Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2685
August 2, 2010
The Horror
United States - Chelsea Clinton - Bryan Rafanelli - President - New York City
Dissent Of The Day II
A reader writes:
Speaking as one of the soldiers (actually a Marine) who have borne part of the burden you refer to, I don't have a problem coming back to Afghanistan if it means girls don't get their noses cut off. We are all volunteers and every single person in the US military either joined since the war in Afghanistan started or has had multiple chances to get out. We knew what we were getting into and we did it for a reason.
The consequences of either leaving Afghanistan completely or...
The Rebirth Of The Electric Car? Ctd
Edward Niedermeyer's op-ed against the Volt from a few days back is the most damning to date. Money quote:
Quantifying just how much taxpayer money will have been wasted on thehastily developed Volt is no easy feat. Start with the $50 billionbailout (without which none of this would have been necessary), add$240 million in Energy Department grants doled out to G.M. last summer,$150 million in federal money to the Volt's Korean batterysupplier, up to $1.5 billion in tax breaks for purchasers...
Drones Over Iceland?
Marc Thiessen continues his tough guy act by suggesting the US use "military assets" to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Eva Rodriguez scratches her head:
Does Thiessen think we're going to send in Special Ops to pluck
from Iceland, Belgium or Sweden, where he's known to hang out? Or is
thinking that a drone strike might be more effective or efficient?Thiessen asserts that the United States does not need "permission toapprehend Assange or his co-conspirators anywhere in the...
Waiting On Innovation, Ctd
Jim Manzi parries Ryan Avent:
If by "innovation" in response to higher gas
prices, we mean switching to smaller cars and taking the bus and riding
bicycles more often, then I agree entirely that higher gas prices in
the U.S. will induce innovation.
Avent dissects this response. Jim sharpens his point in the comments:
I was trying to question the often-asserted belief that raising theprice of carbon any politically conceivable amount would induce thecreation of enough new technology to...
Drunken Countrymen Of Yore
Google - Games - Jacob Sullum - Supreme Court of the United States - California
Machines And Humankind
Christine Rosen reflects on humanity's changing relationship with machines:
In the early age of machines, they inspired awe by proving capable of doing what man could never do alone (such as power an entire factory), or what we once believed only man could do (play chess). Now we expect our machines to do just about everything for us, from organizing our finances to writing our grocery lists. Our machines not only ease the mundane burdens of daily life (cooking, cleaning, working), but also...
America Weighs In
Margie Omero runs through polling on obesity. Americans overwhelmingly see childhood obesity as a major problem worthy of investment but are against taxes on fatty foods. One reason why:
Despite rising obesity rates, and increases in the percentage of people who say they are trying to lose weight, Americans overwhelmingly [pdf] (89%) believe obesity "is something people can control." And this poll [pdf] for the University of Georgia shows few fault marketers for these trends.
O...
Face Of The Day
An Israeli woman rubs sunscreen on a Palestinian girl from the West Bank village of Jahalin as they spend the day at the beach on August 2, 2010 in Bat Yam, Israel. A group of Israeli women organize a weekly visit for Palestinian children from all over the West Bank to the the Israeli seaside, for most of the children this is the first time they get to the beach. By Uriel Sinai/Getty Images.
West Bank - Israel - Palestinian people - Middle East - Bat Yam
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