Well, it's been quite a couple of days for the Supreme Court. Not content merely to force America to grind out its (probably few) remaining days in the Communist hell that is a country where even the poors are able to afford health insurance, the court's tyrannical majority today doomed our national soul to damnation … Continue reading Which “American people” are we talking about?

Claire McCaskill is a big Hillary Clinton supporter and often appears on TV in a surrogate capacity on Clinton's behalf. That's fine; whatever floats your boat. Hillary Clinton is polling 50 points ahead of her closest competition, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and I know everybody points to her flame-out in 2008 as evidence that no … Continue reading Too liberal for whom?

One of the big questions hanging in the air after Turkey's recent indecisive elections is what it all means for Tayyip Erdoğan's Syrian intervention. Obviously that depends on how the election results resolve themselves (a coalition government, and if so what coalition, or early elections), but given that there's only a small number of possible … Continue reading Turkey’s election and what it means for Syria, at LobeLog

How we name our children is informed by our community and our sense of history, isn't it? I mean, at least it can be. We might name our children after older family members, or after a particularly admired figure from the past; even naming our kids after ourselves is meant for posterity, although saddling a … Continue reading How war is changing Iraqi names

As the dust settles from Wednesday night's horrific attack on the Emanuel Church in Charleston, some of America's keenest thought leaders are furrowing their brows in wonderment over what could have possessed 21 year old Dylann Storm Roof to commit such violence upon 9 other human beings. So far, all we have to go on … Continue reading Why is it so hard to admit that it’s racism?

Among the final pieces that need to be ironed out before a comprehensive nuclear agreement can be reached with Iran is the issue of the "possible military dimensions" (PMD) of Iran's past nuclear activities. Essentially, the P5+1 and the International Atomic Energy Agency have been after Iran to fess up to anything it may have … Continue reading Getting hung up on the past

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