"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by Katherine I’m not quite sure what to make of today’s news, so I thought I’d put up an open thread. There are actually two big stories: the proposed bill, which is incredibly important but not surprising, and the announcement that Hambali, KSM, Ramzi bin al Shibh et al are being transferred to Guantanamo, which … Read more
by Andrew Alex over at Inactivist has a good post up about President Bush’s speech yesterday conflating Iran and Nazi Germany. As Alex notes, the President is walking a fine line with the current situation in Iran: he’s got to convince people that Iran is a serious problem, but he also has to convince them … Read more
by Charles The ABC News blog The Blotter garnered attention earlier today, quoting a Pakistani general and "Pakistani officials" that Osama bin Laden was granted amnesty as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban: If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC … Read more
by Charles
Last Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced a makeover:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today announced the launch of a new brand identity and logo. The new identity focuses on openness, professionalism and the pursuit of mutual understanding and justice.
If CAIR were serious about openness, they would open their books and tell us where their money comes from. For example, last June, CAIR announced a $50 million expenditure:
by hilzoy Via Unfogged, a story on sexual cannibalism. Becks couldn’t figure out what to excerpt, and I can see why; you should read the whole bizarre thing. However, a taste (as it were): “Male Australian redback spiders court females for up to eight hours by plucking the strands of their web. Once a male … Read more
by hilzoy For your labor day evening pleasure, some graphs on the state of ordinary working people in the US. First, economic mobility. We in America take pride in having been a Land of Opportunity. And we should: it’s a great thing when people born to rich and poor parents alike can move up the … Read more
by hilzoy
Paul Krugman has an excellent article today. (Sorry; TimesSelect.) It begins:
“Let me tell you about two government-financed health care programs. One, the Veterans Health Administration, is a stunning success — but the administration and Republicans in Congress refuse to build on that success, because it doesn’t fit their conservative agenda. The other, Medicare Advantage, is a clear failure, but it’s expanding rapidly thanks to large subsidies the administration rammed through Congress in 2003.”
Further excerpts and discussion below the fold.
by hilzoy Via Gary Farber, one more indication that we, as a nation, are giving up on the presumption of innocence: “An Ohio legislative panel yesterday rubber-stamped an unprecedented process that would allow sex offenders to be publicly identified and tracked even if they’ve never been charged with a crime. No one in attendance voiced … Read more
by hilzoy Lee Siegel — the TNR editor who wrote that left bloggers are “hard fascism with a Microsoft face”, wanted to guillotine people who wear baseball caps, said that conservatives are in power because the left supports pedophilia, and deeply regrets not having slept with Uma Thurman when she was sixteen — has been … Read more
