Iraq Sullen Group

Good Morning.

• Predictably, it's been all Iraq Study Group, all the time--a remarkable accomplishment for a report that's mostly synthesis and history, and a reflection of why American presumption wasn't going anywhere when the invasion began in 2003, and can't go anywhere now that Iraq has the U.S. by the horns. See Pierre's "Lessons Missed..."
  

• The Michael Richards fallout from his taunting audience members "niggers" at a comedy club in November goes on. Candide's Notebooks contributor Rick deYampert has ""Nigger," Indefensible, Unactionable..."

As always, plenty more in Candide's Daily Journal. To quote Katie Couric, Good Weekend Everyone.pt

Get Busy Living

Good Morning. A few new posts today ...

• The cult of living long for long life's sake is reducing our quality of life to a matter of slavery to the medical-longevity complex. A little suicide now and then is a good thing, should meaningful life have run its course. See Pierre's Tuesday column, "Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying..."
  

• The question isn't "why is the sky blue?" but "where do lists come from?" And why on earth would The Atlantic stoop to the Cosmo way and give us the so-called 100 most influential Americans of all time? See "The Most Important Lists. Ever."
  

• It might as well be a daily chronicle: the death watch of American journalism. Next in line, "A Dumber Wall Street Journal?"
  

• Images from Beirut: The faces of Hezbollah, front and back, like you've never seen them before...

Plenty more in the Daily Journal...Thanks for reading.pt

God's Right-Wingers

Good Morning. Several new items today...

• This is the week of the Iraq Study Group's coming out party. The talk shows are lined up, smoke and mirrors at the ready. And Orientalist studies are about to get a new boost. Oh Edward Said, where art thou? See "Iraq Sullen Group..."
  

• Is it a civil war yet? The question now applies to Lebanon. A Letter from Lebanon evokes one mother's desperation with two years of dashed hopes. See "A Mother's Rejection..."
  

• It's down, it's not dead: America's religious right can always find creative ways to remind us why regression is always around the corner. Pierre's two-part series explores how: First, through the Christian Coalition's firing of Florida Rev. Joel C. Hunter in "The Christian Coalition's Error." Second, through the continuing slander of Enlightenment ideals, this time, ironically, by way of genital-mutilation apologist and Allan Bloom wannabe Richard Shweder. See "Mutilating God, Genitals and the Enlightenment."
  

• Time to play: Is George W. Bush the worst president ever?

The best books of the year, the Supreme Court hits the bong, Germany's Patriot Act, a blogosphere round-up and plenty more in Candide's Daily Journal, slightly improved for ease of browsing. Thanks for reading. Spread the word.pt