Lake Poopó, which was once Bolivia's second-largest lake, is now gone, its water content down to a shocking 2% of what it once was. A few days ago, NASA released a satellite image showing the extent of the situation, which resembles nothing so much as the destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. And … Continue reading Trashing the place

Militias like these Bundy folks in Oregon are always talking about how they want to take America back to whatever they imagine its founders intended. Their group calls itself "Citizens for Constitutional Freedom," for example, and Ammon Bundy apparently thinks he's the new George Washington. My question is, have any of these people ever read … Continue reading Whatever happened to “the consent of the governed”?

Aside from getting people to talk about Michael Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaign is apparently about one thing: making sure that America's political and financial establishment don't lose control of the country to those damn primary voters after all. That's the only thing I can gather from reading things like this: If Republicans were to … Continue reading Rescuing democracy from the voters

The United Nations' special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, announced earlier today that this week's Syrian peace talks in Geneva--which were supposed to happen today--will instead be held on Friday. Presumably, this is because "Friday" is the last work day of the week, and he could not have announced that they were being held … Continue reading Talking just to hear themselves talk

Salon's Ben Norton reports that America's dear Saudi partners appear to be deliberately targeting medical aid workers in Yemen through the use of "double-tap" and even "triple-tap" airstrikes: A Saudi-led coalition airstrike struck the ambulance of the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al Gomhoury Hospital in Yemen’s Saada governorate on Friday, killing the driver, who was a … Continue reading Shared values on display in Yemen

Monday will mark the fifth anniversary of the first wave of protests in Egypt's version of the Arab Spring, the first of 18 days of protests that ended with the resignation of former president/dictator/jolly old hill troll Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011. This time of year is fraught with emotional resonance for current Egyptian … Continue reading Cairo’s uncomfortable weekend

Carly Fiorina, the Guinness record holder among US presidential candidates for quickest trip from "you know, she might have a chance at winning this thing" to "who?" in the television era, whose campaign now subsists largely on Ted Cruz's charity, has taken up a new vocation: accosting preschoolers. Carly Fiorina has been accused of “ambushing” … Continue reading She seems nice