So I was supposed to go watch (and then write about) a panel discussion today at the Capitol. That, uh, didn't work out. On the plus side, the unexpected free time allowed me to have the glorious experience of actually taking a nap. On the downside, I took that nap on the couch and now … Continue reading Bahrain is flexing its muscles a little

Thus far Israel's life-sanctifying campaign against Hamas (if by "Hamas," you mean "anybody who happens to live in Gaza") has killed 72 people, and they're promising to "expand" the campaign in the days ahead. Another hour another house. Israelis have hit 55+ homes. In this one Salah & Aysha Nawasrah & two kids, killed pic.twitter.com/o9ZyI5kvzW … Continue reading The upper hand

It's been hard to stay optimistic about the chances of a nuclear accord being reached with Iran, what with all the talk about how the two sides are so far apart on the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment program and the July 20 deadline rapidly approaching to either complete an agreement, extend the talks by … Continue reading New piece at LobeLog, on threats to the nuke talks with Iran

Hamas, a terrorist organization that is based in Gaza, launches 150 or so rockets into Israeli territory. Very few actually hit anything, and though preliminary reports are not available it's quite possible that no casualties resulted. Hamas insists that these rocket attacks target only military sites, which is such a lazy effort that it barely even … Continue reading Sanctifying life

I've been writing for (theoretical) pay all day, but lots of little silly things seem to be happening that are worth pointing and laughing if nothing else: I'm now pretty much convinced that if we could get the Obama administration to publicly come out in favor of depth perception, right-wing nutjobs all around the country … Continue reading Quick hits, 7/8/2014

How else do you sheeple explain this? Sen. Robert Menendez is asking the Justice Department to pursue evidence obtained by U.S. investigators that the Cuban government concocted an elaborate plot to smear him with allegations that he cavorted with underage prostitutes, according to people familiar with the discussions. In a letter sent to Justice Department … Continue reading The Daily Caller is objectively pro-Castro

Foreign Policy has this sort of appalling OMG US AMERICA IS IN DECLINE issue out this month, and I just got a copy so I haven't really had any time to get into it, but one graph pops off the page in terms of its disingenuous attempt to evoke some kind of terror in the … Continue reading Scary graphs are scary

Shocker of all shockers, the Supreme Court's narrowly defined "it only applies to these four specific methods of birth control" decision turns out to apply to all forms of birth control, and it looks like Republicans in Kansas want to use the decision to reintroduce legislation that will permit private businesses to discriminate against The … Continue reading That Hobby Lobby decision sure was narrow

Richard Mellon Scaife died on Friday and I upheld the whole "don't speak ill of the dead" thing by not writing anything about it. As a native Pittsburgher, I still remember the newspaper strike in the early 90s that allowed Scaife to expand his Greensburg Tribune-Review into the city-wide peddler of fringe right-wing sleaze that … Continue reading In the club

Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the horrible murder of three Israeli teenagers a week ago thusly: The Israeli leader lamented the killings of the three "gifted, pure, honest and decent teens," bloodshed that he said shows "a broad moral gulf (that) separates us from our enemies." "They sanctify death, we sanctify life," Netanyahu said, comparing the … Continue reading Hamas and Netanyahu: two lousy tastes that taste even worse together