This is the second in what may wind up being a recurring series Marco Rubio got heckled yesterday at the Faith and Freedom (or Family and Faith, or Freeth and Famdom, something like that) Conference in DC, by a couple of undocumented immigrants calling for the protection of DAPA and DACA, the two executive orders … Continue reading The search for cognitive dissonance continues

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued a report today and the findings aren't pretty: Wars, conflict and persecution have forced more people than at any other time since records began to flee their homes and seek refuge and safety elsewhere, according to a new report from the UN refugee agency. UNHCR's annual Global Trends … Continue reading The worldwide refugee/displaced situation is terrible and getting worse

As hard as it may be to fast for 21 hours a day in Iceland (or, as I have now learned, up to 22 hours a day in St. Petersburg, Russia), it could always be harder: you could live in China's Xinjiang Province: China has, once again, banned Ramadan in parts of the far western … Continue reading Another, less whimsical Ramadan challenge

During the month of Ramadan, observant Muslims are obliged to abstain from food and drink during daylight hours (as well as things like sex and cigarettes). This is hard enough to do during the fall or winter months, when daylight is shorter, let me tell you. When I was working in the Persian Gulf, which … Continue reading Extreme Ramadan

There's a frequent complaint that you run into anytime something violent happens anymore, and it revolves around when and why we designate something as "terrorism." Words are often imprecise things, and their meanings can evolve over time, so a lot of times people will throw terms like "terrorism" around because it feels like they apply … Continue reading Words and how we use them

I think you can make a strong case that it's David M. King of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the named plaintiff in the King v. Burwell case that is giving the Supreme Court another bite at the "gut healthcare reform" apple. Why, you ask? Well, this is why: But Mr. King said that he was … Continue reading The Worst Person in America

Tal Abyad sits right along the Turkish-Syrian border in Syria's Raqqa Province, which has been ISIS's base of operations in Syria for two years now (the provincial capital, the city of Raqqa, is ISIS's "capital city," inasmuch as an unrecognized "state" can be said to have a capital). ISIS has controlled the city and its … Continue reading ISIS and the Turks (!) take a hit in northern Syria

JEB knows you can't just listen to any old yahoo when it comes to climate change: “I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home, but I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope,” the former Florida governor said. “I think religion … Continue reading Republicans suddenly care about credentials, sort of

With roughly two weeks still to go before they reach their June 30 deadline, negotiators in Vienna are already talking about an extension, so that ought to give you some idea how far apart the two sides still are in drafting a comprehensive agreement (and even if they're just posturing, they're posturing for a reason). … Continue reading Iran talks slipping into old habits

Egypt's first and arguably only democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, had his death sentence confirmed today by an Egyptian court, right after it sentenced him to life in prison on separate espionage charges. He's been sentenced to death for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak … Continue reading From president to death row