"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by liberal japonicus This Rolling Stone cover story about Pope Francis is well worth reading. Some grafs I found interesting: A reporter asks Francis, who is standing at the head of the aisle, about the existence of a "gay lobby" within the Vatican. Francis begins by making a joke, saying he hasn't yet run into … Read more
by Ugh I see that ESPN's "Outside the Lines" is reporting that football players at Northwestern are attempting to unionize. I'm not an expert on labor law, the National Labor Relations Act, or the National Labor Relations Board. It seems that the key question is whether football players should be considered employees under the Act. … Read more
by Doctor Science I definitely had a 21st-century day yesterday: a home organizer helped me spend 3 hours sorting and tossing stuff from the living room. It’s not the case that *everyone* I know has a house with too much stuff in it, but it’s certainly most people. We’re going to be moving sometime in … Read more
by Doctor Science Andrew Sullivan linked to Jeff Kingston’s review of Tokyo Vernacular by Jordan Sand, and its discussion of the firebombing of Tokyo in WWII. Kingston says outside of Japan this is one of the forgotten horrors of WWII. … Oddly enough, there is no state memorial to this tragedy, and, in 1964, Emperor … Read more
by liberal japonicus I have to admit, I only looked at this news item because I thought it said 'Lone Ranger debacle could be avoided with a gadget' and thought 'how could you have saved that film with a gadget?' (Though I saw it on the airplane coming back from the states and it was … Read more
by Doctor Science (who’s back to being unable to log in under that name) I grew up in the 60s and 70s, which means (among other things) that I tend to distrust the benevolence and competence of the “three-letter agencies” (FBI, CIA, NSA, KGB). That is: I tend to assume that they’re up to not … Read more
by liberal japonicus This story is a depressing one, but I thought this was the most plaintive note. In a written appeal to his superiors, Powers asked that he be allowed to keep his job so he could focus on his work duties. "I am at a point in my career where I have reached … Read more
–by Sebastian Yesterday we were treated to yet another video of an armed officer using what appears to be excessive force against someone the officer is arresting. (10 News )This case is murkier than some, because from the video it is still possible that the man is actually resisting arrest in some ways. The man … Read more
by Doctor Science — who blogger.com has decided to let in again Adam Liptak at the NY Times doesn’t *have* to mock the Utah Attorney General’s office arguments against marriage equality (aka same-sex marriage), they come pre-mocked for your convenience: “A substantial body of social science research confirms,” the brief said, “that children generally fare … Read more
by Ugh Today SCOTUS heard arguments on NLRB v. Noel Canning, regarding when the President can make so-called recess appointments to fill vacancies in Executive Branch positions that require Senate confirmation, without Senate confirmation. This is allowed by Art. II, Sec. 2, which reads in pertinent part "The President shall have Power to fill … Read more