Since I didn't do one of these last week this will actually cover the past two weeks. Egypt: Obviously this is the big story of the last couple of weeks, with massive protests against the administration of President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood allies finally reaching the point where the Egyptian armed forces stepped … Continue reading This Week in Oppressive Government Violence: July 7, 2013

I was thinking after I wrote this piece that there might be some ways that American Credibility could be strengthened that don't involve us exploding things on people in the Middle East. I know that this makes me a hippy and thus instantly Unserious, but I figured I could throw a few things out there … Continue reading American Leadibility, Part 2: Being Credible Without Killing People

I'm trying out the above neologism as a combination of "American Leadership" and "American Credibility," the two things that Very Serious People always throw around as the reasons why we should leap headlong into one foreign adventure or another. Consider Syria, where John McCain doesn't know who he's getting his picture taken with but he … Continue reading American Leadibility

David Brooks, highly paid columnist for the New York Times and defender of Applebee's salad bars everywhere, has diagnosed the problem with Egypt, and surprise, it turns out to be that the country is full of Egyptians. Egyptians who "lack even the basic mental ingredients" (actual quote!) to manage a transition to democracy, according to … Continue reading “Your kind has neither the cranial capacity nor the opposable digits to operate a firearm!”

Sorry. I'll show myself out. I love Egypt. For one thing, when I go on vacation I like to go on vacation to a place where I can spend hours in a good museum or wandering around in old buildings and historical sites. My wife would rather sit on a beach and relax all day, … Continue reading Morsi, Morsi Me

DOMA ruled unconstitutional, naturally on a 5-4 vote, but this time Justice Anthony "I'm the swing vote, even though I almost always vote with the other 4 Republicans" Kennedy's swing vote actually swung. Couple this with the extraordinary work done yesterday by Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, with assists from the rest of the TX … Continue reading Hey, SCOTUS did something right for a change

What? You thought I meant this guy? No, sorry; it's this guy: That second guy is the former Emir of Qatar, Shaykh Hamad b. Khalifah Al Thani, and his removal from power was entirely voluntary, with a peaceful transfer of power to his son and Heir Apparent, Shaykh Tamim b. Hamad Al Thani. This move … Continue reading BREAKING: long-serving Middle Eastern autocrat removed from power

Last week, McClatchy published a pretty frightening report into the Obama Administration's program to eliminate whistle-blowers and leaks, creatively and not-at-all-chillingly named the Insider Threat Program: President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach. It has received scant public attention even though it extends beyond the U.S. … Continue reading Loose lips sink ships, even in 2013

Between trying to complete a move halfway across the country and trying to shake an apparently unshakeable virus, posting around here has been light and will continue to be light for a few days to come. To the extent that this impacts anybody's well-being other than mine, I apologize. I managed to at least get … Continue reading Taking an oath

Lebanon: So far the violence here has been against the government, not by the government, but that's probably about to change so it's worth being aware of the story. Sunni extremists inside Lebanon have made it clear that they plan to target leaders of the Shi'a Hizbullah militia/terrorist network in reprisal attacks for Hizbullah's ongoing … Continue reading This week in oppressive government violence: june 23, 2013