Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2859

The Birds, Ctd

A reader writes:

I worked for many years with seabirds in California and Hawaii, and I wanted to add something about the differing impact of mortality between oil and wind. Oil affects predominately seabirds, whereas wind turbines affect mostly land birds. Land birds and seabirds have much different reproductive lives; seabirds live much much longer and produce fewer young each year. By way of comparison, the European Blackbird lays two clutches of eggs a year with around four eggs per...

Enter China?

That's Thomas Barnett's hope about the mineral discoveries in Afghanistan. Money quote:

Before anybody gets the idea that somehow the West is the winner here, understand that we're not the big draw on most of these minerals--that would be Asia and China in particular.  What no one should expect is that the discovery suddenly makes it imperative that NATO do whatever it takes to stay and win and somehow control the mineral outcomes, because--again--that's now how it works in most Gap...

The Tea Party Back And Forth

Two ads out today give a sense of the political narratives going into November. Here's Rick Barber, who is running for congress in Alabama:

And here's Reid's new attack ad against tea party favorite Sharron Angle:

Alabama - Politics - Sharron Angle - Tea Party protests 2009 - Attack ad

Yes, It's Collective Punishment

Chuck Schumer owns the whole strategy of punishing Gazans for voting for Hamas:

"The boycott of Gaza to me has another purpose — obviously the first purpose is to prevent Hamas from getting weapons by which they will use to hurt Israel — but the second is actually to show the Palestinians that when there's some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement. When there's total war against Israel, which Hamas wages, they're gonna get nowhere. And to me, since the...

England 1, USA 1, Ctd

Ken Silverstein hates US soccer coverage:

There is no such thing as an "upset draw." Next thing you know the U.S.
will lose a game by three goals and the media will say it's an "upset
loss" because it might have lost by six.

United States - England - Association football - Soccer - sport

Check, Please

Being on the terrorist watch list is not grounds for being denied a legal firearm. Louis Klarevas has details:

The Government Accountability Office has found that,from February 2004 to February 2010, 1,225 purchases involvingindividuals on the watch list were submitted for a Brady backgroundcheck. Ninety-one percent of these transactions were approved; theother 9 percent were denied for reasons other than the purchasers'suspected terrorist activities. In 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad,who...

Waging The Invisible War

Beinart notes the news out of Afghanistan, and the lack of it:

One might think that this emotional isolationism would bring demandsfor military retrenchment. But ironically, the public's boredom anddisillusionment with international affairs actually makes it easier forthe Obama administration to sustain US deployments in Afghanistan andIraq. As Richard Nixon realized when he ended the draft in 1973, andthus sucked the oxygen out of the anti-Vietnam movement, it's easier toprosecute a war when...

Iran, A Year Later

Joe Klein checks in on the country and our policy towards it:

Iran is more like a baby Soviet Union. A regional power, with ties  toa dangerous terrorist network--Hizballah--but one that will respond tointernational diplomatic pressure. It is also a real country, with realassets, and unlikely to take actions that will result in a devastatingattack by the U.S. or Israel. It is not Al Qaeda. If it continues to berecalcitrant--and there is no reason to believe it won't--the strategicanswer is...

Mental Health Break

Steelworking never looked so entrancing:

Magnitka from Sasha Aleksandrov on Vimeo.

Multimedia - Development Frameworks - Vimeo - Flash - Business

Chait's Self-Fulfilling Diagnosis, Ctd

Chait responds to my objections:

I think pressure should be placed on Israel to halt -- or, ideally, reverse -- settlement construction, and the U.S. should recognize that Palestinian rejection of any Jewish state is the deeper problem...

Now, to be sure, I do not agreewith Andrew about the Middle East. I am not sure how far he would liketo see the United States go in punishing Israel for the settlements,but I'm certain it's much further than I'd like to go, or that Obamahas gone. I'm...