This just might be…
…the most depressing article I’ve read in a very long time.
Continue reading →neo
HCR’s vulnerability
David Brooks speaks of the “striking” vulnerability of HCR to challenges, “some of them scarcely discussed before passage.” Scarcely discussed? I guess the supposedly-conservative Brooks didn’t have the time to check out blogs or periodicals on the right, because he … Continue reading →
The Constitution and that 3/5 compromise
When Republicans offered their controversial reading of the Constitution at the opening session of this Congress, they and the Democrats who participated decided (wisely or unwisely; you be the judge) to hold back from reading every single word, and instead … Continue reading →
The fall of the house of Pahlavi
The sad news of the suicide in Boston of Alireza Pahlavi, the youngest son of the late and last Shah of Iran, is the most recent chapter in the sorrowful saga of the family. Here they are in happier days. … Continue reading →
The vaccine/autism connection was a fraud
Not an error: a deliberate fraud. Let that sink in a minute. It’s not been an inconsequential fraud, either; I completely agree with the contention, voiced in the British medical journal BMJ, that Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s original study purporting to … Continue reading →
Feel-good story of the day: the golden voice
I challenge anyone not to be touched by this story, and especially by the character of the guy’s fabulous mom (remember—ninety, not ninety-two):
Continue reading →The wheels of justice: Dupree freed
The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine: A Texas man declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison had at least two chances to make parole and be set free ”” if only he would admit … Continue reading →
If Michele Bachmann runs…
…for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, will she split some of the Palin-hatred and deflect it onto herself? Or will she magnify it? I’ve noticed that, although Bachmann has a smaller public profile than Palin, she taps into some … Continue reading →
We won’t have Robert Gibbs to kick around any more
Except that we will; Gibbs is leaving the White House press secretary post only to become a political adviser to the president and his re-election campaign. It will still be very pleasant not to have Gibbs as Obama’s public face … Continue reading →
Bedbugs and the Buckeye State
Ohio may be losing jobs and losing people. But there’s a counterbalance: the state is gaining bedbugs, and nobody knows why.
Continue reading →The bleak, baroque, berserk “Black Swan”
“Black Swan” was one of those movies I just had to see. After all, it’s described as a psychological thriller about ballet. So, what’s not to like? Well, just about everything. I didn’t merely dislike this film, I loathed it. … Continue reading →
Huck loses the n-word
It was only a matter of time, I guess. A new edition of Twain’s classic Huckleberry Finn will be coming out minus the offending n-word, which will be replaced by the term “slave.” In related news, the same edition will … Continue reading →