Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2803

Face Of The Day

Nepalese farmers throw mud at each other in a paddy field in Tau-Daha
village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on June 29, 2010. The farmers are
celebrating National Paddy Day on 'Asar 15' of the Nepali calendar as
the annual rice planting season begins. By Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images.

Kathmandu - Nepal - Asia - Nepali language - Village

History, Without Make-Up On

TNC just finished Grant's memoir:

There are those [who:] manipulate history to bleach the Civil War, who
would sanitize all the unpleasantness until we are left with an
unfortunate family feud in which there was no right or wrong. This is
history marshaled for a kind of nationalist faith-healing. My thoughts
on the apostles of comfortable narrative are a matter of public record.
In my care, the spiritualists have been handled roughly.

American Civil War - Civil War - United...

World Cup War, Ctd

A reader writes:

A reader mentioned graffiti he spotted in Germany during the 1998 World Cup that said
"Two world wars and one world cup...". 

Here's a great ad that deserves a view.

Another writes:

I'm not a big soccer fan, but I have heard the "2 wars, 1 cup" bit that the Brits throw around. My reaction has always been, "So was the British team made up of Americans and Russians?"

Germany - World Cup - United States - Sport - Soccer

Epistemic Closure Watch, Ctd

Frum responds to John Hawkins:

Hawkins does not argue that these statements are false – that
Glenn Beck is not a crank. His point is that regardless of truth
criticisms should not occur. Or anyway, that no conservative
engage in them. Our job is to fall into line and not notice that
is in fact a crank or that Palin is not well-informed or that the
Party has saddled the Republicans with awful and probably
candidates like Sharron Angle and Rand Paul.

Hawkins'...

Douthat Bait

Gail Dines wrote a book about "how porn has hijacked our sexuality." From an interview with the author:

A woman's body has limits. All of ours do. What you see in
porn is a woman's anus that is red and sore and a swollen vagina
of these things happen because of the way a woman's body is
Even the pornography industry says that Gonzo is very demanding
potentially dangerous for women. If the industry is saying it
there's certainly a

What I've found with my...

Not Just Nationalism

Dayo Olopade, "someone who usually snaps 'which country?' when 'Africa' is
mentioned," notices widespread African support for Ghana:

Suddenly,pan-African solidarity appears to trump major differences in culture,history and geography. But why? In similar circumstances, would theUnited States (out of the running) cheer the Mexican team (out), or the South Koreans(out) root for Japan (still kicking)? The answer is probably not--andsuggests that the myth of "Africa" is more seductive than...

Email Of The Day

A reader writes:

Today's Quote of the Day from Matt Taibbi made something gel for me - something I think you've been illustrating for a long time. Forgive me my slowness, but damn: journalism is dying because of (a) the challenge from the blogosphere and (b), the inexplicable, getting-worse-every-day cowardice of the MSM in the face of established power. But maybe (b) is explicable - by (a). Reporters are clinging to their privileged relationships with sources because
all they've got...

Why Does Trig Matter? Ctd

Bernstein responds:

When all is said and done, my feeling is that if the case that Palinhas a history of telling whoppers can't be made without reference tothis story, then I'd give her a pass on this story; if it can be madewithout this story, then I'd give all other pols a break by letting itgo, because I want to allow them to smooth over the rougher edges oftheir intimate lives.  As it is, I think the case against her on thesegrounds comfortably reaches overkill without any reference to...

World Cup War, Ctd

A reader writes:

Regarding your comment that the tournament is about nationalism not football: absolutely. Cup games (and some qualifying matches) are the only times I wave the flag, curse out other countries, and go along with all the other jingoist nationalism. It feels great, but I reckon it's a good thing that it's only on a four-year cycle.

Maybe this is why American conservatives hate it - it's patriotism they can't politicize.

Sport - FIFA World Cup - Association...

Walkability And Your Mortgage

Richard Florida makes the connection:

Most experts expect housing prices to decline further as federalsupports are withdrawn. Recall it took the better part of two and halfdecades for housing prices to rebound after the Great Depression. Myown hunch is that there is still quite a ways to go, especially inover-built regions like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Miami. But even inthese places, more central locations are likely to hold up better.Price declines in the walkable areas of South Beach for...