Senator, disturbingly viable presidential candidate, and all-around turd in the Senate punch bowl Ted Cruz says you can't be POTUS if you're not religious: Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Friday that he believes anyone who wants to be president must fear God and pray daily. Speaking at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa, Cruz … Continue reading Here are three presidential candidates who are cool with killing gay people

Dear US American media: While I appreciate that, for some reason, you're very keen on starting each new presidential campaign months before you started the one before, I want to make sure that you're all aware that we are still nearly a full year away from the 2016 election. The world, and our nation, will … Continue reading It’s OK to stop (or: An Open Letter to All American Media)

Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu got together to cement the terms of their breakup today, although they stressed that they "still care deeply for one another" and "will always remain the closest of friends." Or, in DC-speak, they "stressed their areas of common ground": “It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had … Continue reading Barack and Benjamin split up DVD collection, agree on alimony

The mystery of what, if anything, is hiding in King Tut's tomb got a little more interesting on Friday, when Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities reported that infrared scans of the tomb showed a variation in temperature along one part of its northern wall. The most obvious explanation for a temperature variation like that is that … Continue reading It really looks like there’s a hidden chamber in King Tut’s tomb

Yemen, a country that generally sees a tropical cyclone show up once every decade or so, looks like it may be about to see its second one in about a week. Cyclone Megh hit Socotra Island yesterday and looks poised to make landfall somewhere between central and western Yemen, probably tomorrow. Megh was a category … Continue reading Yemen’s Take Two

Now that both the UK Prime Minister and US President are on record talking about the "possibility" that Kogalymavia Flight 9268 was brought down by a bomb, we have to treat that possibility at least somewhat seriously. To be sure, the fact that the US and UK governments appear to agree on a thing does … Continue reading ISIS and Kogalymavia Flight 9268

Over at The New York Times, Thomas Erdbrink (hey, at least it wasn't David Sanger) lays down some mad truth about the Iran deal: Anyone who hoped that Iran’s nuclear agreement with the United States and other powers portended a new era of openness with the West has been jolted with a series of increasingly … Continue reading Iran deal dead, say people who never wanted it in the first place

I make a lot of jokes about Ben Carson and how he's a few cards short of a full deck. But look, the guy was a freaking neurosurgeon, so he must know something about something, right? Here's what I think: the fact that people are justifiably questioning Ben Carson's intelligence despite the fact that he's … Continue reading Does Ben Carson’s strangeness matter?

I'm working on a piece for pay, and not feeling all that well to boot, so in the absence of any more blogging from me today I would encourage you to check out this piece on the India-Pakistan relationship from Mark Krepon at Arms Control Wonk. Although the Iran talks have sucked up most of … Continue reading A good read on India-Pakistan