JUSIPER

Gladys Knight at the Soul Train Awards

2012-01-06T01:13:00.001-05:00

Remembering the great Junior Walker

2011-12-31T15:34:00.002-05:00

Christmas, 2011

2011-12-25T03:03:00.002-05:00

Lincoln on labor

2011-12-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Says Brown University's Ted Widmer: "If his earlier comments on the balanced budget held out inspiration for today’s Tea Party, here was some red meat for Occupy Wall Street."“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

Character problem

2011-11-28T14:27:00.003-05:00

The speech President Kennedy never gave

2011-11-26T00:49:00.000-05:00

November 22, 1963, as reported by Tom Wicker, who left us today:The speech Mr. Kennedy never delivered at the Merchandise Mart luncheon contained a passage commenting on a recent preoccupation of his, and a subject of much interest in this city, where right-wing conservatism is the rule rather than the exception.Voices are being heard in the land, he said, "voices preaching doctrines wholly

Income inequality

2011-11-01T13:09:00.005-04:00

Isn't it remarkable that this most striking trend is barely reported? It would have been in any other country that had a functioning news media. It isn't hyperbole to talk about a Reagan Revolution. Beginning with him, the Republican Party has used either majority or filibuster power to systematically transfer wealth from the middle class to not really 3,000,000 but more like about 10,000

Picture of the day

2011-10-18T00:15:00.000-04:00

"Mitt Romney's money shot." Photograph provided to the Boston Globe by Bain Capital.

Coming soon to a theater near you

2011-10-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

I hope.

No gays, please, we're Indian

2011-07-05T02:06:00.001-04:00

Remarkable news from India: India's health minister has outraged activists by calling homosexuality a "disease" and "completely unnatural" during a conference on HIV/AIDS. Ghulam Nabi Azad told the conference Monday that it was unfortunate that homosexuality has come to India. He echoed a common refrain in this conservative country that homosexual sex is a Western import. Gay sex was illegal

2012, here we come

2011-05-31T01:01:00.000-04:00

What will be fun about the primary race, assuming it ever heats up, will be watching GOP presidential candidates leveling these attacks against their frontrunner. I picked this cartoon up at a well knownconservative website, Free Republic.

Philadelphia, Mississippi

2011-05-20T14:39:00.001-04:00

The town appeared in this blog only a few weeks ago. How shocking and sad, then, to hear of the devastation that God has wrought there.

And there it is

2011-05-20T04:42:00.001-04:00

Only took two weeks: China has agreed to immediately provide 50 JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan, a major outcome of a visit by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to Beijing this week, Pakistani officials said Thursday. China and Pakistan have jointly produced the JF-17 aircraft, but the new planes would be equipped with more sophisticated avionics, the officials said. The latest jet fighters

Animal torture in "Water for Elephants"

2011-05-10T02:42:00.001-04:00

Next time you see "no animals were harmed during the making of this film" on film credits, think again. Movie star electric shocked from Animal Defenders on Vimeo.

China and Pakistan

2011-05-10T02:30:00.001-04:00

From an exceedingly thoughtful if occasionally problematic post-Bin Laden-execution piece in The National Interest by the New America Foundation and King College's Anatol Lieven. Instead of economic pressure, what has been widely advanced as a means of U.S. coercion is a radical reduction in military aid to Pakistan. [...] The problem here can be summed up in one word: China; for Pakistan is in

Intriguing quote

2011-05-09T00:35:00.001-04:00

The Washington Post ran a poll of Virginia voters just before the Bin Laden death announcement, in which voters split 48% for the President and 46% for Romney Afterwards, Obama beat him 51 to 44. That's a net improvement of 7 points. But this was what caught my eye:The question heading into next year’s presidential election is whether the electorate will look more like the one that voted for

The President on 60 Minutes

2011-05-08T21:42:00.001-04:00

Blast from the past

2011-05-05T22:54:00.001-04:00

Never less than timely.

That didn't take long

2011-05-04T18:48:00.002-04:00

China backs Pakistan. "To the hilt."China on Tuesday suggested it feared serious instability in Pakistan, and would support the Zardari regime to the hilt. In its zeal to protect Pakistani rulers, China even indicated it would not pressurize Pakistan to hand over the perpetuators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to India. "Pakistan government is firm in its resolve and strong in action in the

The mystery deepens

2011-05-04T17:43:00.003-04:00

Well... not really. After reading this blockbuster piece in Canada's Globe and Mail, Indian newspapers feel they have their smoking gun: the connection between Al Qaeda and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism against India. A police officer familiar with Mr. bin Laden’s compound in the scenic town of Abbottabad said the location was used by Hizbul Mujahedeen, one of the biggest militant outfits in the

Worth a thousand words

2011-05-04T14:35:00.001-04:00

No point in an essay on Pakistan's culpability; these cartoons, courtesy of intrepid reader G., say it all.

Since Republicans everywhere are thanking Bush instead of Obama

2011-05-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

Here's something to consider: an article published in the New York Times on July 4, 2006. Yes, July 4th. The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday. [...] Michael Scheuer, a former senior C.I.A. official who was the first head of the unit, said the move reflected

Still more political art

2011-05-04T00:57:00.000-04:00

This one via El Kos.

Flashback of the Day

2011-05-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

Via Political Wire:"Sen. John McCain condemned Mike Huckabee Monday for saying that, as president, he would strike at terrorists inside Pakistan's borders with or without permission from the country's leadership... Sen. Barack Obama made similar comments about Pakistan in August, which McCain criticized at the time as irresponsible, as did several of Obama's Democratic rivals."-- CNN, November 27

Hitchens

2011-05-02T15:36:00.001-04:00

100% true, even if we should think twice about listening to anyone who thought going to Iraq was a smart idea. There are several pleasant little towns like Abbottabad in Pakistan, strung out along the roads that lead toward the mountains from Rawalpindi (the garrison town of Pakistani's military brass and, until 2003, a safe-house for Khalid Sheik Muhammed). Muzaffarabad, Abbottabad … cool in

Just call him "Mister President"

2011-05-02T01:58:00.001-04:00

Via Kos. :

The President at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

2011-05-01T03:15:00.000-04:00

Seth Meyers at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

2011-05-01T03:14:00.000-04:00

David Letterman on Donald Trump

2011-05-01T02:09:00.001-04:00

Via the Los Angeles Times: Apparently, Dr. Phil is friends with the incendiary real estate tycoon, and Letterman asked what he thought of Trump's recent behavior. Dr. Phil tried to laugh it off, joking that maybe Trump was hoping to convert the White House into a condo. Letterman, who clearly had a bee in his bonnet, wasn't having it. "It's all fun, it's all a circus, it's all a rodeo, until it

Romney: "We're going to hang" Obama

2011-04-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

The media has given the Republican Party a free pass on racism for nearly half a century now. Don't believe me? Remember this? Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1980 campaign before an adoring white audience in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in Neshoba County, the site of three of the grisliest murders of the civil rights era. "'I believe in states' rights,'" Reagan told his listeners. This hackneyed

American coverage of the royal wedding

2011-04-30T16:27:00.003-04:00

Via The Guardian: Hadley Freeman emails from New York to say that the US coverage of the wedding "has been somewhat akin to watching a US/UK school exchange writ large, with the Americans playing the wide-eyed naifs abroad and the Brits doing the 'Oh yah, really, you don't know that? Saddo!' condescending teenagers, even if they haven't a flipping clue what they're talking about despite their

It has begun

2011-04-04T17:51:00.001-04:00

Matt Taibbi

2011-03-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

In an online Q&A, he discusses that "bailouts were paid back" meme:The biggest bailout mechanism was the banks’ ability to go to the Fed and borrow hundreds of billions in emergency loans at rock-bottom interest rates, or sometimes at zero. Goldman, for instance, borrowed $600 billion in emergency loans during the crisis period, which makes the $10 billion TARP payment look meager.Your friend

Gladys Horton, 1945-2011

2011-03-04T23:21:00.000-05:00

*Sigh*

The Republican war on working families

2011-03-03T23:45:00.000-05:00

Help ActBlue put this ad on Wisconsin television.

Wael Ghonim

2011-02-08T03:03:00.001-05:00

Do you want to have hope for the future of Egypt? Watch, as much of Egypt did yesterday.

Andre Agassi

2011-01-20T01:17:00.001-05:00

On Federer/Nadal versus Agassi/Sampras:SI.com: You recently said the Federer-Nadal rivalry is “more compelling” than the one you had with Pete. Why do you think that? Agassi: For a couple reasons. I think, first of all, they’re the two greatest players historically speaking and playing in the same generation. Their accomplishments are — maybe Laver you could compare, what he did was

Martin Luther King Day

2011-01-16T14:07:00.003-05:00

The time is overdue For people like me and you Who know the way of truth Is love and unity to all God's children It should be a great event And the whole day should be spent In full remembrance Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people So let us all begin We know that love can win Let it out don't hold it in Sing it loud as you can Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you

Reinstating DADT

2011-01-14T01:56:00.001-05:00

Tim Pawlenty is a former governor of Minnesota, billed as the guy who's "too nice" to be an effective contender for the presidency. So what did the nicest Republican presidential contender say on Republican talk radio today? "I mean, families and traditional marriage is so important to that and I don't believe all other domestic relations should be on the same platform as traditional marriage,

Moment of silence

2011-01-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

CNN anchor's departure to Fox causes border war!

2011-01-07T22:41:00.001-05:00

The carnage can be found at deadline.com, where news of John Roberts' departure had Republicans celebrating at the big "get." Our ordinarily sedate neighbors to the north, however, were horrified that one of their own could work for an uncivilized corporate propaganda machine. Then the insults started flying: Canadian 1: Sad to see a fellow Canadian, ex- MuchMusic VJ go from a liberal station to

It's worth learning Portuguese

2011-01-03T21:08:00.002-05:00

Just to understand this extraordinary campaign appearance by the great Lula.

President Obama signs DADT repeal

2010-12-22T17:11:00.001-05:00

From the Sunday Independent

2010-11-28T02:31:00.000-05:00

In Ireland:You see, for years, Irish people were happy to be the clowns of the world. We were like the freckly ginger kid in the corner of the class who was great fun but who never really got to hang with the blonde, sleek, superficial, popular kids. And then, like in Mean Girls, we were led to believe we could make the jump into the popular crowd. We weren't just good at "the craic" (getting

Hildegard of Bingen

2010-11-07T02:40:00.000-05:00

From a letter to the countess Oda of Eberstein: There was a certain valley that sometimes dried up and sometimes burst forth in flowers. It did not, however, consistently produce wholesome plants, and though it was beautiful for people to see, it was not very useful for sustenance. So it is with your mind.

Dilma's speech: key excerpts

2010-11-01T00:44:00.001-04:00

Historic stuff, from Brazil's first woman president's victory speech: Este fato, para além de minha pessoa, é uma demonstração do avanço democrático do nosso país: pela primeira vez uma mulher presidirá o Brasil. Já registro portanto aqui meu primeiro compromisso após a eleição: honrar as mulheres brasileiras, para que este fato, até hoje inédito, se transforme num evento natural. E que ele

Elections 2010: Sanity prevails

2010-10-31T18:01:00.002-04:00

Just not in America. "Dilma Rousseff is Brazil's 1st Woman President"(headline at Folha.com)

Excerpts from Scott Brown's letter to a constituent regarding DADT

2010-09-20T16:36:00.000-04:00

Proof that Massachusetts' junior senator is no friend of equality under the law, in a state whose voters are far ahead of the curve when it comes to gay rights. Current members of the military are required to abide by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that became federal law in 1993. This policy restricts the United States military from forcing service members to disclose homosexual or

Cartoons, courtesy of France

2010-09-20T01:00:00.002-04:00

Although the French, like most Europeans, are decades behind the United States on matters of race and ethnicity, they are far, far savvier about religion. "OK, so you committed rape. But was it with or without a rubber?""The Holocaust-denying bishop's pleas for forgiveness failed to convince."

Sumerian aphorisms

2010-09-08T03:49:00.000-04:00

5000 years old.In a city that has no watch dogs, the fox is the overseer Flatter a young man, he’ll give you anything; Throw a scrap to a dog, he’ll wag his tail. A sweet word is everybody’s friend. If you take the field of an enemy, the enemy will come and take your field. Conceiving is nice; pregnancy is irksome. For a man’s pleasure, there is marriage; On thinking it over, there is

The New Republic publisher Marty Peretz on Islam

2010-09-07T19:38:00.001-04:00

He actually said this:But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense

Peter Beinart

2010-09-04T18:47:00.002-04:00

From the conclusion of a recent essay on Reagan's foreign policy in Foreign Affairs. Subheading: "Obama is the new Reagan."Even more importantly, Obama must rebuild U.S. economic strength. Although Reagan boosted the defense budget, he saw the contest between the United States and the Soviet Union fundamentally as a struggle between political and economic systems in which the dynamism of American

The soulless, cynical right

2010-08-31T20:55:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of reader G.

On the Ground Zero mosque... and its neighboring gay bar

2010-08-14T17:53:00.006-04:00

You wouldn't want Greg Gutfeld to run your foreign policy. He's a provocateur with no real understanding of policy. He claims to be libertarian but, through his writing and Fox News rantings, strengthens the power of the GOP, despite his presumed support for unrestricted abortion on demand. And the Republican Party's fiscal, military and religious policies haven't just bankrupted and weakened

What if the Tea Party was black?

2010-07-19T23:08:00.002-04:00

Argentina

2010-07-15T23:15:00.020-04:00

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner reflects on the passage of gay marriage. If we think that 50 years ago women couldn't vote, and that it hasn't been that long since interracial marriage was prohibited in the United States, and that here in Argentina the only way to marry was through the Church, and we see how all that changed, then we can say that this has been a positive step that

From a letter from Keynes to FDR

2010-07-15T21:21:00.005-04:00

The quote comes courtesy of an anonymous reader of the New York Times. The full letter is available here. "You are engaged on a double task, Recovery and Reform;--recovery from the slump and the passage of those business and social reforms which are long overdue. For the first, speed and quick results are essential. The second may be urgent too; but haste will be injurious, and wisdom of

"We invite you with open arms to our wonderful country"

2010-07-12T00:59:00.003-04:00

A FIFA promo for the 2010 World Cup. From the Guardian: And so the circle was complete. Nelson Mandela, who presided over the birth of a democratic South Africa, took centre stage again last night at the country's coming of age. Wrapped against the winter cold, Mandela beamed and waved to nearly 85,000 spectators before they together witnessed Spain claim its first World Cup with victory

Best lines ever in a Bond film?

2010-07-12T00:22:00.002-04:00

Way up there, in any case. This is the scene in Casino Royale where Bond first meets Felicity Shagwell Vesper Lynd: Vesper Lynd: [after discussing poker skills on the train] What else can you surmise, Mr. Bond? James Bond: About you, Miss Lynd? Well, your beauty's a problem. You worry you won't be taken seriously. Vesper Lynd: Which one can say of any attractive woman with half a brain.

From today's DOMA opinion

2010-07-08T21:06:00.002-04:00

A wonderful section from conservative Nixon-appointee Joseph Tauro's decision:And even within the narrower class of heterosexual married couples, this court cannot apprehend any rational relationship between DOMA and the goal of nationwide consistency. As noted above, eligibility requirements for heterosexual marriage vary by state, but the federal government nonetheless recognizes any

GOP congressman "offended" because Obama "favors the black person."

2010-06-15T01:35:00.001-04:00

He's a sitting GOP congressman from Iowa, and he actually said this: But the president has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race – on the side that favors the black person.” Um... OK. This isn't a one-off though. The congressman has a rap sheet. Here's one from March 8, 2008, when he announced his bid for re-election in Council Bluffs:It was during

Who is on Hispanics' side in the white community?

2010-06-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

Certainly not the majority: As with other topics centered on social justice, the gay and lesbian community seems to be at odds with their heterosexual counterparts. As the press release for the poll points out, “in other national opinion polls, 6 out of 10 (60%) heterosexual adults who also have seen, read or heard about Arizona’s forthcoming statute say they support Arizona’s new immigration

Best line in today's New York Times

2010-06-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

Surely there isn't a better one than this:Back in Spoland, Sofia Karlsson, a police officer and the wife of Mikael Karlsson, said she found her husband most attractive “when he is in the forest with his rifle over his shoulder and the baby on his back.”

Markos' tweets tonight

2010-06-09T01:32:00.001-04:00

Many are on the money: GOP backing most electable candidates, sabotaged by teabaggers. Dem base backing most electable candidates, sabotaged by Dem establishment Congrats to John Boozman, the next senator from the great state of Arkansas. So for the sake of loser Blanche Lincoln, both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama has alienated labor. Smart! Just like John Boozman won his Senate seat tonight,

2010 is a fine year for a comeback

2010-06-07T01:09:00.000-04:00

Though, I suppose, 2011 would work just as well.

Grace and beauty

2010-06-05T03:04:00.003-04:00

Jr. Walker on David Letterman in 1985, performing his most beloved hit. He would leave us just ten years later.

Interview to end all interviews

2010-06-03T13:04:00.001-04:00

Larry Craig on The Daily Show. The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cEvan Bayh's Senate Retirementwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

Sinéad O'Connor

2010-06-03T02:31:00.003-04:00

Interviewed about John Paul II and Benedict's mess on Irish television:

Andrew Madden

2010-06-02T17:35:00.000-04:00

Author of Altar Boy, he was one of the first Irish abuse victims to come forward. Now he has written a chapter in an edited volume in the recently published The Dublin/Murphy Report: A Watershed for Irish Catholicism? The book includes chapters by survivors, theologians, journalists and even a bishop. The excerpt from Madden's chapter is simply devastating:Can the Catholic Church in Ireland

Haaretz on yesterday's disaster

2010-05-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Yup.Yesterday's fiasco could and should have been prevented. This flotilla should have been allowed to pass and the blockade should be brought to an end. This should have happened a long time ago. In four years Hamas has not weakened and Gilad Shalit was not released. There was not even a sign of a gain. And what have we instead? A country that is quickly becoming completely isolated. This is a

"My favorite video on the nature of conservatism"

2010-05-30T20:12:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Howie Klein, and wow.

Votevets.org

2010-05-27T14:15:00.001-04:00

As usual, making smart ads that connect Republican energy dependence policies to treason, in a way that the national party is unable to conceive of. If you have some spare cash, send them some. Bottom line: this is a teachable moment, and teachable moments were exactly what the Obama presidency were supposed to be all about. Following today's disappointment statement, it sounds like the

"Cuando me enamoro"

2010-05-25T01:35:00.004-04:00

In terms of the American pop world, it's the equivalent of a Stevie Wonder singing with... well Enrique Iglesias, and letting Enrique write the song! But the result, though light as a merengue (the edible kind) is a replayable, if derivative, pop confection, with the sweetest music video in recent memory.

Thank you, Sarah Palin

2010-05-23T23:44:00.002-04:00

For reminding Democrats that politics is a zero-sum game. When Democrats, beginning with the President, don't come out strongly enough against the big banks, Wall Street and Big Oil, Republicans will--even if they are receiving the bulk of the contributions from both entities and have been practically unanimous in doing their bidding. The hypocrisy is breathtaking, but why should anyone blame

Thailand: Signs not of civil unrest but civil war

2010-05-23T20:00:00.001-04:00

"I think the Red Shirts are not Thai people because they destroyed things, they destroyed Bangkok, they destroyed Thailand," said dress shop owner Kasana Opasthanakoon, as he inspected the destruction in Bangkok's commercial centre. "My friends have shops here, destroyed, they have nothing." Once you no longer see your enemy as your own kind, it's hard to see how you can reconcile. Maybe the

Lee DeWyze' success explained

2010-05-22T01:14:00.000-04:00

Great stuff from the Los Angeles Times' Idol Tracker:How did Lee overtake Crystal to become the favorite to win? Psychology Today blogger Scott Barry Kaufman calls Lee's "inevitable" victory "pretty darn textbook." "I don't think he consciously planned out every last detail, but one couldn't have planned out the path to an 'American Idol' win any better," writes Kaufman, explaining that the

What Timothy Egan said

2010-05-19T22:11:00.000-04:00

After all, is it not socialism to force younger taxpayers to pay for the shortfall on behalf of an expanding pool of older Americans? Doesn’t Ayn Rand’s philosophy hold that Wall Street should be free to run wild, that a national health care system for the elderly is tyranny and that the only way for people to live freely is with “full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism,”

Boys

2010-05-19T21:05:00.004-04:00

Ever befuddled and a few steps behind their counterparts:When the two visitors took questions from the children, one little girl said, “My mom said, I think, she says that Barack Obama’s taking everybody away that doesn’t has papers.” After Mrs. Obama replied, “Yeah, well, that’s something we have to work on, right, to make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right?” the

Will Senate Democrats save Blanche Lincoln?

2010-05-19T14:41:00.000-04:00

It would be good for the country if they succeeded in keeping her come-to-Jesus-moment-caused banking regulations intact, and bad for the country if they succeeded well enough to knock off her primary opponent Halter, who is far more electable against the Republican. Complicating matters for Reid is electoral politics. A runoff election in Arkansas means Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who didn't

The two terms I do a Google News search for every day now. Twice.

2010-05-18T23:37:00.003-04:00

Germany + Euro.

John Paul Steven's stinging goodbye to the wackos who rule the Court

2010-05-17T23:05:00.003-04:00

Where Elena Kagan might prefer to hold a mixer and split the difference (in the mold of the other Democratic Supreme Court disappointment, Justice Breyer), the real John Paul The Great prefers the smackdown. Joined in his Graham v Florida concurrence, courageously, by the two women on the Court (who will still have to live with Mr. Coke Can for a long time to come), the nonagenarian legend

One more from Betty White

2010-05-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

One of the show's best moments was this homage to Nichols and May and 1960's television.

Paradigm shift in the offing?

2010-05-17T16:26:00.000-04:00

Wow: The differing viewpoints of European Union states puts a strain on their common currency, and may mean the euro experiment should end, according to John McCarthy, director of currency trading at ING Financial Markets LLC. “Unfortunately the euro isn’t strong enough in many respects to absorb those differences,” McCarthy said in a telephone interview from New York. “In the long run, it has

For long the #1 YouTube video of all time

2010-05-17T15:59:00.000-04:00

And still #2. I must be one of the only people who hadn't seen it.

A question

2010-05-15T22:04:00.001-04:00

The BP oil gusher, barring some miraculous, untested solution, will not be stopped for another 3-5 months. That takes us into August, and maybe September. By then the oil slick will, naturally, have grown substantially. The early forecast suggests a heavier-than-usual hurricane season. So what would a direct strike of, say, a category 4 or 5 hurricane , along with its storm surge (oil

"You're barking up the wrong lesbian"

2010-05-15T21:48:00.003-04:00

One of the many fine SNL moments that came courtesy of Betty White.

"Your equality is an illusion"

2010-05-15T15:39:00.002-04:00

The trailer for 8: The Mormon Proposition.

"I'm no Bill Clinton."

2010-05-15T15:28:00.001-04:00

And he sure isn't. Thank God: The book, Jonathan Alter's The Promise, goes much further than previous accounts in documenting just how opposed Rahm was to proceeding with ambitious reform -- something that was widely suspected at the time but never proven in detail. Excerpts of the book were made available in advance of its release next Tuesday. "I begged him not to do this," Rahm admits to

Hiatus

2010-04-19T19:44:00.002-04:00

JUSIPER goes on hiatus the next few weeks, though there may be a post or a tweet here and there. See you in mid-May.

Waiting for Kata

2010-04-19T02:08:00.000-04:00

What happened in Iceland this week was a perfect storm--not least because there wasn't one. Weather also conspired against Europe. Just as the volcano was erupting, the North Atlantic jet stream was passing over Iceland from the northwest, carrying myriad sharp-edged particles on a collision course with Europe's air fleets. "It's as if it's jinxed," says Helmut Malewski, who is tracking the ash

Charles Krauthammer

2010-04-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

He's an ideologue first. And, of course, as a medical doctor, he has no insight, at least by virtue of training, that lends any significance to his natterings on domestic politics, much less foreign policy. But I always assumed he at least knew something about medicine. I don't anymore. Ryan recalls that moment only vaguely, but he's heard the story since that meeting in 1992, back when the

Why Benedict XVI and his cardinals have no reason to change, and won't

2010-04-17T04:38:00.003-04:00

Philip Stephens of the Financial Times has half the bottom line: Pope Benedict dates the beginning of the church's decline to the social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s; to the passing of the age of deference and the concomitant challenge to traditional authority. It was the secularisation of society, he once said, that had seen Catholic ethics and morals fall into grave decline. This

Treason

2010-04-15T15:58:00.004-04:00

Republicans against energy legislation are voting against the interests of American troops. National security is the single strongest argument for energy legislation, not saving the environment, which no one, even on the left, really cares about enough to bother showing up to the polls for. It is sad that VoteVets, an independent political group comprised of veterans, should be the only ones

Sexual orientation a litmus test for SCOTUS?

2010-04-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

And who is this directed at? Someone who's out, like Kathleen Sullivan? Or is there a top contender who conservatives fear may be a stealth homosexual? n the midst of the Supreme Court nominations last spring, Focus on the Family took a curious position. Jeff Sessions, a conservative southern Senator, claimed he would be open to a nominee with “gay tendencies.” The Evangelical powerhouse

"They keep coming"

2010-04-15T02:18:00.000-04:00

How Pete Wilson turned California, a solid Republican state during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush Sr. years, into a Democratic stronghold. Spanish speakers, another excellent video here.

Pete Wilson

2010-04-15T01:37:00.000-04:00

Not forgotten. This was the scene two years ago when his hometown of San Diego honored him with a statue: Over 150 people gathered in Horton Plaza, San Diego to protest the dedication of a statue in honor of former California Mayor Pete Wilson. Considered to be the "Godfather of Proposition 187", Wilson used his office to target the Mexican and "Central American" community. Prop. 187 was

Republicans love Hispanics! Behind bars or deported, anyway!

2010-04-15T01:35:00.000-04:00

Their latest: In 2007, [Arizona] passed first-in-the-nation penalties for employers who don't ensure their workers are in the country legally. The law led many illegal workers to conclude that they could never find steady jobs in Arizona. Last year, the state made it a crime for state workers to give illegal immigrants unauthorized benefits, which scared many from applying for government

Crist running as an independent?

2010-04-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

Now, in principle, a sane Republican running against an insane one and a Democrat ought to help the Democrats. But that's less true in Florida. And it's even less true when the Democrat is African American. There has been some polling suggesting that Democrat Meek can pull in about 40% of the vote even in a three way race, which may well be enough to win. I'm less sure about that. The best

Don't expect German support for future bailouts

2010-04-14T15:44:00.000-04:00

The problem isn't right now. The Bundestag will surely approve the Greek "rescue package." But approval comes with a debate, and that's a gift to the opposition: Yields on Greek debt rose Wednesday in a sign of investor concern after a Finance Ministry spokesman, Michael Offer, said in Berlin that “the Bundestag would clearly participate in legal approval” of any aid. The yield on the

The Conservative Party manifesto in England

2010-04-13T14:14:00.000-04:00

America's Democrats are far to the right of the right wing party in England. From the Conservative Party manifesto: "We are the party of the National Health Service today because we not only back the values of the NHS, we back its funding and we have a vision for its future."As Sullivan notes, "Those values are collectivist healthcare delivered, for the most part, to everyone free at point of