While you’re pecking away at the keyboard of your Pentium Terminator 5000 and posting to the Fray through your firewalled 700/mbs direct internet connection, the stalwart defenders of freedom at the Justice department are laboring away on steam-powered Babbage Engines.

The steam power is a recent innovation introduced following the deaths of three law . . . → Read More: The Mighty Hamsters of Justice

On January 29, 2002, Bush* identified an Axis of Really Beastly Nations, consisting of North Korea, Iraq and Iran, as part of his pledge to do whatever it was he was going to do. As we approach the November election, it’s appropriate to examine how well he’s performing with respect to those three nations. . . . → Read More: Bad Guys Win

I recently posted the following on a couple of Slate bulletin boards. Five of the twelve respondents thought it was genuine. Why Beheadings Are Legal, by Jay S. Bybee

Much has been made recently of the horrific images stemming from the crude beheadings of kidnapped civilians in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. While this office . . . → Read More: Where to begin? Begin with the beheadings.

If you’re ever in the market for surfing lessons in Waikiki, check him out. He’s a prince. Don’t mention Sesame Street.

Chris Hitchens has a remarkable article on Slate today in which he argues that Americans, himself included, hold a collective responsibility for the goings on in Iraqi prisons because, essentially, we all thought bad thoughts after 911. My response follows. Also on Slate, David Plotz flogs the bejeezus out of David Brooks, the man . . . → Read More: Whaddaya mean “we,” white man?

The quote of the day (so far; it’s early yet) from the Bush* administration comes from Colin Powell on the now-discredited State Department report on terrorism: “It’s a numbers error. It’s not a political judgment that said, `Let’s see if we can cook the books.’ We can’t get away with that now.“

Just for . . . → Read More: A rare moment of honesty plagues Powell

Jodi Wilgoren from the New York Times: [B]OSTON, June 12 — Like a caged hamster, Senator John Kerry is restless on the road. He pokes at the perimeter of the campaign bubble that envelops him, constantly trying to break out for a walk around the block, a restaurant dinner, the latest movie.

Seriously. I’m . . . → Read More: Heeeeeeeeeeeelp Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I’m a staunch advocate of modernizing attitudes toward those among us with mental health problems, and I was so even before I realized I could be the poster boy for one of the more lightly regarded examples thereof, but I’ll be the first to admit that certain people with certain difficulties shouldn’t be working . . . → Read More: The perils of hiring the handicapped