Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2637

The Global War on Terror

by Conor Friedersdorf

The New York Times reports:

In roughly a dozen countries — from the deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Central Intelligence...

A Way Forward With Drugs, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Mark Kleiman continues to argue against commercial cannabis. He still wants a "grow your own" policy:

The rate of problem use among cannabis users is lower than therate of problem drinking among drinkers (lifetime risk of about 10% v.lifetime risk of at least 15%) but that's under conditions ofillegality and high price. The risks of chronic heavy cannabis usearen't as dramatic as the risks of chronic heavy drinking - the stuffdoesn't kill neurons or rot your liver, and...

How It All Began

by Conor Friedersdorf

Salon traces the origins of the New York City mosque and community center controversy.

New York City - Mosque - New York - United States - Metro Areas

"Depressing Because It Is So Persuasive" Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

I teach high school in a racially diverse district, and think that anyone who has spent some time in the classroom can clearly see McWhortor and Wax's points.  One way to measure the effect of whatever we want to call this "value problem" is how it ultimately transcends race. Thug culture, and the other conditions that Wax laments, bleed over into white culture, and the values replicate themselves.  For many students of all ethnicities, it has simply become...

Grappling with the 9/11 Families

by Conor Friedersdorf

In a debate about the so-called Ground Zero mosque at a family dinner, I hit upon an analogy that seemed to persuade my interlocutors just a little bit. We were talking about the 9/11 families, some of whom are upset and offended by the project.

Here's the analogy I want to try out. Imagine a suburban street where three kids in a single family were molested by a Catholic priest, who was subsequently transferred by the archbishop to a faraway parish, and never prosecuted. ...

The Palin Model, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

"[Your producers:] did not tell me that you were going to grill me for this specific information that I was not ready to give to you tonight," - Texas representative Debbie Riddle, upset that Anderson Cooper dared to ask her for any evidence behind her claims that "terror babies" exist.

Anderson Cooper - Debbie Riddle - United States - Republican - Politics

An Online Ivy? Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Anya Kemenetz called TED a "new Harvard." Joyner dissents:

While maybe we don't need the current structural system of majors, minors, and core curricula, we need some kind of structure.  Higher education isn't simply dabbling in some interesting discussionsfor a few years.    Students are supposed to come away with some amountof knowledge about a whole variety of topics, the ability to write, theability to do basic research, and the like.   You're not going to getany of that...

Creepy Ad Watch

by Chris Bodenner

Copyranter captions this campaign for a karate studio:

Yeah, Pops. Nip that gaiety in the ass, and get junior kicking
some ass and karate-chopping some wood, all while listening to Eye of
the motherfucking Tiger. That'll knock those show tunes out of his head
and some sense into him.

Karate - Martial arts - Sports - Schools and Instruction - United States

The Cordoba Mosque - And Conservatism, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Josh Barro's two cents:

What I find bizarre about some of the conservative response to
Cordoba House is not just the objection to the construction of the
mosque, but the conviction that it should be stopped by any means
necessary—even if that means violating conservative principles about
property rights, rule of law, and federalism.

Cordoba House - Mosque - Conservatism - Property - Federalism

Hewitt Award Nominee

By Chris Bodenner

"Paging Islamofascists: Our founding principles demand Barack Obama support Jihad. ... Paging the Church of Satan: Our founding principles demand Barack Obama support your rights to human sacrifice. Carry on," Erick Erickson, still a CNN contributor.

On the other hand, the weekend crew of "Fox and Friends" took the admirable stance of defending the president and religious freedom.

Barack Obama - Freedom of religion - United States - Church of Satan - President

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