The Other Lesson Of Fort Hood, Ctd

A reader writes:

I really have to chime in on this topic. I spent the better part of last year deployed to Afghanistan, where I was stationed at Bagram. Part of my job, actually the most important part, was to coordinate the transfer of my unit's fallen back home. This was something that I never, ever looked forward to, but it was a duty I took very seriously. Part of this duty was a departure ceremony as our fallen left Afghanistan for Dover. I don't think you can ever realize how powerful these ceremonies are until you've taken part in one.

At Bagram, all personnel not performing an essential task would line up on the main drive through Bagram. As the open backed HUMMV carrying the flagged draped transfer case slowly proceeded from the mortuary down the main drive to the airfield, everyone would come to attention and render a salute. There would be thousands of people, soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, lined up as for this. The fallen hero would be taken on to the tarmac and driven to an empty C-17 that had its ramp lowered, waiting to receive the transfer case. An honor guard and a cordon, as well as hundreds of servicemen and women, would be silently standing at attention as an honor guard carried the remains to the center of the aircraft. Whenever possible I would arrange for the honor guard and cordon to come from the fallen's team or platoon. Always, always, always, they wanted to be the ones to perform this service.

The last fallen hero ramp ceremony I put together still stings in my memory.

Continue reading "The Other Lesson Of Fort Hood, Ctd" »

13 Nov 2009 08:24 pm

Palin Wanted To Sue The Dish

I've heard it before from a source very close to her - a source who also told me that Palin was obsessed with this blog for much of the campaign. But today a Wall Street Journal reporter also came across that story, asked me for comment and is publishing it tomorrow. Apparently, the idea was quashed because it was thought a libel suit wouldn't work (duh) and it would only give me and the Dish more publicity (double duh). Much better to ignore me completely, and to smear me as a loon, and get Palin lapdog Howie Kurtz to do your dirty work, as the campaign wisely did.

But two thoughts: has she ever heard of discovery?

Continue reading "Palin Wanted To Sue The Dish" »

13 Nov 2009 08:16 pm

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin, To Be Continued

I'm traveling in Texas and sunk into political philosophy for a couple of heavenly days, so this will have to wait till Monday. But the AP's first glance at the Palin "book" reveals that the pattern of Palin's surreal delusions - a pattern that became obvious over the period of the campaign - remains firmly intact.

The AP has discovered fourteen already proven lies that Palin continues to tell as if they were true. 

Of course, I expected this. WhorperCollins has no interest in actually editing the book for accuracy - or editing the book at all. And Palin has no grip on any form of reality but her own solipsistic fantasies. The Dish's comprehensive list of Palin's lies will soon be updated for the record. And we hope to compile it as a handy reference book before too long.

13 Nov 2009 08:14 pm

Winning The Drug War By Ending It

DiA finds that drug reformers are in good spirits:

What's changed. There have been a few movements at the federal level, such as the administration's decision not to target federal dispensaries. As the drug-policy reformers generally get less attention or even lip service than the other groups mentioned above, they may be happier with smaller gains. There have also been several victories in the states, and there is a growing belief here that, because of congressional and presidential shirking of the issue, any national reform will be driven by momentum from the states.

Continue reading "Winning The Drug War By Ending It" »

13 Nov 2009 08:05 pm

The Rules For The Oprah Interview

Here's a strange comment by Winfrey in the tiny clip we've been offered of the looming book interview. It was referring to the Katie Couric interview:

"You talk about it in the book so I assume everything in there is fair game."

One wonders: did Winfrey agree in advance that the only valid questions were about the contents of the book? Is Palin once again setting parameters for interviewers, and what they can and cannot ask? Are we going to endure that farce all over again?

The sealing of Palin off from substantive, real questions is a real issue. Now she's a celebrity and not even posing as a politician, it's less outrageous than the MSM's cowardice and weakness in the campaign. But she has not ruled out a political office in future and she sure is a political figure. We learn again that the media in this country are not actually interested in truth; they are interested in ratings and entertainment. 

13 Nov 2009 07:34 pm

“Romneyesque"

Larison battles with Ambers over the meaning of the adjective:

[T]here is something that makes Romney less trustworthy than most, and this is the earnestness with which he embraces his new positions, as if he thinks he has outsmarted his audience and made us forget that he believed the opposite just five seconds before. Romney is probably the only politician who could make me have respect for Rudy Giuliani by comparison. Giuliani at least believes what he believes and isn’t interested in changing that for a few votes.

13 Nov 2009 07:06 pm

Why Do We Buy Homes?

Modeled Behavior doesn't understand why we don't just sign longer leases:

I suspect that people want the collateral value of the home. That is, they want a large piece of property that they can readily borrow against. When people say owning a home provides security, what they really mean is “the ability to take out a second mortgage when things get rough” provides security...I am not sure what the implication for this are but it seems to me that it represents some type of dysfunction in financial markets or human discounting. Why is it better to accumulate a security through home equity rather than savings?

13 Nov 2009 06:40 pm

Face Of The Day

Roma children play in the village of Raducaneni, 300 km northeast of Bucharest on November 12, 2009. The number of Romanians at risk of falling into poverty will increase by 1.7 percent from 2008, up to 7.4%, with the children facing higher risks according to the World Bank's Country Partnership Strategy with Romania. By Daniel Mihailescu/Getty.

13 Nov 2009 06:15 pm

"Too Dumb To Be President"

After reading an excerpt from Palin's book, Althouse concludes:

It seems that Sarah Palin wasn't able or didn't want to bother to analyze whether she was ready to debut on the big media stage, and she wasn't large-minded enough to think beyond herself to what it would mean for the whole campaign. That is, she was dumb. She was too dumb to handle campaign responsibilities properly, so she was clearly too dumb to step into the role of President of the United States.

Could she build up her political intelligence? Might she have it now or by 2012? If these 2 pages of  "Going Rogue" are any evidence, she is displaying her weaknesses all over again, and she is still too dumb to be President. And, most scarily, she doesn't know how dumb she still is.

13 Nov 2009 05:41 pm

Beyond Politics

Ambers take on giving US trials to KSM and other terrorists:

If this is politics, it's really dumb politics. And that's why it's probably not politics. Occam's razor applies. Obama and Holder are sincerely -- perhaps naively, but that's something we won't know for a while -- attempting to change the way the American people and the world think about counterterrorism.

Continue reading "Beyond Politics" »

13 Nov 2009 05:23 pm

Mr. Pragmatic

Jeffrey Rosen finds it unlikely that the Supreme Court would interfere with the Stupak amendment, should it pass:

[A]bortion is one area where the common ground Obama seeks may not exist. In that case, the president may conclude, like Nancy Pelosi, that it’s not worth sacrificing health care reform over an important but ultimately peripheral battle in the culture wars. If giving millions of uninsured women access to life-saving procedures like dialysis and chemotherapy requires making it harder for a much smaller number of self-insured women to get abortion coverage, the pragmatic calculation is understandable. But that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

Ezra Klein is more worried about the possible long-term consequences.

13 Nov 2009 04:44 pm

Chart Of The Day

Land mass and population by country.

13 Nov 2009 04:20 pm

Mental Health Break

A Sudanese rapper has to start somewhere:

13 Nov 2009 03:43 pm

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin, Ctd

Her book says:

[Palin] accuses the McCain campaign of keeping her away from reporters, which fed a perception that she was ignoring the media. She writes that she sat down with Katie Couric in part because she felt sorry for her, after Nicolle Wallace, a McCain aide, said Ms. Couric suffered from low self-esteem.

A McCain staffer tells a different story.

13 Nov 2009 03:34 pm

Why No Index?

Many are speculating that Palin is trying to deprive DC insiders their ritual of jumping to the index of a new book to spot their own names. But Samuel P. Jacobs puts forth a simpler reason:

[T]ime. It takes two to three weeks to put together a good index, says Peter Osnos, the founder of Public Affairs, who has published Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan, Scott McClellan, and nearly every other Washington macher over the years. Cutting an index can mean the difference between getting a book into stores well before Thanksgiving or missing the holiday sales season altogether. Speed is at an even greater premium now, in the age of e-books and instant downloads on the Kindle.

13 Nov 2009 03:07 pm

PEPFAR In Uganda

As Uganda's government passes laws and issues statements about homosexuals that are reminiscent of genocidal governments in the past, should the US continue to give the government funds to combat AIDS and HIV? Charles Francis argues that we need to rethink:

This is a critical juncture for PEPFAR before the world community. Will we stand by and let national governments scapegoat a sexual minority for HIV/AIDS while receiving major funding for AIDS relief? Will the U.S. fund radical, anti-gay prevention programs that could become a model for other parliaments and governments? 

Continue reading "PEPFAR In Uganda" »

13 Nov 2009 02:40 pm

"A Fundamental Disconnect," Ctd

Lane Kensworthy sums up a primary argument of Bruce Bartlett's new book:

The chief economic problem we now face, in Bartlett’s view, is not high marginal tax rates. It is the aging of baby boomers to whom we have made Medicare and Social Security commitments. Absent “massive and politically impossible cuts,” this will cause federal government expenditures to rise from 20% of GDP to around 30% over the coming generation. Supply-side dogma leaves Republicans ill-prepared for this challenge. “When the crunch comes and the need for a major increase in revenue becomes overwhelming,” says Bartlett, “I expect that Republicans will refuse to participate in the process. If Democrats have to raise taxes with no bipartisan support, then they will have no choice but to cater to the demands of their party’s most liberal wing. This will mean higher rates on businesses and entrepreneurs, and soak-the-rich policies that would make Franklin D. Roosevelt blush.”

Continue reading ""A Fundamental Disconnect," Ctd " »