It is naive to attempt to characterize activities a President might authorize as ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ without reference to the circumstances under which he concludes that the activity is necessary.
- Richard Nixon
Another bloody year draws to a close, which means it’s time to pay tribute to a few of the truly bloody-minded among us. […]

The best US journalism on this country’s involvement in Iraq, both before and after the invasion, belongs hands down to McClatchy Newspapers. The former Knight Ridder chain was a voice in the wilderness during the runup to the invasion, with its Washington Bureau standouts Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel all too often offering the only […]

Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys (A)
Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume (B+)
Sean Stewart, The Night Watch (B+)
J. M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello (A)
Adam and Eve frolicked free and easy in the garden, knowing God, but not knowing what he knew. “Eat this fruit,” said Eve, “and we’ll be animals no more.” Gilgamesh took Enkidu aside, shaved his shaggy ass […]

A number of people are commenting on the report that the US is considering the establishment of overseas military recruiting stations. Some people may be wondering whence the idea sprang, and whether it’s a good one. The answer to the first question supplies the answer to the second.
The idea was first floated in a February, […]

Everybody knows that moods are infectious. Now, former New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman has explained why. His new book, Social Intelligence, details the neurological processes that help us transmit our moods and other social cues to those around us.
Once believed to be lumps of lonely gray matter cogitating between our ears, our brains […]

President Bush made clear in the wake of the November elections his disappointment that American voters are clueless when he remarked that “I thought when it was all said and done, the American people would understand the importance of taxes and the importance of security.” They didn’t, and it’s none of his concern; he […]

Last Friday while listening to the news on the radio I had the pleasure of hearing our president say these words: “History will record that the first major ground battle in the 21st century involving American forces began with a Calvary charge. I guess that’s what you get when you bring together a President from Texas with a Secretary of Defense who actually remembers when America had a Calvary.”

For whatever reason, the New York Times has published yet another puerile op-ed column on Iraq. The column, written by Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, proposes that 2007 will be the year we finally learn whether or not the invasion and occupation of Iraq will be proved a success and packages everyone else’s […]

From the pages of Time Magazine comes a Christmas tale of anarchy, death and destruction leavened with a dose of Frank P. Church. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, or at least a confederation of elves prepared to stand in for him, or if not exactly a confederation and not exactly prepared (and not […]

From the Israeli perspective, the situation is dire. Sharon must have seen the writings on his wall and perhaps the vision finally felled the big man: the polyglot Zionist vision that found a reality in Israel is unsustainable in its present form and function. Something has to give, but all options appear to be open, including accelerating the pace of the creeping genocide in Palestine. Or perhaps Iran truly represents the next step from Iraq.