Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2777

Life As A Cell

Robert Wright feels that "technology is weaving humans into electronic webs that resemble big
brains." He doesn't think it "outlandish to talk about us being, increasingly, neurons in a giant superorganism":

I do think we ultimately have to embrace a superorganism of some kind— not because it's inevitable, but because the alternative is worse. Iftechnological progress grinds to a halt, it will be because chaos hasengulfed the world; and if we don't use technology to weave peopletogether and...

Are Kids Doing Better Than Their Parents?

Catherine Rampell finds a chart:

As you can see, most men today earn less than equally educated
men in 1979, with the exception of the most highly educated.  The
opposite is true for women: Most women today earn more than their equally educated counterparts from 1979, with the exception of the least educated.

Joyner calls this chart evidence that earnings have plummeted over the last 30 years:

In 1979, most married women stayed at home with the kids or simplytended house; that almost...

Not From The Onion, Ctd

Max Fisher puts Iran's new hairstyle guidelines in perspective:

Demographically, Iran should be a democracy. It has high literacy and education rates, a large and vibrant middle class, independent labor and business communities, and a strong tradition of political organizing and involvement. The regime retains authoritarian rule in large part because it firmly controls so much of Iranians' public lives. The regime typically increases these controls in times of social unrest. The baseej, an...

How Dumb Is Mitt Romney? Ctd

Max Bergmann sees what Mitt is up to:

From a political perspective Romney is severely compromised with the Republican base for his past liberal positions on domestic and social policy issues (pro-choice, health care reform,
etc). But one area where he is a blank slate is on foreign policy. And
Romney has made a concerted effort to fully embrace the Heritage
Foundation's national security positions.

Crowley agrees:

As a former business executive, Romney has shown little past interestin arms...

Americans Against Torture, Ctd

Bernstein notes how the debate has shifted:

By 2008, the only way to fully support George W. Bush was to opposetorture but to either ignore the vast evidence of what the UnitedStates had done, or to oppose torture but define it narrowly to excludevirtually everything that had every been considered to be torture.  Andafter the election, the emphasis shifted again, and while few haveexplicitly said that "torture" per se is good, the disclaimers areincreasingly, as far as I can see, less and...

Face Of The Day

A burqa-clad Afghan woman holds a child as she walks with other women in
Kabul on July 7, 2010. By Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images.

Kabul - Afghanistan - Asia - Burqa - Arts and Entertainment

Those "Contentious Words" At The NYT, Ctd

From TNC's take on the NYT's cowardice:

Some years ago, I heard a linguist jokingly assert that the differencebetween languages and dialects, was that languages had armies. I am notconvinced that this holds in every case. Nevertheless his point wasthat the labels we affix to things have a direct relationship to power.Throughout the 20th century, unpleasant regimes have made use ofwaterboarding. But they lacked the power of proximity, and thus couldnot cleanse their acts with the white words...

"Perhaps I Can Interest You In A 42 Long?"

And dozens more pickup lines from Mad Men:

Web Design and Development - Hosting - Free - Sports Related - Object-Oriented

Wehner On Steele

Money quote:

One problem with political discourse in our age is that in the heat of
debate, we too easily suspend a disinterested search for the truth and
advance a more narrow, partisan aim. That leads to hypocrisy and double
standards. Very few of us are completely free of such things. We view the world
through a tinted lens. But we ought to at least aspire to intellectual
integrity and uphold as models those who embody it.

Politics - Double standard - Programming - Langua...

Palin's Chances, Ctd

A reader writes:

Her moves and the GOP's current condition suggest to me that what she's really running for is vice president again. I'm surprised that no one out there seems to be considering this possibility, since from what I can tell it's pretty much inevitable.

For both her and her competitors, it's the only way to square the circle. No one in the party can win without her support, but she lacks the credibility with the public to make it on her own. And if she loses on her own two feet...