Blogwatch
Christy has a Quaker progress report about what it’s like to be in a clergy-free zone.
Have my fellow Quakers noticed that Swarthmore is now being cited on the jacket of Jonah Goldberg’s new book as a source of “liberal fascism.” Having pointed this out, Kieran Healy then has fun with the fact that Swarthmore doesn’t even actually grant the degree the book jacket suggests.
Eve Tushnet is not impressed with a modern retelling of the book of Job.
And that’s why the novel isn’t much fun: It dodges suffering. You could wring terrific comedy from a real chick-lit girl really getting pummeled — Reese Witherspoon stars in a script by Samuel Beckett. But Jane’s semi-descent alienates the reader to the point that I actively rooted for the dog to die.
Balkinization has an interesting discussion of the movement to abolish coverture in the nineteenth century.
Andrew Sullivan lights into Charles Krauthammer’s defense of torture.
Notice also that this isn’t the ticking time bomb case that Charles has previously invoked to defend torture. There was no imminent threat to hundreds of thousands of people; we had no way of knowing for sure that Zubaydah had any knowledge of such a devastating threat; and we have no independent way of knowing whether the information he allegedly gave up under torture was factually accurate. And so in the initial cases of torture under this administration, we discover it was used simply because we had no good intelligence of future threats; and we decided to use torture for a fishing expedition. So much for the rare exception to the rule.
The defenders of torture are always saying that it can be used “judiciously” and in extremely limited circumstances, that it can be controlled within the executive branch; that it need not metastasize into a broader policy, and need not trickle down to others. But from all the facts we now know, this executive decision to rescind the Geneva Conventions began with cases that were already beneath the “ticking time bomb” scenario, and within months spread like wildfire across every theater of combat …
olvzl reminds us that the cycle of torture can be broken, and has been in the past.
Sudanese blogger Drima remarks on An Interesting Survey of American Jews.
I haven’t blogged anything about recent developments in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. For those of you who haven’t been following the story, the leaders of the Diocese of San Joaquin have announced their intention of leaving the Episcopal Church; meanwhile, some parishes intend to stay. Father Jake is monitoring developments here, here, here, here and here. He also writes about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter, which is being reported as slamming the splitters. And Thinking Anglicans has an update on San Joaquin.
*Christopher asks, There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, “But is there kindness in me?”
Indian American Becomes CEO of CitiGroup.
Just in time for Christmas: cats that glow in the dark.
As The Great Debaters is released, Anxious Black Woman reflects on Struggling Black Colleges and Diversity in Higher Education.
New anthrax vaccine doomed by lobbying.
Dodd Done Good; So Did Blogosphere.
mythago reminds us that Some markets are more unequal than others.
It is indeed amusing to hear libertarian types whine about women who only want money. Isn’t that good, capitalist behavior? If a woman is attractive, shouldn’t she hew to the advice that it’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man? And certainly you’d think that the whiners would quickly figure out that they would be more successful with less-sought-after women.
If we were talking about some kind of transaction where the whiners’ egos weren’t at stake, they’d laugh at somebody who went without rather than stuck to their price range. “No, the Jaguar dealer is not obligated to sell you a car just because you want one. The market allows them to charge more for a Jag. If you can’t afford one, STFU and go buy a Honda.”
But when they are talking about their sex lives–and make no mistake, the whiners think of women as not much more than clamshell containers for sex and housework–suddenly market theory and what-you-can-afford-is-what-you-deserve goes out the window. Because, as Amanda points out, suddenly when it comes to getting laid, they’re all Communists.