via ta-nehisi coates at the atlantic magazine.

a conservative radiohost has himself waterboarded to see whether it's torture. the tape of his reaction post-waterboarding is below:

a good article in the washington post about how much more it costs to be poor than to be middle or upper class, especially if that poverty is intergenerational. the myriad ways that the very people who can not afford it are ruthlessly soaked in every aspect of daily life is something many people are not aware of. the absence of these facts from ( Read more... )

Happy Birthday to raving_liberal

Morgana, my oldest friend, I hope you're taking today to do something fabulous & relaxing for yourself! Who'd have thunk those many years ago (wanna count from 5th grade? 10th?) that our lives would still be intertwined?

Love you to pieces, lady. Have a great day!

I've been a long time fan of political blogger Ezra Klein. He's young, progressive, and whip smart. What's not to like?

I always found his venue at the venerable, but not particularly blog-friendly American Prospect a little awkward though (free advice for APro: not every post needs to be either a research paper or a treatise), so I'm thrilled, ( Read more... )

I had a great weekend. There was nothing particularly special about it, except that we finally got some much needed sunshine -- no parties or shopping sprees or reunions with old friends. Just the normal weekend stuff, errands and cleaning and goofing off with the dogs in the park, but somehow I was able to really appreciate it this week ( Read more... )

the petition via raving_liberal:Did you know that the military is still discharging soldiers for being openly gay ( Read more... )

Maybe I'm a sucker, but I think the fact that Michelle Obama just hosted the White House's first poetry slam last night is pretty cool.


Just a bit of background: an orthodox poetry slam (which the White House version was not) is a competitive event, where poets recite poetry that they have written or selected. The slam is designed to be more ( Read more... )

It pleases me inordinately that I still receive emails that are like letters. Correspondance from far away old friends who ruminate about things like the "metaphysics of connection." I am humbled, once again, by the good fortune of having a life filled with brilliant, creative, vibrant, thoughtful people ( Read more... )

watch obama at the correspondent's dinner this weekend. it's really funnier than it has any right to be. enjoy:

I know, I know, I'm supposed have posted a Guam retrospective by now, but I've been extremely busy. Busy at work, busy at the jobs besides my full-time, busy getting ST off to Costa Rica for his bachelors shin-dig (going on a trip is a bachelor tradition amongst ST's friends, and he's the last one) busy whisking my mom around town to make the final ( Read more... )