Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2752

Unalaska journal, part II

by Dave Weigel

UNALASKA, AK -- I took this photo yesterday on some winding road or another on the way to Summer Bay. This is a real sign, and it's one of several that warn Unalaska denizens of the threat posed by bald eagles. Sure, you think bald eagles are majestic. You don't see them more frequently than any other animal in your city, and you don't see them digging through trash and dumpsters. (Honestly, the image of a bald eagle dumpster-diving, feathers matted with waste, is un-erasable...

Quote For The Day

by Chris Bodenner

"The saddest thing [about the Levi-Bristol announcement:] is probably that Jann Wenner's Us Weekly is hyping
the wedding of the daughter of a woman whose calculated war against the
Lamestream Media never prevents said media from uncritically reporting her every utterance," - Pareene.

Bristol - Us Weekly - England - History - Levi Johnston

Bristol & Levi

by David Frum

FrumForum obtains exclusive access to their wedding invitation!

(OK, it's satire ... but it sure looks real.) 

England - Bristol - Weddings - Shopping - David Frum

Mental Health Break

by Chris Bodenner

Sick of Ke$ha yet? The Internet isn't:

Bonus mashup: "Tik Tok" and "California Gurls" are basically the same song.

Tik Tok - Kesha - Health - Mental Health - Social Sciences

Glenn Beck explains our coming race war

by Dave Weigel

I mentioned in my post about Megyn Kelly that Glenn Beck, too, had been running sensationalist stories about the basically irrelevant New Black Panthers. Here's some of his July 7 show on the Panthers to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. He's talking about the Reconstruction period and assaults on black voters from the Ku Klux Klan, comparing the military-garb-wearing NBPP to racists of the past.

Reconstruction.They aimed to intimidate Republican voters of both races...

What A Kidney Is Worth, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Bill Peckham, who is on dialysis himself, presents a criticism of organ markets I've not heard before:

By paying for kidneys you change the system that has developed for the acquisition/transplant of other organs and tissues.

If a kidney from a living donor is worth $20,000, what's a postmortem kidney worth? How much for a postmortem liver? Postmortem donation of hearts, livers, lungs and all manner of other useful tissues rely on altruistic donation. If body parts become...

Nature Clip Of The Day

by Chris Bodenner

The honey badger is one fearless badass.

Honey Badger - Shopping - Food - Sweeteners - Honey

Shades Of Democracy

by Patrick Appel

Jonathan Bernstein pops Yglesias's dreams of a majoritarian democracy.

Democracy - Politics - Criticisms of Democracy - Direct Democracy - United States

Perez Hilton, Conservative?

by Patrick Appel

Mary Elizabeth Williams compares the celeb-blogger to James Dobson:

Like an overly evangelical politician or priest (Hilton, interestingly,is an alum of the Belen Jesuit School), he spends his time obsessing onthe sins of others -- but without the mannerly restraint those otherguardians of our good behavior are obliged to show. He's closer inspirit to those abortion clinic protesters brandishing posters offetuses, preferring to stomp around and wave his vivid shows of...

Megyn Kelly's minstrel show

by Dave Weigel

I don't really get a chance to watch TV in Unalaska, and the one thing I miss is Megyn Kelly of Fox News. The last week or so of her work -- her one woman crusade against the New Black Panther Party -- has been truly riveting television. Kelly widens her eyes in a way that bespeaks both horror and anger at the subject she's reporting on. "Shocking new video," she'll say, introducing a clip of the Panthers acting like idiots and yelling about "crackers" at a Philadelphia street f...