It's one of the enduring fictions of American politics that House Representatives and Senators, who have full-time jobs (well, "full-time") in Washington, DC, and who are well-paid but not well enough to afford to own two homes unless they have other sources of wealth outside of their salaries, actually "live" in their home states or … Continue reading Home is where the heart is

For those folks who keep wondering (because they aren't paying attention) where the "moderate Muslims" are, here they are again: More than a hundred Muslim scholars and leaders from around the world released an open letter addressed to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Wednesday, telling the self-proclaimed caliph, in no uncertain terms, that the … Continue reading Muslim scholars denounce extremism again; will Islamophobes pay attention this time?

You ever get tired of those "OMG THIS ONE [MAP, CHART, GRAPH, WHATEVER] EXPLAINS EVERYTHING/IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER" posts you see all over the place? Yeah, me too. But every once in a while, they kind of have a point. Matt Yglesias says this is "The most important chart about the American economy … Continue reading This one chart explains EVERYTHI–well, no, but it’s still an important chart

In an effort to control the spread of the disease, Sierra Leone is going to try, somehow, to quarantine over a million people: Sierra Leone has ordered the indefinite quarantine "with immediate effect" of three districts and 12 tribal chiefdoms - a move that will affect more than one million people. President Ernest Bai Koroma, … Continue reading Today in troubling Ebola news

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So while I was out, we learned considerably more about America's new air campaign in Syria, and while some of it might be OK, most of it just serves to demonstrate what an unworkable mess the Syrian conflict is, and why, regardless of our intentions, it's probably counter-productive for America to be involved there in … Continue reading These exciting new airstrikes in Syria are highlighting why America should stay out of Syria

I'll put up a link to the text of Resolution 2178, which passed unanimously at the start of the session, once I find it (UPDATE: the full text is included here). The State Department's fact sheet on the resolution is available here. In principle I appreciate the fact that the resolution insists that member states … Continue reading Obama chairs Security Council meeting (live, until it’s not)

President Obama began the concluding section of his speech to the UN General Assembly today in kind of an interesting way: I realize that America's critics will be quick to point out that at times we too have failed to live up to our ideals. That America has plenty of problems within its own borders. … Continue reading Well, that’s ONE way to put it

Remember those nice young Iranian folks who looked so happy to be dancing to, uh, the song "Happy" in their YouTube video? And remember how the Iranian government arrested all of them for the crime of, the crime, um, hang on let me think for a second, I'm sure there was a crime committed here … Continue reading The price of being Happy in Iran

Over the weekend, the two main rivals in the recent Afghan presidential elections finally agreed to put aside their differences and signed an agreement to implement a unity government along the lines of the one that had been suggested by John Kerry about a month ago, one that figures to hang together for at least … Continue reading Afghan rivals agree to temporarily postpone tearing country apart