Live from the Nuke Free Zone

Now here’s something odd. You have to have been poking around multiple news stories to see it, but…
In India:
The [leading] party has been dogged by inflation, particularly in the prices of food…
In China:
Steeply rising food prices pushed inflation in China to 5.6 percent last month, the fastest pace in a decade… consumer prices for […]

Grange Fair’s in town this week.
Tell me what I should go see!  :^)
At least, what I should go see if I’m interested in learning something about farm life.  I used to think Grange Fair was a professional event, but that’s more Ag Progress Days; from what I saw last year, Grange is a family thing.  […]

Texas’ Governor Rick Perry has just signed a law ordering that schools deemed failing for four years in a row be taken over by outside entities, most likely private groups. This is about the most moronic idea I’ve ever heard; it forces dedicated staffers to give up and leave. Most likely any of them that […]

First, a bit of an update to the last part: the latest polling numbers from Haaretz show Kadima getting 36 seats, Labour getting 18, and Likud getting 14. A ridiculous 22% of those polled are undecided, which is even more insane when you consider than the elections are on Tuesday. That 22% represents 28 seats […]

Since I have a working password for the site again (thanks, katster), I figured it was incumbant upon me to, y’know, contribute something. And since I’ve been following news of the upcoming Israeli elections rather obsessively lately, I figured I’d put together a little primer for those any who’re interested, but aren’t really familiar with […]

First off, yesterday’s news is about a step and a half from the worst case scenario of the Bush Administration getting away with it scott-free. The indicted Scooter Libby is more likely than not a scapegoat for the actions of several criminals in the White House, and the charges are only for lying and obstruction […]

No, you can’t torture people even just this once. Bad President, no pretzel.
What if it’s a clandestine counterterrorism operation?
No.
What if it’s abroad?
No.
What if it’s noncitizens?
No.
What if I say I reeeeeeally have to?
No.
What if it’s for clandestine counterterrorism operations conducted abroad, with respect to terrorists who are not citizens of the United States, that are […]

And now, Tommy D’s mugshot:

Nearly a third of the prisoners at Gitmo are on a hunger strike, and they’re being fed forcibly via nasal tubes. Quite an organized effort, probably summed up in one prisoner’s line: “Look, I’m dying a slow death in this place as it is. I don’t have any hope of fair treatment, so what […]

Here’s a question. If God Himself charged you with designing one awesome, dramatic event to expose the hollowness of modern conservative rhetoric, could you possibly have done better than Katrina?
Cutting taxes, paring back social safety nets: until disaster strikes and you need to throw money at exactly those programs to help people.
Ignoring global warming, […]