Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2802
June 30, 2010
Conservatives Who Take Torture Seriously
You now have to go across the Atlantic to find them:
The government is poised to announce the details of a judge-led inquiry into claims its secret agents were complicit in the torture of terror suspects after a spate of allegations, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed the terms of the probe, which include possible compensation if there is proof someone was tortured with the knowledge of British secret services, said the broadcaster.
Compare Cameron with Obama on ...
No Nudge Goes Unpunished
Howard Gleckman highlights a potential problem with 401(k) plans that automatically enroll employees:
Mauricio and Barbara found that employer match rates are about 7percentage points lower for opt-out plans. They can't say for surewhether auto enrollment causes lower match rates. But it sure ispossible. After all, if more employees participate, their employerswill have to spend more to match their contributions. Whatever thecause, it seems that while auto-enrollment may increase the number...
How Should We Deal With Conflict Minerals?
Dana Goldstein checks how a program intended to fight rape in Congo is faring:
The State Department has provided The Daily Beast with documentsdetailing how the $17 million to fight sexual violence have beenallocated, mostly toward treatment programs for rape survivors. Buthuman rights advocates hope for more. They believe the US should stopsending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid--including militarytraining--to Rwanda and Uganda, whose armed militias perpetrateviolence and rape...
Ross On Afghanistan: Getting Warmer, Ctd
Millman goes another round:
Apart from the overarching point that our resources, ourresponsibilities, and our interests are all limited, the key point thatRory Stewart makes in his articlethat Ross cites as "admirably honest" is that "[t:]here are, in reality,no inescapable connections between Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaedaand the Taliban." If this is true, then if our goal isoverwhelmingly to keep al Qaeda from again regaining its prior positionin Afghanistan, to say nothing of Pakistan...
The Disease Is Also The Cure?
Sean Collins favorably reviews Daniel Ben-Ami's book defending economic growth:
The limits to growth that critics cite are not insurmountable, says
Ben-Ami. For example, he argues that the answer to climate change is
more and better technology, rather than reduced energy use and cutting
back on economic growth. But technology is expensive, which is why
growth is so important. Cynicism about growth is negative because it
denies us the resources to deal with problems.
Climate...
Exporting Soccer Players
Flowing Data finds a visual of the international soccer trade:
Flowing Data - Sports - Twitter - Facebook - Martin Wattenberg
Slave Narratives
TNC talks to a historian about primary documents:
All oral histories are "memory" -- retrospectiveaccounts, in contrast with documents like wills or memos that were producedwhen events were actually taking place. Over time, people forget and revise, aswhen many Holocaust survivors began to retell their stories to match up withthe narrative of Schindler's List. It is not dishonesty -- it just makes oralhistories a particular type of document, which we need to note has beenproduced AFTER the...
June 29, 2010
The Daily Wrap
Today on the Dish, Palin shut out even conservative bloggers, Sharron Angle tried to hide her real views on abortion, and the Palin campaign model metastasized. Taibbi pwned Lara Logan, Pareene called out an LA Times blogger, a CNN reporter chose access over reporting, and a reader nailed the insecurity of MSM reporters. Friedersdorf wanted to drop the topic of Trig, readers disagreed, and Bernstein went another round. Douthat defended himself on Afghanistan. Empire watch here.
In Cup...
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