Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2782

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, Andrew sided with Steele against Obama's war in Afghanistan and spotlighted the extremely small number of enemies there. The president was already beating Bush on the budget and his healthcare bill was growing in popularity. Cameron stood tall against torture and the mayor of London stood up for marriage equality. A gay man was slaughtered in Uganda.

In economic coverage, Hale Stewart showed how the recession has been good to business owners, Brad DeLong pushed for another ...

Regrets And Happiness

Jennifer Senior's NyMag article has revived the never-ending debate about children and happiness. KJ Dell'Antonia, mother of four, adds her two cents:

Tom Gilovich, a psychologist at Cornell famous for a study showing thatpeople regret things they haven't done more than things they have, asks"Should you value moment-to-moment happiness more than retrospectiveevaluations of your life?" He says he doesn't know the answer, butmaybe the question is the answer. If you can keep a sense of the...

More vs Better

Noah Millman asks Yglesias to square his economic views with his environmental positions.
















United States - Famous Nutmeggers - Educators - Connecticut - Webster Noah

Not From The Onion

This would be funny if it weren't so sad:

Iran has unveiled haircuts that according to officials are in line with Iranian and Islamic principles. The new haircut models approved by Iran's Culture Ministry are aimed at preventing haircuts deemed "Western" among Iranian youth.

Iran - Islam - Middle East - Western world - Culture Ministry

Face Of The Day

Sri Lankan traditional dancers perform the 'thovil' or devil dance,
which is performed to exorcise evil spirits, outside the UN office
during a protest rally in Colombo on July 6, 2010. Protesters led by a
Sri Lankan cabinet minister were speaking out against a UN panel set to probe allegations of war crimes. By Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images.

Colombo - Sri Lanka - Asia - Minister - Politics

The World In 2400

Ezra Klein searches for a weak spot in Manzi's latest argument against a carbon tax:

Even if Manzi is right that the costs [from global warming:] are manageable into 2100 -
century, after all, is a long time for a human, but not for
atmosphere -- what does that do to our descendants who have to
with a scorching planet between 2100 and 2200? And then into 2300
then

I think Manzi's answer is that technology will save us by then. Andmaybe he's right. But maybe he's not...

Good Enough For Government Work?

Joe Klein wants to make the public sector less attractive:

It is time to revise the public pension system. There aren't so many
high-paying manufacturing jobs anymore; the relative security of
government work doesn't need to be augmented by ridiculously obstruse
procedures for firing incompetents or by 20-year pension packages. A
nice 401k, with healthy matching funds, should be sufficient.

Pension - Public sector - Public school - Government - Economy

The Final Solution? Ctd

Lindsay Beyerstein joins the debate about prenatal dex and lesbianism:

If you wanted to be a crackpot about it, you could just as easily argue that dex is a conspiracy to turn boys gay. Prenatal dex makes male rats more receptive to being mounted by other males.Some studies have shown that maternal stress during pregnancypredisposes male offspring to homosexuality. Some researchers thinkthis effect could be caused by steroids like dex. Dreger and Dan Savage may not know the literature, but...

The Evolutionary Case Against Monogamy, Ctd

John Murphy reviews Sex at Dawn:

[The authors:] don't dispense pat predictions about how "a more relaxed and
tolerant approach to fidelity" might play out....Ryan and Jethá
compare the slow advances granted to gay rights and same-sex marriage.
Ryan and Jethá realize the odds against such tolerance attained by
advocates of "free love", however ethically conceived by those daringly
liberated.

Eric Michael Johnson also levels judgment. Several readers have found this line of argument wanting. A r...

Revising Godwin's Law

Greenwald defends Nazi comparisons:

The very notion that a major 20th Century event like German aggressionis off-limits in political discussions is both arbitrary andanti-intellectual in the extreme.  There simply are instances where such comparisons uniquely illuminate important truths:  recall, for example, ,both in terms of approved tactics and...