Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2737

Ke$ha Brings The War Home

Cailey Hall forms a theory about soldier music videos (several examples at the link):

These videos may not be as "real" as the shaky camera footage of embedded reporters (most recently on view in Restrepo), but they somehow feel more immediate. Yes, movies like Restrepo and The Hurt Locker make a concerted effort to depict soldiers in their down time, goofingoff—but there's the inevitable Heisenberg effect. Being acknowledgedobservers, we change the dynamic. But watching these videos, we get...

Pot's Coattails, Ctd

Josh Green harshes the mellow:

From what I've read of the literature, there does seem to be some fairly compelling evidence that
the anti-gay marriage initiatives had an effect in areas with heavy
concentrations of Protestant evangelicals. That would imply that the
effect of marijuana initiatives on Democratic candidates would be
strongest in areas with heavy concentrations of pot supporters--i.e.,
blue states like California, but probably not red states. Sorry to be a
buzz kill.

...

When Mubarak Dies

The inevitable is getting closer and closer.
















Egypt - Hosni Mubarak - Africa - History - Arts and Entertainment

Chart Of The Day

Via Yglesias. Ryan Avent rounds-up expert reactions to this trend. Here's Stephen Roach:

According to research published in the Monthly Labour Review of the USBureau of Labour Statistics in April 2009, compensation of Chinesemanufacturing workers was only $0.81 per hour in 2006—just 2.7% ofcomparable costs in the US, 3.4% of those in Japan, and 2.2% ofcompensation rates in Europe. While these figures are now out of dateby nearly four years, they underscore the magnitude of the gap...

The GOP Establishment RIP

Chait watches their grip slip:

In the past, the Republican Party has always managed to hold in
check the tactical radicalism of its base. It's starting to run wild.
In past elections, I would have totally discounted the possibility that
the party might nominate a figure like Sarah Palin, because the party
establishment has always been strong enough to push aside candidates
who were not strong electoral vehicles for conservatism. I'm no longer
sure they have that power anymore.

Good to have...

The Marriage Ideology

Noah Millman shares why he changed his mind (at least twice) on marriage equality. It strikes me as a model of bloggy discourse: allowing oneself to change one's mind in public and change it back if necessary, and using the process to understand yourself and the world a little better.

Read the whole intellectually honest thing.

Marriage - Relationships - Christian - Education and Enrichment - Gay Lesbian and Bisexual

Baby Thoughts

Melody Dye passes along some research suggesting that our slow cognitive development is key to our intelligence as a species:

In a recent article in Current Directions in Psychological Science,
Sharon Thompson-Schill, Michael Ramscar and Evangelia Chrysikou make
the case that this very helplessness is what allows human babies to
advance far beyond other animals.
They propose that our delayed cortical development is precisely what
enables us to acquire the cultural building blocks, such as...

Surge Fail Update II

Joel Wing covers the political stalemate:

As always, Maliki is the main barrier to forming a new government. He
insists that he return as prime minister, which is opposed by almost
all the other parties. The negotiations with the Iraqi National
Alliance and the Iraqi National Movement have gone nowhere because of
him, while the Kurds are largely staying on the sidelines willing to
support any coalition that emerges that will agree to their demands.
Maliki has the luxury of being able to drag...

Mental Health Break

35mm from Pascal Monaco on Vimeo.

We picked 35 of our favorite movies and tried to simplifly them as far as possible. The outcome is a 2 minute journey through the history of film.
Take a close look and tell us if you've recognized them all!

Vimeo - Multimedia - Pascal Monaco - Flash - Development Frameworks

Purging A Racist

Chris Good profiles the first casualty of the NAACP resolution:

[Mark:] Williams has lent controversy to the Tea Party movement for some
time now, and it's not all that hard to find Tea Party organizers who
will tell you that he is a racist and a bigot and that he's giving the
movement a bad name. In fact, he's already on his way out as chairman,
or so he told me: the controversy, the schedule, and his own pursuits
have let him to set the wheels in motion for him to step aside
from his...