"The United States is committed to a new chapter of international cooperation..."Who doesn't like health care reform? The American Institute for Cancer Research, among others. E. J. Dionne has the story here...
David Brooks writes that the issues in Afghanistan are complicated, difficult, and inescapable. Brooks' conclusions, though, follow from his assumption that "...since 1979, we have been involved in a long, complex conflict against Islamic extremism." The significance of 1979 is, presumably, the Iran hostage crisis, which itself was set in motion by historical forces created in large part by the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup that installed the Shah of Iran on the Peacock Throne. Brooks' conflict also has roots is Western exploitation of Middle East oil resources and in the historical Western support of oppressive regimes in the Middle East. This doesn't even touch upon our role in the Israel-Palestinian crisis.
It seems to me that the proper American response to all of this is to quit treating all of this as a war between civilized Judeo-Christianity and backward Islamic fundamentalism. And at bottom, what's the difference between that and the rationalization for the Crusades?...
You think the debate on health care reached lows for intellectual dishonesty? Wait until climate change takes the stage, writes Paul Krugman...
Speaking of green living...
Shake yer claw, ye scurvy buccaneer. Aarrhh.
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