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Who would Weber vote for in this election? Here’s a hint: As far as political… activities are concerned… Western experience has presented two
中文翻譯 Last week the American Anthropology Association (AAA) announced the results of a historic vote over a resolution advocating the academic
An audit of the U.S. military’s spending in Afghanistan has revealed that a whopping $45 billion is unaccounted for. – Full Story From a post I
中文翻譯 The occupation, by several hundred students, of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan on March 18th, and the subsequent birth of what has been called the
turned into a charter for all around interference for one reason: the occupying power gave itself the prerogative to
It is, however, a standard tactic of the people at the top in China to attribute the ordeals of the populace to misbehavior by lower officials and
Two stories about intelligence reports from the CIA and the war in Iraq. In the first one, on WMDs, the CIA got the story wrong because they fit the
it is no longer accurate to describe the Democrats as the liberal party and the Republicans as the conservative party. It’s closer to the truth to
Below are my thoughts on a recent Truth-Out post entitled: Closer Than You Think: Top 15 Things Romney and Obama Agree On. On foreign policy and the
Translated from Unexceptionalism: A Primer, By E. L. Doctorow. Thanks to the anonymous translator.
Foulcault on reform vs. critique Under no circumstances should one pay attention to those who tell one: ‘Don’t criticize, since you’re not capable
With regard to the economy, conservatives always preach restraint in the face of forces beyond our control, warning of unintended consequences if we
In this “Thinking Allowed” interview with Stuart Hall, he discusses the Middle East and has some interesting things to say about our inability to
On the trip to Cambodia I finally had some time to read Jon Lee Anderson’s excellent New Yorker Article on the counter-insurgency in Sri Lanka.
Catching up on Cambodian history as we make our way to Phnom Penh, I came across some interesting historical context for the current squabble over
Image by AdamThinks.com There has been something of a debate among the American Left as to the true nature of the anti-healthcare reform movement.
Photo by Ereine Former Clinton White House adviser and prominent blogger, Brad DeLong says: “We have to ask ourselves: Do we want to revive our
In this clip ‘self-hating Jew’ Jon Stewart points out the obviously one-sided and mobius-strip like quality of mainstream American news coverage of
I wasn’t happy with similar sites I found on the web, so I created a wiki to get the word out about some of the more disagreeable positions taken by
Reading Panaj Mishra’s NYRB article about Burma, “The Revolt of the Monks,” I was reminded of the KMT’s adventures in Burma, a remarkable episode in
Photo by 翔 If you ask most people, democracy is synonymous with elections. But, strangely enough, few people who live in electoral democracies feel
Image by Shepard Fairey. The biggest problem I have with the Clinton legacy is its failure to articulate a strong defense of progressive values. I
Almost every single American newspaper ran stories about the Taiwanese election attributing the DPP’s defeat to “broad disenchantment among Taiwan’s
Schee posted a link to this article on the new voting system which so affected the Taiwanese legislative elections. (See my last post on this.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about Obama. According to Ezra Klein: his answer to arguments against consensus rhetoric [see my earlier post] is that his
This is a very complex picture (by Cooloud). Taiwan’s President and Vice-President were prisoners in this building during the White Terror. On Human
It bears no relation to the main point of his article, which focuses on how economic ideology led the Fed into the current “unmitigated disaster”
For those who haven’t been following, Obama’s been doing his best to alienate the progressive left. That’s resulted in him butting heads with two of
Red A recently had a post which seems to imply that Taiwan’s own hosing bubble is about to burst, with housing prices way above their actual value.
I would like to congratulate Australia on finally ridding itself of John Howard. In 2002 I wrote about ““Howard’s openly racist policies” and more
[Cross-posted at Savage Minds] In our discussions about anthropologists in the military the term “ivory tower” has come up again and again, as has
This NY Times story made me wonder: Do Indian-Americans really want to have a small vocal minority whose views diverge strongly from their own
If you don’t know Cursor or the Center for Media Transparency, you should. Cursor is the premier alternative news aggregation site. Since the start
The text of John Edward’s Hanover speech reprinted in full (via Crooked Timber): Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: “To Build One America, End the
Three interesting quotes about democracy in China. Each pointing in a different direction: The first from a Rick Perlstein review of Mann’s The
I only recently learned that Ousmane Sembène, “the ‘father’ of African Cinema” died last month. Sembène was much more radical, much more of a
Reading the reactions to Sicko in the press is an interesting exercise. Almost without exception, including papers from both the left and the right,
Here is a quote from FOX News: Filmmaker Michael Moore’s brilliant and uplifting new documentary, “Sicko,” deals with the failings of the U.S.
From an interview with Greg Palast, where he argues that both the media and congress are missing the real story behind the US attorney scandal:
A few weeks ago Victor Mair wrote a guest post on Language Log implying that China’s high rates of illiteracy could be cured by reforming the
The following quotes and chart were culled from Jason DeParle’s New York Review of Books article, “The American Prison Nightmare.” The issue has
From Foreign Policy, an article which argues that the same kinds of misleading intelligence which got us into a mess in Iraq, also made a mess of
The photo shows a young girl in Maninagar preparing lunch. See my Maninagar photo set on Flickr. Her home was bulldozed on February 8th. It was 8th
Below the fold is the entire text of a NY Times editorial listing “things that need to be done to reverse the unwise and lawless policies of
Anyone living in Taipei who is interested in learning more about India should try to attend Pankaj Mishra’s talk on March 17th. Here is the
Worst name for a political party, ever. A newspaper headline from last year. {india}
Juan Cole explodes the “Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2006“, the most prevalent one right now being the idea that a “surge” of troops could help us win
Last election bloggers, many of whom had initially supported the tech-savvy Howard Dean campaign, felt that they had to drag the Kerry campaign into
Steve Benen, who is guest blogging over at Political Animal, quotes John Edwards answering a question as to whether he would give balancing the
Since it has now been officially announced, I’d like to throw in my endorsement: Over the next two years I’ll be writing an ongoing series of posts
Just how many different ways has the Bush Administration tried to hide once-public information sources from the public record? Help us count the
It is impossible to read a history of press coverage of the civil rights movement without reflecting darkly on today’s era of secret surveillance,
On December 12th, Stephen Colbert’s “Word” was ” Casualty of War.” You can watch it online here, but Colbert’s impeccable logic is so well crafted
Back in May I wrote a post implying that Adivasis were increasingly supporting the Naxalite movement in India. I’d like to amend that post, as a
A known terrorist enters the United States and the department of Homeland Security only arrests him after a Miami-based NY Times reporter points it
Did you know that a secret government algorithm assigns you a “risk score” every time you fly in or out of the country? That have no way of knowing
True bilingualism is a rare thing. As we get flooded by more and more information, who has the time to painstakingly read through hundreds of blog
Speaking of the Guardian … a piece in the Observer discuses how Walt Disney was a raving McCarthyite: Disney had a ferocious temper, especially
Speaking of the Guardian … a piece in the Observer discuses how Walt Disney was a raving McCarthyite: Disney had a ferocious temper, especially
I initially pointed out Jonathan Watts’ awful Guardian UK piece in a comment on Taiwan Matters. But after urging from both Tim and Michael, I
Charles Miller makes an important point: As such, it still baffles me that a week later, the news is blanketed with Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, Iraq and
Ever secretly wish that a good friend fails to achieve their dream? That’s how I felt when I learned Vijay Indrekar Chhara wanted to become a
I think Taiwanese tend to lack a sense of perspective about their national problems. They seem to think they live in the darkest backwaters of the
While some bloggers seem intent on spreading the rumor that the elections mark a shift to the right on the part of Democrats, Stirling Newberry
And the winner is … Geoffrey Nunberg! A lot has been said about this nasty debate, and I’ve avoided it because it seems hard to get engaged without
There are two important stories about the use of “alternative interrogation techniques” by US forces which deserve to get more attention: First, the
Here is a challenge for the English language blogs here in Taiwan: Write something about economic inequality in Taiwan without getting sidetracked
From the Washington Post: President Bush and his aides are annoyed that people keep misinterpreting his Iraq policy as “stay the course.” A
Japan Focus has a wonderful article by Nick Cullather about the history of the phrase “back to the stone age,” as in, “We’ll bomb you back to the
Via Kevin Drum, this editorial from the Johnson County Sun in Kansas explaining why they are breaking from a long tradition of endorsing Republicans
Over at Sepia Mutiny, Siddhartha has an excellent post on one of the most important figures in Indian history, a man whose contribution is not as
Our friend filmmaker Vinod Raja (who made an earlier appearance on Keywords) has sent me this urgent petition on behalf of indigenous people in
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou thinks that the Guanghua Computer Market (光華商場) is an “eyesore.” I suppose he is also responsible for the police who chase
Watch this short video to see Rumsfeld rendered speechless by his own words. If only the White House press corps were half as good as this
Krugman’s latest: Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Americans with private health insurance coverage fell by 1 percent. But over the same
Are you a U.S. citizen living overseas? These are perilous times. Please VOTE! Vote From Abroad will ask you some questions and automatically
Thaksin Shinawatra was a brutal man whose own commitment to democracy was less than stellar (to say the least), but that doesn’t really explain what
A year and a half ago I wrote about being weirded out by the name of a dish at a restaurant in an upscale neighborhood in Ahmedabad. I later learned
There has been an interesting debate on the web about whether or not short-term swings in US electoral politics make much of a difference to
Been too busy to write much, but there are two worthwhile Taiwan related causes that I’ve been meaning to blog about: First off: residents of the
Been too busy to write much, but there are two worthwhile Taiwan related causes that I’ve been meaning to blog about: First off: residents of the
I’m flying to England this week, and like many other travelers, I’m pissed about the new regulations. But more than that, I’m quite skeptical that
According to Crooked Timber, this powerpoint slide is Rumsefeld’s plan for ending the war in Iraq: Maybe we should put Edward Tufte in charge of
Mazen Kerbaj is a Lebanese illustrator who has been blogging about the war. This piece has a cut-out cupon which states: Yes, I live in a region
Having just complained about the Times habit of writing as if the poor didn’t exist, suddenly I find two articles that would make you think the
In a recent post I briefly alluded to the nasty bile spewing forth from the pen of Alan Dershowitz. Bile that is even more disturbing when you
It should be obvious to all, but Ted Koppel’s excellent op-ed piece lays it out clearly: The United States is already at war with Iran; but for the
A nice one from Kevin Drum: It is, often, not so much war itself that people long for, but the moral certainty that comes with it; thus the venom
Via BoingBoing, a lecture by veteran print journalist Tom Stites who explains why “less affluent Americans have abandoned newspapers and are angry
This is so important that I can’t believe the NY Times wants you to pay to read it. So here it is: Kristof’s latest article on Darfur … and Chad.
Guest post by tf I have been silent since my brief guest blogging, but I could not let this oversight by The New York Times go unremarked. Elaine
One of the most moving experiences we had when shooting the film was a performance arranged for the cadets at the Gujarat Police Academy. It will
Michelle Wang 王美琇 has an editorial in the Taipei Times, entitled “Looking at the recall bid with a foreign eye.” The point of the article is to show
Fellow Savage Mind, Alex Golub, was interviewed extensively for this excellent article in the Ottawa Citizen about conflict between a Canadian
I’m inclined to agree with Jonathan Freedland when he argues that the gay marriage amendment is little more than a red herring. This is backed up by
Years ago I read a paper* about politics and architecture in Taipei which pointed out (among other things) the ways in which architecture and
Kieran Healy recently posted this chart showing incarceration rates in the US compared to other “basically well-functioning advanced capitalist
This has to be stopped. The Bush administration has asked federal judges in New York and Michigan to dismiss a pair of lawsuits filed over the
In Aldous Huxley’s book Brave New World writers and intellectuals are banished to an island where they have complete freedom to say and do whatever
One of my Taiwanese students was watching “The West Wing” and had some questions for me. Blaming the poor coverage of America’s War on Terror in the
In April I wrote about the growing Maoist movement in India, and how the Maoists are increasingly getting support from rural peasants and Adivasis
One of the most interesting debates to arise out of the recent national debate on immigration is whether or not immigration drives down the wages of
Could it be that Bush and Hu are having a Cold War and the rest of us haven’t been invited? Howard French thinks the Chinese are following a cold
Last year I had an opportunity in New York to hear a report from Robert Weil, the author of Red Cat, White Cat, who had just come back from China
A longish title for a Keywords post, but these names are important to remember. They are the two Uighurs who remain in prison in Guantanamo four
A longish title for a Keywords post, but these names are important to remember. They are the two Uighurs who remain in prison in Guantanamo four
I never knew it, but it seems that my childhood education at the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York was really a
When I wrote my post, this past January, about farmer suicides in India, I had originally wanted to add information about the growing Maoist
According to John Berger (of Ways of Seeing fame, who is now a novelist living in France), the real masters of postmodern deconstruction are not
Quotes like this one from the Economist are tiresome: It is true that the forces of global capitalism are not always benign, but nobody has yet
At the heart of France’s protests are efforts to reform the labor market. In light of that it is worth reading this article by Mark Weisbrot: The
For developing countries, being landlocked poses a special burden: Consider these statistics. Outside of western and central Europe, the average
Last night Shashwati and I called Roxy in Chharanager and heard some terrific news. (Skype’s conference calling feature is amazing!) Just after New
In Taiwan it is not uncommon for someone to change the character used to write their name as a means of averting a streak of bad luck. Although
An important new group blog has been launched. Here is a statement from one of the inaugural posts on the blog How the Other Half Lives: In this
Last summer I wrote about an incident that took place in Orrisa when tribals protested plans to mine their sacred land. Tensions have only increased
First there was the PDB, a memo, entitled “Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S.” Today the Washington Post reports a dual find. An NISAC
About a year ago I blogged about coming across an online exhibit including photos of an old friend of mine, Thorne Anderson, who I hadn’t seen in a
It is hard to understate the dramatic nature of the transformation Budhan Theatre has wrought on Chharangar. In the past, only policemen and
Guest post by tf France’s next presidential elections are due in about fifteen months: the first round in April 2007 and, since it is extremely
Guest post by tf In the States, it is customary to wish people a happy new year. In France, I’ve been learning, that is insufficient. “Happy New
Two days ago we filmed a protest play performed by the Budhan Theatre in front of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. The play
The other day we visited Maninagar with Dakxin Bajrange. Maninagar is now little more than a street lined with tents. The people there used to have
**Guest post by tf Polygamy has become a bogeyman in polemics in both the United States and in France recently, but for different reasons. In the
Guest post by tf Lieutenant Laurel Hester, an investigator with the Ocean County, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office, is gravely ill, and would like
Guest post by tf The book Tropical Colonization: An Introduction to the Study of the Subject by Alleyne Ireland (New York: Macmillan, 1899) uses
Guest post by tf Daniel Schneidermann lost his job because he spoke out. Now his associate, Judith Bernard, has had a job offer withdrawn because
Guest post by tf Fifteen percent of French students leave elementary school without being able to read properly, according to Ministry of Education
Guest post by tf What is the CRAN? If you rely on The New York Times for your news, you don’t know. Same thing if your source is The Wall Street
Guest post by tf The French government plans to introduce a draconian copyright law, the DADVSI, to be discussed in parliament on December 20th and
Guest post by tf Blackboard is an online system used by many universities, in the United States and elsewhere, to animate classroom discussions
**Guest post by tf The streets are a mess in Paris, as the Delanoë administration carries out its Mobilien project of constructing reserved lanes
Guest post by tf One consequence of France’s law against the headscarf has been that Sikh boys cannot attend public school if they wear topknots or
In his recent speech VP Dick Cheney said: those who advocate a sudden withdrawal from Iraq should answer a few simple questions: Would the United
Last week, former Senator Bob Graham wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post where he disclosed how the administration withheld and manipulated
The people of the Balkans may not be able to agree about much, but they can agree about one thing: they all love Bruce Lee! I was going to blog
If the Bush administration has an ideology, it is that of executive power. John Yoo, now a Berkeley law professor, formerly a “mid-level attorney in
Writer Dilip D’Souza, a long time advocate of India’s Denotified Tribes, or DNTs, has a moving post promoting our film. He draws from his book,
The Justice Department overruled objections to a Georgia voter-identification law: A team of Justice Department lawyers and analysts who reviewed a
This amazing map, “based on more than 40,000 postings on Internet ‘safe lists’ by Katrina survivors” and documenting the migration of a small
Tehelka reporter Sonia Faleiro has written a wonderful story about Chharanagar, which she’s posted up on her blog, along with some pictures she took
Taiwanese love to complain about their country and how it is going down the drain. And they also like to idealize how much more advanced and modern
Here is a good overview of political endorsements for tomorrow’s NY mayoral election. Interestingly, a number of unions are supporting Bloomberg:
My brother reports on how the media is reacting to the riots in France: My favorite TV program for the examination of television, Arrêt sur Images,
Post of the month: It turns out that the false information about Iraq’s supposedly training al-Qaeda operatives in the use of chemical and
I recently read the following in a New Yorker article: Scowcroft is a protégé of Henry Kissinger—he was his deputy when Kissinger was Richard
Bush v. The Onion: You might have thought that the White House had enough on its plate late last month, what with its search for a new Supreme
A very well done and important story on This American Life: About a year ago, a study estimated the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. It came
Except for, perhaps, Davis-Bacon, you are probably well aware of all of these stories, but nothing makes me happy than a nice list: Harriet Miers
Jeffrey Rosen called Chicago law professor Richard Epstein the “intellectual guru” of a movement to “resurrect the Constitution in Exile,” meaning
Amardeep wrote a short review of Acting Like a Thief: I downloaded and watched the clip, and would definitely recommend it: another glimpse on how
The BBC reports on a new study which claims that wars are less frequent and less deadly now than they were before. Surprisingly, one of the factors
While most educated people who read the papers regularly have a vague understanding that there were communal riots in India in the recent past,
Announcing Acting Like a Thief! Now available as a free BitTorrent download or, for a $50 donation, as a DVD. Acting Like a Thief is a short film
I know everyone’s budget is drained, but please give something to help Pakistan. This post at Cliopatria recommends some charities you might not
I love Indian bureaucratese! My new favorite term is “the creamy layer” which I came across while doing research for the film. On this “central list
A lot of the discussion around Hacker and Pierson’s new book focuses on how the Democratic party can wrest control away from the Republicans. What
I was going to write a post about how Bush’s supreme court choices were all about boosting the power of the executive branch, but fortunately I
I’m a huge fan of director Fernando Meirelles after seeing City of God, and I wasn’t disappointed with his breakthrough Hollywood movie, The
There is a debate brewing in the wake of Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson’s new book, Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American
The latest round of avian flu may or may not be like the 1918 epidemic that killed 50 million people. We can’t know what will happen, just as we
Regarding Harriet Miers, who was picked by Bush to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, Senate Majority Leader Bill
I haven’t yet seen the new movie Lord of War, where Nicholas Cage plays an international arms dealer, but I have seen POV’s excellent documentary
OK, I’ll admit that I consider most community access television shows to be a joke, especially Rabbi Mordechai Friedman’s “Judaism, The Series”
It’s been so long since my roundup on race, poverty and Katrina, that a new post is needed. First, some hard numbers on poverty in New Orleans, how
I just learned via Crooked Timber that one now has to pay $50 a year to gain access to the New York Times Op-Ed page. I’ll occasionally read
This December, Shashwati and I are going to India to shoot a documentary film about the residents of one city’s slum who are using theatre to fight
I haven’t blogged about Roberts because there doesn’t seem to be any point. He will be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He may even be,
John Emerson’s concept of a blog tabloid is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but I know realize I was thinking about it all
I’m really at a loss for words. What the victims of Katrina need most right now are jobs to help them get back on their feet. The best bet would be
Can anyone explain this? Make sure to read Bob’s post before offering any answers. For instance: I’ve received numerous emails explaining that all
I missed this post by Tak at the time. It discusses the recent availability online of translations of Japanese history textbooks for middle-school:
Peter G. Gosselin has a very important story in the L.A. Times: But unless changes are made to an overhaul of the nation’s bankruptcy law due to
I am now adding a third post to the list of Katrina posts I am updating. The first, about government irresponsibility, is here. The second about
I was going to write about how you can help out victims of Katrina by volunteering your time to enter data into the People Finder database, but I
I’ve been meaning to blog about “Super Girls” for a while, fortunately, Frank Dai has done such a good round-up of Super Girls coverage that I don’t
If you haven’t heard it already, listen now. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s radio interview will go down in history as the most frank and direct
What is ACORN? the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and
I earlier referred to Amardeep’s post on issues of race in the coverage of Katrina: First, have you noticed that numerous articles refer to the
The largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War reverberated across the country from its starting point in New Orleans yesterday, as more
I find it difficult to write about New Orleans. I’ve only visited the city twice, but really loved it. I especially loved the wonderful hospitality
There are three aspects of the recent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza which interest me: Why did they do it? Can Gaza survive? And what’s next? First,
I’ve stayed out of the whole “stolen” election issue, because I tend to believe that both sides play pretty dirty whenever they can. I’m all for
Just watched the film, Catch-22. I read the book so long ago that I didn’t feel any need to compare it to the original, and so quite liked it. True,
Watch the video. Join a vigil this Wednesday. (via BoingBoing) UPDATE: Vigil pics from Flickr. {Cindy Sheehan}
What is interesting about this story from the Washington Post isn’t the sheer number of Chinese engaged in (often violent) protests against the
I’ve been trying to keep up with the responses to last week’s big news about the AFL-CIO split. Kim Scipes’ roundup is by far the most thorough if
From The Christian Science Monitor, English is increasingly the language of French businesses: In a recent survey of 26 of France’s largest
The New York Times today has an editorial about Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to the United States. They give him feint praise, while noting that
There was a lot of discussion on the web, a while back, about Rick Perlstein’s excellent book on the history of the 1964 Goldwater campaign: Before
I wrote a longish post about the roots of global jihad over at Savage Minds. Here is an excerpt: The argument isn’t simply that they are responding
One of the things I try to explain in my dissertation is the failure of Taiwan’s current educational policies. What do I mean by failure? This is a
I’ve added it to my blogroll, but it really deserves its own post. Nathan Newman has joined the borg at TPMCafe and is blogging up a storm about
Via Language Hat, a New York Times article by Howard French on the complex linguistic situation in China. For China, the consequences of this
I haven’t read the book, or seen the movie, but I can assure you that they will be issuing new printings of both versions of Hanif Kureishi’s My Son
Don’t blog Andrew Sullivan much around here, but this is a must: One great merit of the Schmidt report — which is otherwise riddled with worrying
I’ve been aware of the urban-rural divide ever since I read City Mouse-Country Mouse, but this graphic of the last election really put things in
I didn’t see the concert, but I’ve been following responses on the blogsphere. Here are some highlights: Ethan Zukerman wonders whether the whole
Rick Perlstein, Henry Farell, Matt Yglesias, and Kevin Drum are all asking the same thing: What is the next big idea that can help re-brand the
Squatter City is a blog devoted to bringing attention to scenes like this all over the world, where urban slums are being “cleared” often
This post is by filmmaker Vinod Raja. On the 25th May I was attacked while filming a peaceful rally by the Kue Kondhs, an Adivasi (tribal) community
This map alone will make sure that this episode of the Simpsons will be banned in China. Notice how Taiwan is a different color and written in a
This is why Kevin Drum is still my first stop on the web: This gets to an issue I’ve long had with the whole “voting against their economic
So long Daniel Okrent. I can’t say I care. I never learned anything from his pieces, and I can’t say he did much to affect editorial decisions at
John Edwards is guest blogging over at the new TPM Cafe web site. If I was luke warm about him as a presidential candidate, all that has changed. He
Nixon and his crew suspected Felt (because they mistakenly thought he was Jewish), but dismissed the idea (because they mistakenly thought he would
According to Max Sawicky, and I think he’s right, the real story behind the filibuster compromise is that the Democrats have helped strengthen the
Jeanne, who is going to join Tom Tomorrow in what is turning into a wonderful group blog, has been doing some good blogging on the Afghan prisoner
With Savage Minds, grading, and preparing for my upcoming trip to Taiwan keeping me busy, I don’t have much time to blog. But everyone should take
Over at Savage Minds I have a post about consumerism and inequality. Here is a taste: Unfortunately, today’s anthropologists seem to be
That was then: It is the judgment of our commander in Afghanistan, General Eichenberry, that in fact the violence that we saw in Jalalabad was not
From an article in Zmag: [Anthropologist] David Graeber, was fired from Yale University a few days ago. Of course, that wasn’t the official
A team of artists from Brazil and Portugal has produced this wonderful series of flags-as-infographics, discussing pressing social issues. Here is
Knight Ridder finally reports on the memo from Britain’s MI-6 that was leaked to the press in England before the election. Kevin Drum sums up the
Last week I discussed a 13 year old Florida girl who was being prevented by the state (her legal guardian) from having an abortion. Today a court
More of New York City’s working poor are using food stamps: Even as welfare rolls have dropped, food stamp use has increased over the last few
ESWN has a report on the brawl that broke out at Chiang Kai Shek Airport in Taiwan prior to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s
A recent NY Times story about Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), describes him as
Here we go again … A pregnant 13-year-old girl in Florida has been told she cannot have an abortion because she lacks the maturity to make such a
What really impresses me about President Bush is his almost instinctual ability to choose and elevate to positions of power people who go beyond the
Why is New York City spending millions of dollars advertising the Olympics to its own citizens? I’m sick and tired of seeing ads for the Olympics
Alan Berlow’s Atlantic Monthly article about death penalty memos written by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to then-Governor George Bush is
This post was occasioned by a news article, discovered on Howard French’s blog, about a recent Chinese study which “found that Chinese ancestors set
So much discussion about the Middle East is backward-looking, apportioning guilt and blame, while very little seems to ask what would be necessary
There has been a fair amount of discussion lately about how nationalized health care actually works better than the crazy system we have here in the
No need to see House of Wax, here is a 30 second horror movie that will scare the shit out of you! {documentary, video, nationalism, india}
A recent compendium and analysis of U.S. labor market statistics, the State of Working America, has some interesting data that is relevant to the
Two protests, two Chinas, each explaining the other. And yet, I have to admit being somewhat overwhelmed and baffled by the whole thing. So please
Two protests, two Chinas, each explaining the other. And yet, I have to admit being somewhat overwhelmed and baffled by the whole thing. So please
Graduate student teachers at Yale and Columbia universities are on strike to demand the right to form a union (recently denied to private schools by
In discussing public policy, most pundits would have us believe that our only choices are: A. government regulation. Or, B. the free market. The
In March, I posted a letter by a friend, Thom Powers, to Hillary Clinton. He suggested that the solution to concerns about sex and violence in the
Over one million U.S. soldiers have served in the wars following 9/11. In just three and half years that’s “one-third the number of troops ever
Even though the new bankruptcy law will hit New Yorkers harder than the population as a whole, New York congressman Joseph Crowley was one of 73
It was just a matter of time before something like this happened (via the Taipei Kid). Taiwan on Tuesday apologized for offending African
A great post over at ESWN about a Taiwanese pro-independence politician, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強), who visited
1,806 people were arrested in New York during the Republican Convention. It is now clear that the police were simply harassing people to limit their
I suppose late is better than never, but MoveOn has finally decided to get onboard with the fight against the bankruptcy bill — the day before the
I’m glad to know that the United States Army does not take hostages. Because, you know, it wouldn’t look good if they did. Also, see Body and Soul
Ted Barlow reprises an old post about health care, and it is still just as relevant. Nothing new here: the Europeans do it better, our system is
Whether or not Liu Xiaobo’s 刘晓波 accusations [Chinese link infected with malware] are true, the concept is fascinating. He is accusing Li Xiguang
Richard Posner, federal judge, professor at the University of Chicago, father of the law and economics movement, and now a blogger as well, has
The hunger strike by students supporting a guaranteed living wage at Georgetown was a success. According to the DC labor web site (where I can no
Sometimes a blog post deserves to be quoted at length. Such is the case with this post from Mark Schmitt: I’m tired of giving quasi-conservatives
Writing in Mother Jones, Bradford Plumer says we need better statistics to gauge the situation in Iraq: according to the Pentagon’s own estimates,
Nathan Newman asks why the Republicans aren’t planning on fixing racial differences in health care, when they have so recently been willing to
This ad, by French clothing company, Marithe et François Girbaud has caused a big stir in Europe: It wasn’t just that it was based on Leonardo’s
used to be viewed as a natural phenomenon. Now we know better. The average life expectancy of adult humans has more than doubled in the last
This is just too weird to ignore. Scroll down for the punch line. (via Kevin Drum) {bush, bald, photos}
Campaign Contributions from the Finance/Credit Industry to Current Senators, ’99-’04 An analysis of the contributions shows that senators who voted
The Center for Media and Democracy is working with Free Press to gather a quarter million signatures on our petition mobilizing the American public
I never liked Congressman Crawley, our congressman from Queens, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that he is one of the cosponsors of House bill H.R.
A friend wrote this letter to Hillary Clinton, in response to this story. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton United States Senate 476 Russell Senate
As the bankruptcy bill passes in the Senate, with a vote of 74-25 (Hillary Clinton abstaining because of her husband’s surgery). But the fight isn’t
From the BBC: Typing Error Causes Nuclear Scare The Sudanese government had a nasty shock this week, when it read on a US Congress website that the
A special Roundup just on the Bankruptcy Bill: Elizabeth Warren, professor at Harvard Law, and frequent commentator on Now, has teamed up with Josh
In my last post on Ward Churchill, I wrote: If Churchill did deliberately misrepresent the work of other scholars, his academic status should be
One of the biggest problems with political activists — wherever they lie on the left-right spectrum — is the tendency to oversimplify. This is
Why, even though I do believe that journalists have been targeted in the past by US forces, I don’t think freed Italian hostage, Giuliana Sgrena was
This is a little late, but I’ve been meaning to blog about the recent MTA fare hike. Actually, unlike previous fare hikes, they didn’t raise the
In the Star Trek episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion” prisoners are controlled through collars around their necks. While Homeland Security
Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) has a campaign to send letters on behalf of an imprisoned Iranian blogger:
My friend Joe Sacco, already well known for his cartoon journalism in Palestine and Bosnia has a piece in this week’s Guardian about his month
Around the web: Who the heck is Kurban Said? Every Calvin and Hobbes (via Incoming Signals) Fascinating Occupations Seven Mistakes Superheroines
No need to wait for the book, the curious can download my dissertation right now: Learning “Local” Languages: Passive Revolution, Language Markets,
Afghanistan is unique, utterly unlike any other war-ravaged landscape. In Bosnia, Dresden or the Somme for example, the devastation appears to have
Are Republican leaders trying to shake down the AARP so as to get concessions on social security “reform”? It sure looks that way. House Majority
Has the Nepali king’s coup helped him in the battle against Maoists? One Indian official has this insightful comment: “at least 40% of the army’s
… despite the outcome of the election, Democrats outmobilized Republicans in 2004. In addition, the 2004 results indicate that Democratic
In his op-ed today, Krugman mentions that much of the strategy for social security “reform” was laid out in a 1983 article in the Cato Journal. What
One of my favorite films of the past few years is the poetic “Elephant” (2003, Gus Van Sant). It was widely attacked by critics for not taking a
I have not commented on the Ward Churchill controversy for one simple reason: I’ve never read his work. For those who don’t know, Churchill has
Doctors Without Borders has a list of the “Top 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2004.” Get informed. {media, news, crisis,
This is a story that would certainly be generating much bigger waves if it involved a Democrat, rather than a pro-torture (i.e. pro-Gonzales)
On February 6th, Human Rights Watch wrote the following letter to President Yudhoyono of Indonesia: You have made it clear in the past that, unlike
From around the web: Google Maps! (via the Map Room) How to fold a map. (Via 43 folders.) AppRocket — looks like Quicksilver for the mac, but for
Remember how, when Gore chose Liberman as his running mate, everyone spoke about what a “moral” man Liberman is? Gore’s reason for choosing
“Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America” is an exhibit at the New York Historical Society. I haven’t seen this exhibit, nor do I intend
Krugman, after showing that Bush’s “claim that blacks get a bad deal from Social Security is false” (because the higher death rate among blacks is
Agencies tasked with defending America from terrorism were among the top employers of workers with phony diplomas. (via Scott Sommers) How crazy
In my last post I wrote about India’s Adivasis, or “Scheduled Tribes.” Accounting for over 85 million people, they account for the bulk of India’s
India is a settler state, like Australia, the United States, South Africa, Israel, Canada, Taiwan, and many other states where the indigenous
Just about a year before the Tsunami struck, I wrote a post on Aceh, decrying human rights abuses in the region. A recent article in the Straits
Yesterday, Terry Gross interviewed filmmakers Calvin Skaggs and David Van Taylor who made With God on Our Side: George W. Bush and the Rise of the
Who is Bernard Kerik? After reading the answer you just might wish Tom Ridge hadn’t stepped down …
David Gergen is the director of the Center for Public Leadership in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has served in the
Nathan Newman has an important post about attacks on Columbia University professors who express anti-Israeli views. Professors who have voiced
Is the government burning documents, just like happened in Georgia before the government fell? Will the Ukraine split in two? Have the military
Like Red vs. Blue in the US, but Ukrainian style. And here his Blue vs. Orange in pictures. Looks like there is some kind of a settlement. (via
The sign language presenter on the Ukrainian state-run television station “rejected the pro-government script and informed her viewers instead of
Some interesting posts on the situation in the Ukraine: Jonathan Edelstein on the Jews of the Ukraine Extensive coverage at A Fistful of Euros A
Drew Beck brings my attention to this Žižek essay (also here) on the book everyone has been talking about since even before election day: Thomas
Dan Gillmor has an interesting piece on blogging in China. Blogging isn’t big business here, at least not yet. At least three blog software
No time to write much these days, but please take the time to read David Neiwert’s 7 part article on “The Rise of Pseudo Fascism.” Some
It turns out that many of the states which banned same-sex marriage unwittingly also banned civil unions — even though most people in those states
Speaking in the House on July 27, 1848, Congressman Abraham Lincoln of Illinois tried to explain why he was first against the (Mexican-American)
Dalton Conley has an interesting Op-Ed in the NY Times suggesting that Democrats accept a more regressive taxation system (i.e. taxing sales instead
In Iraq, counselors are helping U.S. soldiers develop coping skills so that they can handle the stress of combat. But doctors are finding growing
The Sorry Everybody website is collecting hundreds and hundreds of pictures of Americans apologizing to the world for having not done more to
DonkeyRising has some interesting analysis of this year’s exit polls: Working class women voted for Bush: the Institute for America’s Future and
Good riddance! They can’t find anyone worse, right? … Right!? UPDATE: As Leila points out, it looks like Alberto Gonazales will be the next Attorney
Mike at Ishbaddidle has a 10-point plan to take back the country. I especially like point #4 “Get Beyond Red and Blue” which I will copy here, since
Timothy Burke, remarking on Tommy Frank’s Op-Ed column in today’s Times, on the division between Red and Blue States, says: You cannot promise to
Following up on my recent post-election map post, here are two interesting historical maps. Look familiar? The 1896 election: And a map of free
Michael Moore arranged for teams of videographers to document electoral abuses. Here is a short clip of footage from Cleveland Ohio. In it Rev.
Here is some useful reporting you won’t get in the BBC: Officials have gone out of their way to avoid the appearance of a coup after media reports
Red vs. Blue have you down? Here are some other ways of looking at the results. By county (I don’t have time to make a picture of it, but I
Welcome to the ranks! A dissident is a person that actively opposes the established order. The term is most often used to refer to political
in no particular order, The lives of more soldiers fighting more senseless wars Health care reform A raise in the minimum wage Women’s right
Couldn’t sleep. Ohio still too close to call. How could it be so close? Perhaps the answer is in the story of Ms. Medvedeva, a “young, brown-eyed
Looks like the black-hooded marchersmoshers didn’t come to our rescue as we had hoped. This was not the breakout year for young voters that some
There is no doubt in my mind that if Kerry had voted against the war he would have won by a clear margin. No war record could possibly make him look
Sorry, with my thesis due so soon I’ve been negligent on covering the connection between food and politics in Taiwan. But how could I have missed
CNN seems like a good place to be online tonight: Here is where they will post state-by-state data as it rolls in. From the above map it seems like
This explains a lot. Nonpartisan, academic poll found 72 percent of Bush supporters still believe Iraq had WMD. 75 percent think Iraq gave
If things go wrong on November 2nd, the No Stolen Elections website is the place to go: Our goal is to support existing election protection work
Mark Liberman on Marshall Mather: If Mosh helps energize voting among American youth, it’ll be a triumph. But I’m still a little uneasy about all
Shashwati has decided to bypass the festival circuit and post some of her short pieces directly over the internet. You can see the first one here:
If you haven’t seen it, Download “Fahrenheit 9/11″ here. Give it to your friends to watch before the election
Rehnquist is not the only member of the Court to have been diagnosed with cancer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 71, had colon cancer, Sandra Day O”Conner,
I’m really fascinated with the Keith Idema story. I’ve written about it twice before (here and here). But Stacy Sullivan’s extended New York
Languaghat has previously covered controversies over how to spell “Euro”, but this latest one is truly hilarious: All official EU texts must be
Geoff Nunberg has a LA Times op-ed on how difficult it is for Europeans to translate US political speech: when foreigners are scratching their
I have always found it interesting that there is tremendous anger at tort lawyers, but not at the insurance industry. How bad is the problem of
Kevin Hayden at the American Street, asks: And what will become of the 5,936,237,541 political blogs AFTER the election? If Bush wins, I figure
I didn’t know the full story: Well over a decade ago she was a PR rep for “Coors,” called into action to repair the damage caused by one of the
I haven’t been blogging about Sinclair since so many other people have been doing it better. But I think it is exciting to report that the
From MediaMatters.org: The media has devoted enormous attention to Senator John Kerry’s reference to Mary Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney’s
I was listening to Weekend Edition on NPR and heard a pollster say “gerrymandering” with a hard “G,” as in “gate.” It turns out that such a
Boy is David Neiwert mad! I guess I must be horribly out of touch with the Republican version of reality, because I’m still not really certain what
I can’t tell you how often I’ve spoken to American middle class liberals whose biggest worry in life seems to be the population explosion amongst
If you haven’t seen the clip of Jon Stewart appearing on Crossfire, you can find links to download it here. I wanted to comment on something Jon
I’ve recently had some comments posted from a 13 year old in Georgia. I welcome all my younger readers and encourage them to feel free to leave
There is no doubt that Bush’s attempt to deflect discussion of jobs by talking about No Child Left Behind didn’t work. And Kerry did a great job
Why wait for tomorrow night when Krugman has already fact-checked the debate today? And don’t miss Kevin Drum’s score card from the last debate.
So orders came down from the generals in Baghdad, we want to clear the village, like in Samarra. And as he told the story, another platoon from his
Kevin Drum points to two very important articles (actually four, since the second one contains three parts). These are both really worth your time,
Today Kevin Drum tells us that “‘Dred Scott’ is code for ‘Roe v. Wade’“, explaining Bush’s strange remarks about being against slavery during the
From the Editorial Page of the New York Times, a sense of what we are up against: The Poll Tax, Updated When members of Mi Familia Vota, a Latino
My dad has a letter to the editor in today’s times, placing Afghanistan’s elections in a historical context: To the Editor: It is important to put
Newsweek has a story about Paul Bremer. It goes beyond his widely reported remarks regarding not having enough troops to discuss what many think was
My favorite quote from last night’s debate: The goal of the sanctions was not to remove Saddam Hussein, it was to remove the weapons of mass
Cheney tried to spin elections in Iraq by comparing them to those he had observed in El Salvador: CHENEY: Twenty years ago we had a similar
The “is Bush wired?” story is getting more and more coverage. Salon has a story today. Much has been made of the fact that the debate rules were
This is the most scathing inditement I have seen of the Republican Party — and it is entirely constructed out of their own words. Using video
Busy, busy — so here is a roundup of posts worth reading: George Soros profits from Dick Cheney’s mistake. Why Bush uses the phrase “hard work.”
You got no choice that’s what you all been told to listen to. These criminals in the office want to control and limit you. All the political power
I finally finished reading Sunday’s 15 page investigative report from the NY Times, probing the history of the administration’s claims that Iraq was
If the Senate election were held today, the Democrats would take control of the Senate, 52-48 (counting independent Sen. Jeffords as a Democrat,
You may have seen this e-mail which is currently making the rounds. Boingboing.net confirms that it is, in fact, an e-mail from a Wall Street
It was my impression that Bush’s constant repetition of the phrase “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time” in an effort to discredit
If you haven’t seen the DNC’s video montage of Bush’s debate grimaces, “Faces of Frustration,” you should. This video poses the question of why a
As a new DVD, “Faith in the White House,” portrays Bush as “God’s essential and irreplaceable warrior on Earth,” it is worth asking the question:
Juan Cole reports that the U.S. was planning to turn Iraq over to an Iranian agent: I have it from insiders that in April, 2003, Jay Garner let it
Juan Cole reports that the U.S. was planning to turn Iraq over to an Iranian agent: I have it from insiders that in April, 2003, Jay Garner let it
Kerry was much more clear and articulate than usual, and he didn’t mess up. Bush sounded a little nervous at times, and his sticking so closely to
Why do we hold elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November? Why early November? For much of our history America was a
A law to legalize torture of suspected terrorists was slipped into the bill implementing the 9/11 Commission Report. Jeanne has the details
I’ve written several times about how I wish the Kerry campaign would leave the Vietnam stuff behind and move on, so I’m a little embarrassed to be
An amazing post at BoingBoing.net: a “visual language survival guide” used by coalition soldiers. It’s a sort of show-and-tell folding map intended
I just don’t seem to be able to get out of Vietnam… A friend has co-produced a movie on the story Kerry has been trying hard to avoid telling — the
As much as I love Billmon’s web site, I wasn’t going to comment on his silly op-ed about how the good-old-days of blogging are behind us. Of course
This doesn’t surprise me: “The Justice Department’s translation mess has become a chronic problem that has obvious implications for our national
Carlos Fuentes on why multilateralism matters to Latin America: U.S. support for brutal dictatorships in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay in the name
I only participated in a formal debate once, in high school, so I can’t really comment on the ground rules for the presidential debates; however,
I don’t normally resort to name-calling on this blog, but Ted Rall is an idiot. Here is what he says about voters who don’t know that Bush is rich,
When the world’s problems come up in conversation, as they often do, there is a tendency for some people to sigh and complain about how “complex” it
My only post here about “Rathergate” was to say that it was an unfortunate distraction. Well, I didn’t realize how much of a distraction it really
I wrote a post back in March about how Taiwanese politics was all about food. Well, today the BBC reports that the ministry of defense is responding
Juan Cole imagines what America would look like if we were suffering what the Iraqis are suffering through: What if 3,300 Americans had died in car
Until it was reversed by a federal judge, a recent court case in Detroit was the only terrorist conviction obtained from the Justice Department’s
Not the President, or his father, but the brother of their ancestor, Timothy Bush. I just visited the New York Public Library’s exhibit: Jewes in
If true, this is big news! Party sources said military chief Jiang Zemin 江澤民 was likely to give up his last post due to ill health, completing a
Mark Schmitt recalls being asked the question: “Do any of you seriously believe that it is possible to have a real progressive movement in this
Reporters Without Borders is outraged at this latest escalation in the government’s attempts to suppress the right to inform the public via the
The first day after 9-11 my Shashwati and I, worried by stories we had heard about a racist backlash, went to eat at our local Afghan kabob house to
In many of its colonies the British would often favor a single group as a quick means of gaining stability. Almost always the results were ruinous—a
Republicans don’t live in John Edwards’ “two Americas” — they live in a third America, less polarized, where outside information doesn’t get
MoveOn is doing a series of ads, each one by a famous director, for the 10 weeks counting down to the election. The ads are decent and effective,
I don’t often agree with the New Republic, but I think they are dead-on when they say that any day in which Bush’s National Guard service is the
Clearly, claims that evangelicals have hijacked the nation’s politics are greatly exaggerated. In fact, polling data show that President Bush’s real
I’m sorry, I refuse to show respect, tolerance, or “compassion” for the undecided voters who will ultimately decide our election. (Although I admire
The American Museum of the Moving Image has an excellent online exhibit on the history of political advertising. I especially liked there section on
For four years George W. Bush has used the power of words to overcome insurmountable facts. A hilarious, must-see video clip from the Daily Show,
That’s the number of people they are saying were arrested in New York during the Republican convention. A judge ordered that 500 of them be released
The L.A. Times has a scathing editorial against the Supreme Court ordered tribunals for the Guantanamo detainees. (The Supreme Court didn’t order
What does the story of a reserve Air Force colonel spying for Israel have to do with Iran? Everything, according this important article by Joshua
From Boingboing.net, three stories on “freedom of speech” (1, 2, 3): First, a story from the ACLU, whose court filing was censored by the Justice
Enough about T-shirts. The RNC is in town and its poster time: And, from the New York Times: Scott Sala, a Republican with a blog called Slant
There has been a lot of talk about how hypocritical Bush is for asking Kerry to disavow 527s (such as MoveOn.org). As Nick Confessore writes: If
I didn’t even realize that cotton was a verb. From The American Heritage Dictionary: To come to understand. Often used with to or onto: “The German
So what’s happening with the senate races? Electoral-vote.com has a rundown: In this year’s election, 19 seats currently held by Democrats and 15
this is not the genocidal campaign of a government at the height of its ideological hubris, as the 1992 jihad against the Nuba was, or coldly
The fact that George W Bush borrowed money from BCCI in 1987 but John Kerry launched the investigation in 1988 that eventually brought them down
Two handy URLs for anyone planning on being in town during the RNC. (I’m still not sure whether I will be or not…): August 29 Protest: Directions
There was a lot of attention paid to the fact that Republicans in Florida were pushing voters to cast absentee ballots. But it seems that this is a
First, a little background: A cheese steak sandwich is not really a steak at all — it is a sandwich made with chipped steak, steak that has been
Everything you ever wanted to know about Halliburton, and more. Like this juicy tidbit: Halliburton announced yesterday that the Army would
I’m finally reading Mamdani’s book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror (discussed previously here and here), and
Here is a fascinating terror alert timeline showing what else was happening whenever the department of Homeland Security raised the terror alert
In his book Stupid White Men, Michael Moore included an open letter to Palestinian President Arafat: I have the key to your success. I know how you
The Passion of the Present is “an independent, non-partisan, all-volunteer community initiative to stop the genocide in Sudan.” This link via
addresses a critical problem: US policies impact the whole world, but non-Americans have few ways to communicate directly with mainstream
If you start knowing that “Wealthier people derive more of their income from returns on saving—both in dollar terms and as a proportion of
Two big changes in policy this week translate into a major assault by Bush on undocumented immigrants
I’ve long been reading the multilingual blog, Blogalization, so I was very interested to read this article by one of its founders, Ethan Zuckerman,
Via Nathan Newman, an important article on the legal threat to use of card checks for union organizing and media coverage of the issue. What is Card
Mike has taken the electoral vote map from Electoral-Vote.com and modified it so that states are as large as their number of electoral votes:
Are you prepared? Using the threat of terrorism to scare voters: all of September will be “National Preparedness Month“
Top Ten Post-War Contractors Ranked by Total Contract Value in Iraq and Afghanistan From 2002 through July 1, 2004 Kellogg, Brown & Root
It’s the economy, stupid: Today’s map is illustrative of what could actually happen in November. Bush wins Ohio by a substantial margin, wins
Organizers of an exhibition in Australia are looking for photos from around the world from the February 2003 anti-war march. It seems like a great
Does the U.S. go to war because it wants to, or because it has to? Jonathon Delacour has a thought provoking post on the subject, based, in part, on
No, not the American political party, but the French system of government. Writing in The Guardian, Jon Henely blames French anti-semitism on French
My first thought when Pakistan, on the eve of John Kerry’s speech at the DNC, announced the capture of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a top al-Qaeda
“Labor and Materials” is Iraq’s answer to “Extreme Home Makeover” and the country’s first reality TV show. In 15-minute episodes, broken windows are
General Dostum on Thursday resigned as President Karzai’s military adviser in order to stand against him in the poll on 9 October. This is very
Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, asks what the Israeli papers would look like “if it were the reverse“: But when we’re implicated and the victims
The crime wave in Iraq is so bad that people cannot go shopping without protection, they cannot go for picnics on the river, and many families
If Washington has decided US troops do not need to be in Fallujah, why do they need to be in Karmah, or Shababi, presenting targets for the rebels?
Why did the Iraqi Chicken cross the road? There are a bunch of different answers, but here is the one offered by army translators: Chicken he corss
This silence can not last. What are you still doing here? Click on the link! Now
Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) is the Vice President of Taiwan. She has always been criticized for being “outspoken.” Although I feel many of the things she’s
Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) represents 600,000 Americans in the Duval County/Jacksonville area. She was censured by Congress for suggesting
The term lançados is derived from the Portuguese verb “to throw out.” It refers to Portuguese settlers who came to the coast of West Africa as well
Ever since the 1993 Oslo Accord proved that negotiations were possible, surveys have consistently found that 50 to 60 percent of American Jews favor
How long before cartoonists start depicting Kerry and Edwards and Batman and Robin? They just look like the Dynamic Duo in all those pictures. Is
Tom Engelhardt points out that only Iraqi’s are “nationalists.” Americans on the other hand, are “patriots.” Here, for instance, is a passage,
will be slow around here. I’m upstate and can only get broadband intermittently. I’ll try to keep posting, but I can’t promise anything! If you
Somebody’s set up a web site to coordinate voter-registration drives in swing-states. If you plan to take a trip this summer, maybe you could
Read this hilarious series of telegraphs between British colonial officials in 1916, there is a punch-line at the end, so read the whole thing. Here
[A]s critical as the government’s interest may be in detaining those who actually pose an immediate threat to the national security of the United
“Fahrenheit 9/11,” has made over $21.8 million in three days. It took Moore’s Oscar winning “Bowling for Columbine,” nine months to earn $21.5
People tend to view Israeli politics entirely through the lens of relations between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, forgetting that there are many
78% of South Koreans have broadband internet access. But none of them can access most blogs. Why? Because the government is trying to limit access
Read this article (emphasis added): In the 2000 presidential election, 1.9 million Americans cast ballots that no one counted. “Spoiled votes” is
The winners have been announced!!! Below are just some of the winning T-shirt designs from the Designs on the White House t-shirt contest. Support
REQUEST FOR URGENT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIP FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS
There has been great discussion of the phrase “under God” as it is used in the Pledge of Allegiance over at LanguageLog. The long and the short of
That the Kurds are unhappy about being sidelined in the new Iraq is not news. That there is “ethnic clensing” of Arabs in areas that were “cleansed”
The rising disdain of the press corps would be positively delightful — except for knowing that it took an unnecessary war, widespread torture,
Republican logic: The Ethics in Nominations Project plans to assemble a group of ethicists to outline rules for how senators should deal with
The Daily News is reporting rumors that Bruce Springsteen might perform opposite the Republican National Convention in New York: Democratic
On the recommendation of LanguageHat, I’ve been reading Abdelrahman Munif’s Cities of Salt trilogy. I just received the second volume, The Trench,
Here’s a Republican PR firm trying to shut down Michael Moore’s new film. (More on them here.) If you scroll down you’ll see that they thoughtfully
Ashcroft’s arrogance knows no bounds. For those of you who don’t know already, Ashcroft refused to hand over documents requested by congress. These
The Designs on the White House finalists were announced today. Take a look. Some of my favorites didn’t make it, but I think there are a lot of
In the U.K. the BBC receives about $160 per person, giving it an annual budget of close to $4 billion. In America, the Corporation for PUblic
The NYC subway system is considering a ban on photography on its trains and platforms — despite the long and honourable tradition of shipping
Fifteen years ago, in April of 1989, thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square (天安門) to mourn the death of Former Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang
This is exactly the sort of post that this blog was intended to promote: As Raymond Williams points out in his excellent little book Keywords, from
Earlier I expressed my dismay that the Neocons were so enamored of a book entitled The Arab Mind. As a result of that post, someone brought to my
As you know, I’ve been involved in helping run an online contest to pick better T-shirts for the Kerry Campaign. The first round of voting is now
Firmly believing that all politics is “local,” I have long argued that the issue of Taiwanese “independence” can only be understood in terms of the
What is your definition of a “police state”? How about having one out of every 75 men in prison
Forget NASCAR moms, single Dads, disgruntled soccer players and other swing voting blocks. What we want is the “pop” vote! Those who say “soda” seem
“If ‘never again’ means anything, then it’s now or never in Darfur”. More info
Kevin Drum gives us a comprehensive Chalabi Timeline. Here is his summary: Bottom line: practically every group that has ever worked with Chalabi
I don’t often do blog round-ups, but these are all stories I felt worth a mention: The White House says that Bush’s fall while biking around his
Kevin Drum points us to a LA Times article on Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, which he boils down to its essence: Gay marriage opponents are
The title of this post is in quotes, because that is how it appears in the 1983 Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual put out by the CIA. The
That Slavoj Žižek is a funny guy, running around making Lacanian jokes about Rumsfeld, but I have to admit he has a good point (emphasis added): In
Rafah is back in the news (emphasis added): Until the start of the intifada, the houses in the Rafah refugee camp were only a few meters from the
Stanley Fish has an op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Why We Built the Ivory Tower” in which he argues that academics should stay out of
Please inform everyone you know, that the Designs on the White House (DOTWHO) contest deadline has been officially extend until Memorial Day! That
I’ve had to look fairly hard for anyone else in the blogsphere who is as upset as I am about the idea that there is something we can call The Arab
John Fabian Witt asks, Can China protect its workers? China and other developing Asian economies are experiencing an industrial accident crisis of
Amardeep Singh has a good profile of the man who looks to be India’s new PM: Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh is a Congress-wallah to the core: no
How did one man come to control a reported £5.3bn stake in Sibneft, a state energy provider that only 10 years ago was bequeathed to Russia’s
We’re asking John Kerry to “go big” and campaign on a bold agenda for change. Sign the petition to Kerry now
—> Sign the petition! Remember James Yee? Here is what Jeanne at Body and Soul wrote back in February: … James Yee, the Muslim chaplain at
Anyone hopeful that justice will be served in the Abu Ghraib investigation might wish to take a look back at the My Lai prosecutions: In the end,
The NY Times technology section has a good article about some of the reasons the BJP lost the elections: In a country of 180 million households,
If there can be gay Republicans, why can’t there be pro-life Democrats? Amy Sullivan understands that political parties are about building
By using torture to question the top terrorists it has in custody, the government has effectively sabotaged any future prosecutions of al-Qaida
There have been a couple of posts I’ve read recently referring to the Zimbardo experiment in discussing Abu Ghraib. The best one was by Rivka, who
A few days ago, Mark Liberman posted a link to this Global Security web site with information on the proper pronounciation and meaning of the prison
Who is Army Chief of Staff Peter J. Schoomaker? He is one of the “Rumsfeld underlings” who gave testimony before congress about Abu Ghraib. David
I hope you enjoy my little attempt at Photoshop humor. I wasn’t quite skilled enough to give Cheney a Comic Book Guy pony tail and make it look
A [2003] RAND Health study that is the largest and most comprehensive examination ever conducted of health care quality in the United States found
For the third time, I must quote Bush: “I shared a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated. I didn’t like it one
The following quote is something I just read in the wonderful post-war noir, Prelude to a Certain Midnight by Gerald Kersh: I don’t really see what
I have serious problems with a theme that has been running through reports on the Abu Ghraib torture photographs. The most elaborate version of this
Seymour Hersh, on the O’Reilly’s show (via Political Animal, emphasis added): O’REILLY: All right. Well, the damage to the country obviously is
Hey, Designs on the White House got written up in the Boston Globe! Giving the lie to the notion that designers are obsessed with style over
From The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Rob Corddry: Jon, there’s no question that what took place in that prison was horrible, but the Arab World
Wednesday, May 5th, 2004 Disney Has Blocked the Distribution of My New Film… by Michael Moore Friends, I would have hoped by now that I would be
In spite of advanced technology and the Unicode character convention, people are still in the habit of neglecting the diacritics of foreign
Call it the whoopee cushion doctrine. It is hard to believe that the government now regards flatulence jokes, the lamest staple of gag gift stores,
The Designs on the White House contest to design better t-shirts for the Kerry campaign has officially begun! You can submit a design from now till
At the end of my last post on the photos from Abu Ghraib, I quoted President Bush as saying: “That’s not the way we do things in America.” And
I hope the US Supreme Court takes this into account as it makes its decision on the Guantanamo Bay case: A month before the alleged abuses
Tom Dispatch has two very important articles about oil: Saudi promises to cut oil prices (as reported by Bob Woodward) should be taken with a grain
Article 3, Section 1(c) of the Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war shall not, “at any time and in any place whatsoever” be subject to
(man-dame-us) n. Latin for “we order,” a writ (more modernly called a “writ of mandate”) which orders a public agency or governmental body to
If you filed electronically, you probably already got your refund check, or you will soon. The more money you made last year the more likely you are
Konrad Lawson, whom I’ve long known only as the person behind the Macintosh software company Fool’s Workshop, has an excellent blog, Muninn, which I
When I read this back in February, my first thought was “Oh s–t! We are all going to die.” My second thought was, “That would make a great movie!”
For much of history, the science of biology was the science of classification. As can be seen by the text accompanying this image (from a web page
A 3-page memo was leaked which reveals aspects of the links between Cheney and Enron. The three-page document contains eight points spelling out
Did you know that Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman was also known as Melvin Coznowski? And that images of the gap-toothed “What, me worry?” kid
On the heels of a post in which I highlighted key points from Mike Davis’ account of urban slums as the new face of global poverty, Davis has a new
Our initial bake sale goal was $100,000, but MoveOn members always surprise us — we not only brought in $750,000, but we gave out 40,000 flyers on
It seems that there are three major factors leading to the widespread popularity of the T-Shirt: war, Hollywood, and politics. According to The
This site shows electoral polling data by state, with the number of electoral votes added up. I think this early on we can discount the fact that
A conversation between, Ghassan Shakah, the mayor of Israeli occupied Nablus, and the unnamed occupying Colonel, as reported by Ghassan Shakah:
Kevin Drum thinks that the problem with both Liberals and Conservatives is that each side has only its hatred of the other holding them together.
Is Vajpayee “the benign face of Hindu extremism,” or simply “the right man in the wrong party”? Does it matter? For all its emphasis on development
Mahmood Mamdani recently appeared on “Now, with Bill Moyers,” where he expanded upon the thesis of his new book, which I had previously described as
In my last post I quoted leftist scholar, Mahmood Mamdani, as saying that the problem with the War on Terror was that the united states viewed
From the Paul Krugman Archives. (Via a comment by Joe Buck on Political Animal.)
Here is a special clause in the “Terms of Service” agreement that the Kerry campaign will be automatically agreeing to by accepting any money from
It seems that the Bush campaign’s attempt to attack Kerry early and often has backfired. The attention on Iraq has mitigated their smear campaign,
Describing the horror that the siege of Fallujah has become, he [Makki al-Nazzal, a lifelong Fallujah resident who works for the humanitarian NGO,
This story is impossible to summarize. You really have to read the whole thing. It reads like a soap opera written jointly by Salman Rushdie and
We say that if America has entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America. How else is the
The BBC reports that 21 Hindus accused of killing 12 Muslims in the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat will be retried after they were acquitted last
Here is a PDF of the actual document, marked “For the President Only” and dated “6 August 2001.” Read it for yourself. Read it again. I don’t see
Scott Martens at Fistfull of Euros has a nice post about the relationship between means and ends. Via Explananda, where Chris has written his own
Mahmood Mamdani is, in my mind, the most important living writer on the violence of politics and the politics of violence. In his work on
Ms. Rice goes to Washington: Claim vs. Fact: Condoleezza Rice’s Opening Statement The infamous August 6, 2001 presidential briefing, the one the
I am inclined to agree with Juan Cole’s pessimism on the current situation in Iraq: … major fighting in most Shiiite urban areas is unambiguous in
As fractured as American democracy is, at least the process allows us to force our government to confront its mistakes, as is now happening with the
Chris Mooney (who still doesn’t have an RSS feed) has an interesting post about how Republicans have undermined important public policy initiatives
You gonna believe David Letterman or CNN? And while you are over at Ishbadiddle, check out the plans for the Designs on The White House T-shirt
From Jeanne at Body and Soul: Nicholas Kristof wrote two very important columns this week — here and here — on ethnic cleansing in the Darfur
Definition: The act or acts of using public information networks such as newscasts or newspapers in a misleading, devious, or mischievous way, to
John Quiggin is “increasingly puzzled by the failure of the Zarqawi scandal to make a bigger stir.” Perhaps its because there are too many other
Did you know that there are more police in Manhattan than there are U.S. troops in Afghanistan? Richard Clarke explains: …, actual military and
A couple of days after September 11th, 2001, we had our cable TV and cable modem installed. It was a blessing, because we could finally get on the
Everything in Taiwan is about food — even politics: With the pan-blue camp’s post-election protests going into their sixth day, some Democratic
I don’t particularly like the idea of the United States acting like a global police force, killing or capturing anyone in the world they perceive to
Michael Newdow is a hero in the Jimmy Stewart Mr. Smith goes to Washington kind of way. Here is Dahlia Lithwick on his presentation before the
Of the last four presidential elections won by the Republican candidate, the two closest ones (in 1980 and 2000) would have gone to the Democrat had
literally means “black gold” and is a Chinese term for corruption. It is also what I would have called a blog devoted to Taiwanese politics
Wohohoho, it’s real, shame and scandal in the family Wohohoho, it’s real, shame and scandal in the family (Link via Cursor.org, lyrics from Peter
The BBC reports that the Taiwanese president suffered a defeat because the referendum failed to go through: Despite the president’s election
Several weeks ago, Tom Cole, a Republican Congressman in Oklahoma spoke to supporters about the upcoming election. “If George Bush loses the
A Modest Proposal For the Promotion of World Democracy and Sustainable Free Trade. Let’s face facts. Most countries in the world are simply not
And the award for the most offensive article this year goes to the NY Times for… This malarial West African dictatorship quashed another coup
I haven’t watched Dennis Miller’s show since I saw him brown-nosing Arnold on his first show back in January. So I was happy to see Eric Alterman
Charlie Cook, quoted in Donkey Rising, has some important things to say about why we aren’t seeing the creation of new full time jobs in the US: In
History shows, however, that firm timetables do not reduce conflict and violence, and generally make a situation much worse. Steven Wilkinson, an
A lot of people have asked me if I plan to march this Saturday. The march, entitled “The World Still Says No to War,” is being organized by United
The March 8th issue of the New Yorker has an excellent article (by Claudia Roth Pierpont) on Franz Boas (1858-1942), the “father” of American
Although I’ve read some Korean history, and I’ve watched Korean soap operas when I was in Taiwan, I still know very little about Korea. I’ve always
is a composite word combining “Taiwan” and “Shanghai” “Shangye” (meaning business) [thanks to Jonathan for correcting my mistake!] — it
In this AlterNet article, Kevin Griffis travels around the South, trying to figure out why poor whites vote for Bush, even though it is clearly
One group I never “got” are the “Gay Republicans.” But two news stories, one in the New York Times, and the other in the Washington Post, have
Although I’ve had my disagreements with Kevin Drum (the biggest, of course, being that he has never linked to my blog!), there is no doubt that he
Reading this BBC article about Putin: I expected criticism. After all, her son had died fighting Mr Putin’s war. It was the Russian president who
David Corn makes a strong case that Kerry is no “Bush Lite” and has the courage to stand up for issues he believes in. Much of this is covered in my
Last month, President Bush’s Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called America’s largest teachers’ union a “terrorist organization.” Why? Because
Indeed, those who are questioning the administration about Haiti are being smeared as naive and unpatriotic. Aristide himself is being smeared with
I’ve long been a proponent of what Billmon calls “small-d” Democratic organizations. He has an eloquent discussion of why you should support
The big question now is “Who will Kerry pick?” John Miller in the National Review goes through a list of the choices and picks … Gephardt. The
Sometimes it seems the only people the Bush administration doesn’t label as “terrorists” are actual terrorists
An extensively annotated series of timelines of the events leading up to September 11th, the events of that day, and what has happened since. After
I was going to spend some time trying to sort out all the news coming out of Haiti, but fortunately, Jeanne D’Arc has already done just that
If things turn out the way it looks right now, John Kerry will be the Democratic candidate for President. Up till now everyone has been saying
Today is February 28th, which is the most important date in post-war Taiwanese history: On that day, [57] years ago in 1947, an incident took place
I would like to retract an earlier post. I suggested that the Democrats try to use “states rights” to re-frame the issue of same sex marriage. But
So it turns out that the biggest act of (terrorist?) sabotage this century was committed by the CIA: “In order to disrupt the Soviet gas supply,
I wrote before about how strange it was that Dean supporters weren’t bothered by Joe Trippi’s partnership in the company that had been hired to make
It is hard to see much democracy in the distribution of stock ownership. THe bottom half of the population held 1.4% of total stock in 2001, with an
Is the tide turning? Is Bush loosing his grip? There do indeed seem to be signs that he has simply gone too far for many of his most ardent
Hekmatyar (about whom I wrote in December) is perhaps the biggest threat to peace and democracy in Afghanistan. Here is what the Afghan
The N.Y. Times publishes an Op-Ed by Noam Chomsky on Israel’s wall: What this wall is really doing is taking Palestinian lands. It is also — as the
From what I have read, in the New York Review of Books, Aristide is no democratic leader, although he was once seen as one: In the late Eighties,
When I was little I loved the Encyclopedia Brown detective stories, so I was happy to see this clever use of them to make fun of Bush. But then I
If anyone is wondering how effective current official investigations into pre-war intelligence on Iraq will be, the answer can be found in this
I have long argued that China’s attacks on Taiwanese democracy and independence are not as much about Taiwan as they are about keeping Hong Kong,
I come to bury Howard, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones: So let it be with
Preeminent Scientists Protest Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Science Recipients, and Other Leading
About 27,100 Department of Defense (DoD) contractors owe the federal government $3 billion in unpaid taxes, but the Pentagon continues to hire and
Looks like the Brits are talking about dismantling the BBC: Britain’s government is considering a plan to break up the BBC and remove its
An excellent two part (one, two) article by Michelle Goldberg in Salon about how Ashcroft is encouraging local police departments to spy on anti-war
I thought this captured the difference in communication skills that separates Edwards from Kerry: Edwards fired off the night’s best line in
How efficient is America’s privatized health care system? According to Paul Krugman: A recent study found that private insurance companies spend
Question: When is an Arab not an Arab? Answer: When its a story in the New York Times. I used to have a ritual of buying the Sunday Times, but the
“Al Gore proved that you can win the election without a single Southern state, if he’d only won New Hampshire,” Kerry told a group of San Francisco
Can you guess which draft-dodging presidential candidate said this? The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back was it was a
“We were all wrong,” says weapons inspector David Kay. Actually, no. There was one group whose prewar estimates of Iraqi nuclear, chemical and
David Neiwert asks why the Ricin attack didn’t put us on “Code Red”? The real problem, of course, is that for the Bush administration, it isn’t
I’m doing OK after my operation. I’m not taking any pain killers, and I even went for a short walk around the block this afternoon. Physical trauma
Before I was going to write about it, Boingboing.net had already linked to a site devoted to selling Afghan War Rugs, and unfortunately the traffic
I’ve written twice recently (here and here) about the misuse of the term “anti-Semitism.” So I was happy to see an extended article in The Nation
This article on Afghanistan, from the New York Review of Books, is so important that I thought it worth condensing and presenting on my web page.
This is the stupidest, most idiotic, thing I have read in a long time. And this isn’t the only place I have seen such remarks on the web. While it
As Kerry solidifies his lead as the Democratic frontrunner, I decided it was time I learned something about who he is. Everyone knows some of the
In my post on Kerry, I mentioned that I felt Edwards had the kind of leadership qualities I thought Kerry was lacking. Here is what William Saletan
This new Australian train line which connects the South to the North for the first time, is called the “Ghan” in honor of the Afghan camel riders
Looking back, however, what is even more surprising than slavery’s scope is how swiftly it died. By the end of the 19th century, slavery was, at
This is the most reasonable account I’ve seen of why Saddam might wished to convey the impression that he had WMDs when he did not really have them.
Sometimes I wish that conservatives would make an effort to be logically consistent. I suppose some do, but most seem to have no problem switching
Halliburton Halliburton Halliburton Cheney Cheney Cheney Cheney Cheney UPDATE: Halliburton
“The trick…is to find some segment of the electorate whose philosophy jibes with your own, and then define it as the swing vote.” Whether it is
Is the real problem with Dean’s scream that it was unmanly? The Village Voice thinks so: Real men have beef, and when they raise their voices, they
Remember when Bush bragged about his human rights record? No President has ever done more for human rights than I have. Billmon had a good
So Dean fired his campaign manager Joe Trippi, which I can understand. But why on earth is he still using Joe Trippi’s media company to produce his
I’ve written several times about my ambivalence towards General Wesley Clark. This Democracy Now interview, in which reporter Jeremy Scahill
I watched a bit of Dennis Miller’s new CNBC show the other night. I nearly choked on my own bile. He had his head so far up Schwarzenegger’s ass
The American commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan says he expects to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice by the end of this year. How much do
I’ve been spending some time this morning looking at different ways of charting electoral votes: The traditional “red and blue” map, showing
I was shocked that Bush still had the nerve to refer to weapons of mass destruction in his state of the union address last night. Calpundit notes
Read this article!!! It explains very clearly what is at stake if Bush wins the 2004 elections. …if President Bush is re-elected, we will be close
Now the french are proposing to ban Bandannas, in addition to “Islamic headscarves, Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian crosses.” I posted over the
I think Clark is a very smart man, and maybe others are right to say that he is the only one who can beat Bush, but I have some questions: Why
The word “crore” is Indian English for 10,000,000. (One crore = 100 lakhs.) I first encountered this word in articles about the Bollywood film
Calpundit had not one, but two posts attacking the idea that Democrats should be trying to enlarge their voting base by getting “new voters” instead
“True compassion,” King declared, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
Joshua Marshall points out a very disturbing trend. It seems conservative commentators are labeling anyone who criticizes the right as an
Nowadays, anyone with a Mac can easily make their own movie — even Lawrence Lessig. Tapping into the tremendous potential afforded by the widespread
There was some discussion about this essay on the movie The Return of the King, over at Uncle Jazzbeau’s Gallimaufrey. Before I comment on this
If you don’t read David Neiwert’s blog, Ornicus, you should. But if you don’t you would have missed one of the biggest terrorism stories of 2003:
We celebrated the New Year by watching Fellini’s masterful Amarcord, in which he brilliantly uses nostalgia to discuss the fascist Italy of his
is bad for you: Mercury is one of those unambiguous poisons. It’s a known nerve toxin and a cause of birth defects. Minnesota and 40 other
Some interesting work being done in Afghanistan by a Canadian media organization: A Canadian organization is reaching out to women in Afghanistan,
This site has a very comprehensive history of “American benevolent hegemony” over the rest of the world. It is amazing how bad we are at playing the
A question for Ashcroft: What does a guy have to do to get a congressional bribe investigated
The trouble with prison isn’t that it doesn’t work; the trouble is that it doesn’t work very well but does cost a fortune compared with other ways
I personally believe the most important way the Democrats can defeat Bush is to get more people to the polls. Obviously, part of this requires
Hopefully Hispanic voters are smart enough not to let Karl Rove pull the wool over their eyes. But I was surprised that TalkLeft thought Bush’s
Via Juan Cole: Well, the Democratic Party seems too nice or inept to do anything with it, but as the Washington Post points out, the good folks at
Remember how Rumsfeld said we wouldn’t need a large number of troops to take Iraq, but didn’t seem to take into account how many troops we’d need to
Even though just about every blog has already covered this, the story is so upsetting, I think it needs to be repeated as often as possible. The
I can hardly bare to read the New York Times anymore. Their reporting seems to have rapidly deteriorated of late. Perhaps due to the new editor? The
I’ve been trying to understand how it is that the French can feel so strongly that Muslim women shouldn’t have the right to wear the Hijab (I wish
In a bold move, Governor George Pataki has proscribed penis enlargement pills for all members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Here
The Black Commentator called this speech by Howard Dean “the most important statement on race in American politics by a mainstream white politician
The Indonesian military in Aceh is pursuing a campaign of killings, “disappearances” and beatings of civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report
Of course, “spider hole” was not concocted to describe Hussein’s hideout. According to two historians, the term goes back at least to World War II,
Richard D. Kahlenberg and Bernard Wasow have an excellent article on “school choice” in the latest Boston Review New Democracy Forum. First, they
Back in June I wrote something on my old blog about a New York Times article, by David Berreby, entitled “Fading Species and Dying Tongues: When the
“The statistics in the Color of Money demonstrate the point we all know intuitively: communities of color and the poor are severely underrepresented
NY City Government isn’t just for English speakers anymore: In a reversal, the Bloomberg administration is expected to announce its support today
Does the war in Iraq help to stimulate the U.S. economy? In this City Paper interview, Doug Henwood why it doesn’t. CP: One question I’ve heard a
This article from The Nation, about one reporter’s efforts to try to find the source upon which statistics for job growth in Iraq cited by Rumsfeld
We’re constantly trying to get more people to be with us than against us, and goodness knows, Hekmatyar is not with us,” Mr Rumsfeld said… But
and those closest to him have often expressed their surprise over how easy it has been, in the name of fighting terrorism, to “push the
Because of my interest in (and love for) Taiwan, people often ask me what I think about the issue of Taiwanese “independence“. This is what I
The answer to problems like the Pentagon’s accounting system clearly is not more flexibility — what is needed is more accountability. Accountability
Nothing seems to get Democrats more upset these days than memories of the Nader campaign. In Rage Against the Machine’s music video, Testify
At least 20% of the Guantanamo detainees have been held without charges for years even though they were innocent. These are just the ones that the
Why did Bobby Jindal loose the New Orleans governor’s race? The Black Commentator argues that it was a mixture of solidarity with the democratic
In my travels in the developing world, I’ve often been struck by how even those who hate the United States for its foreign policy have a very
“Attorney General Ashcroft has dismissed critics of the Justice Department’s tactics as ‘hysterical’ and has even said that such criticism aids the
An interesting article, although like many articles one reads these days, the Iraq tie-in is somewhat tangential to the real point of the story,
Three excellent articles relating to the flap over Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean’s “confederate flag” remark. First, from Paul
Watch him squirm: Q: Why won’t you spell out what your position is? Read the whole exchange — it gets even better
“Let me show you the limits of my prison: a metre from my bedroom window is the fence protecting the Elqana settlement, opposite my living room an
Body and Soul really outdoes herself with one of the most articulate and coherent discussions of both Iraqi “resistance” and US efforts at
Languagehat has a post about Berlusconi’s bad grammar in Italian. He quotes from a recent New Yorker article: His grammar is dreadful. He gets the
Anyone riding the subway in NY city noticed the difference in how papers covered the announcement of Jessica Lynch’s new book about her rescue from
A recent article in The Nation starts with an account of the grass-roots mobilization (from both the right and the left) against further
Sometimes you stumble upon a character from history who seems like they must have been made up — then you realize that is because they are probably
There has been a lot of discussion of late about the Lakoff interview on how the left needs to learn how to better “frame” issues, in order to
Chiang Kai-shek, (Soong Mayling), died at the age of 105. But even though the otherwise hagiographic Washington Post articles says: To their
I’m all for grass-roots politics, but there is no denying the tremendous influence that conservative think-tanks have had on the contemporary
Scholars outing rabid anti-Americanism in our own universities …. no, this isn’t the McCarthy hearings on un-American activities, it is the House
It seems that “has taken to likening the democratic prospects of modern Iraq to those of the early 20th century Philippines.” Interesting how the
Inequality is increasing, but those getting the short end of the stick — blue collar workers — are largely in favor of Bush. How can that be? First
I haven’t written anything about the Diebold electronic voting scandal because Body and Soul has done such a good job, there seemed very little to
Back in September Calpundit used the phrase “technical lie” to refer to Bush administration statements which are “carefully constructed to leave an
The above is a frame from Cartoonist Joe Sacco’s NY Times Article on the Israeli destruction of homes in the Gaza Strip. The International
The Washington Post on the latest Frontline documentary: “Truth, War and Consequences” paints administration officials as dissemblers as well as
Calpundit reports on Bush’s new blog. I found this quite disturbing: The “Compassion Photo Gallery” is here, and it turns out that “compassion” is
From Cursor.org, the naming of a scandal: Time notes that some have christened the scandal “Intimigate.” While the term has yet to gain widespread
With the election in California tomorrow this story needs to be distributed as widely as possible: It turns out that Schwarzenegger knowingly
There is a lot of talk about languages in Taiwan these days, especially since the announcement of a draft of a proposed “national languages
Nathan Newman reports some good news: A federal district court in Texas ruled on Wednesday that Ken Lay and other Enron executives are liable to
Those of us who worry about media consolidation don’t usually concern ourselves with the Tabloids. After all, nobody takes those seriously, right?
From a poem by Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said), who is one of the front-runners for this year’s Nobel Prize in literature: The Flood /2 Via Moorish
hunting in Washington D.C.: The Bush administration is seeking more than $600 million from Congress to continue the hunt for conclusive
Tapped would encourage you to put money not only into Brown & Root, owners of Halliburton, but also into the new firm founded by former Bush
An excellent article on Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary: Who’s responsible for all this violence? “Taliban remnants” usually get the blame. But that
FROGMARCH verb [mid-19th century and still in use] to carry someone face down, one person holding onto each limb; used on drunks or recalcitrant
So, you start a company to privatize education and take on the teachers unions. Your company fails miserably both in terms of the market and
Edward Said, the world-renowned scholar, writer and critic has died aged 67, it was announced today. Here is one of the last things he published
The entire mission of “No Child Left Behind” is to eventually label every single school in this nation as “failing“—it’s a backdoor way of forcing
Up till now, full time employment in a large or medium sized company was one of the only ways to ensure that you and your family were adequately
This is amazing. There have been lots of lists of lies told by the Bush administration, but Sam Smith has actually edited together all these lies
Attorney General John Ashcroft has become a threat and a menace to our criminal justice system and to the civil liberties that have been the
Why was there an “outbreak of candor” by Bush and his top aids, in which they denied any link between Sadaam Hussein and the September 11th attack?
Via Nathan Newman: The United States is bringing in Yegor Gaidar to advise them on how to privatize Iraq’s industries. Why is this an appalling
FAIR has an article calling into question Clark’s “anti-war” record. Here is a quote from back in February: “The credibility of the United States
Well, they probably won’t impeach Bush, but it seems he pretty much just admitted that he lied to congress
David Neiwert’s excellent essay, Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An exegesis is now up at Cursor.org, with photos! (NB See my own post on Fascism.) One
It seems that Krugman misses the Reagan years: Actually, I miss Reagan. I never thought I’d say that, but…. This is from Calpudit’s interview
As the entire nation mourns, I thought about all those others who die every day in the US, many for reasons that could be avoided. Looking around, I
Calpundit calculates that the total budget for Iraq reconstruction will be $221 billion. Here is what he says: Let’s take the hawks at their word
David Greenberg has an excellent article discussing why reporters enjoy exposing “small” lies about personal matters more than big lies about issues
Two items from the blogsphere that seem to sum up the Bush administration’s attitude towards the budget: First, via Tom Tomorrow, Billmon’s concise
Back in May people were discussing how enlarged President Bush’s genitalia looked in his famous “Top Gun” photo-op. It seems that this was a result
A new film about Cyprus confirms my belief that most people in the world would get along just fine if the politicians left them alone.
A lot of democrats seem quite enamored of General Clark. Personally, I am not so sure. While I’m no fan of Dean either, I feel even more
I’m a big fan of manifestos, so I was very pleased to see languagehat had translated the Dada Manifesto. Here is a sample: Which is to say: the
I was reading Daily Kos who reports that Clark is now second only to Dean on Meetup (although Dean is still way ahead). But what is Meetup? Meetup
It seems that US troops in Iraq are short on rifles, and are forced to use confiscated AK-47s! Maybe that’s because the US military doesn’t know
Access to water is a fundamental human right. The Israelis are depriving the Palestinians of that right. In spring 2003, CESR, in collaboration
Thanks to Body and Soul for pointing out a great post on Gary Hart’s weblog about Bobby Kennedy. It is so “right-on” that I just have to quote a
As many of you may know, Ashcroft is running around promoting the Patriot Act and his new Victory Act as if it were snake oil. He also launched a
During my seven hour odyssey returning home to Jackson Heights from midtown Manhattan (nearly an 8 mile journey), I was fortunate enough to run into
“With all my admiration for Noam Chomsky, I partially disagree with him. Its an underlying premise of his work that you don’t have to do any theory
Ah-nold is on the board of U.S. English: While media reports in recent days have focused on Schwarzenegger’s support for Proposition 187, the
Opposition to Bilingual Education is popping up again in yet another state — this time its Florida: The unfortunate reality is that it takes away
The split between the GOP and the scientific community began during the administration of Richard Nixon. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, protests
With the California Recall on everyone’s mind, I was wondering about the history of California’s experiment in “direct democracy.” The key issue is
is what sets Howard Dean apart. It is anger that has driven so many of us to start up our own blogs, and that is why so many bloggers support
I really want to like the New York Times, I really do. Maybe because its the paper that was at the table every day when I grew up, maybe it is
Politicians love blaming violence on the media, but today Wolfowitz gives it a new twist: In an interview with Fox News, Mr Wolfowitz accused
The plan to establish a futures market in terrorism may have been quietly scrapped by the defense department, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still
ing is a human right, and Afghanistan’s girls are being deprived of it by a systematic campaign waged by “gunmen and warlords who were
Tom Tomorrow linked to this story about how the Pentagon is setting up a futures market where investors can bet on the likelihood of terrorist
Today’s NY Times Magazine has an in-depth look at the Iraqi sanctions. It is one of the best things I’ve read on the subject. Most importantly, it
It amazes how much anger normally sane people in the democratic party have for the Greens and Ralph Nader. There have been a string of virulent
Dr. Josephine Ho, one of Taiwan’s leading researchers and political activists on issues of gender and sexuality is under attack for having linked to
Bush is trying to kill overtime pay for millions of workers: The Bush administration is trying to push through new regulations — without public
In response to the rising tide of people using the “F-word” to describe the Bush administration’s numerous tactics for dividing the world into those
From Gary Hart’s Web Log: Whenever someone’s patriotism is questioned or judgments rendered about who is and who is not patriotic it always seems
Following on my marriage post, I think this link to Balkinization deserves an entry of its own. Jack Balkin has an excellent post which clarifies a
One of the interesting things about the recent Supreme Court decision on the Texas anti-Sodomy law was the way in which it went out of its way to
To be honest, I’m in way over my head on this word. For one thing, there are so many different kinds of debt that people talk about. Just
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