PopSci’s Best of What’s New 2006 In 1995 a Clemson University graduate student named Ed Sutt took off for a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Caribbean. But beaches and rum drinks weren’t on the agenda for this civil engineer. Hurricane Marilyn had just torn through St. Thomas, and Sutt was part of a team examining how [...]
The Fourth Rail Lost in the current debate over Iraq – civil war or sectarian violence, success or failure, increasing troops or strategic redeployment, victory or defeat – is the sea-change occurring in western Iraq. The U.S. military has coaxed a large majority of the Sunnis of Anbar province, perhaps one of the most sympathetic [...]
Oliver “Buzz” Thomas writes in USA Today: (via Andrew Sullivan) What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality? I suppose, much as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record straight, church leaders would need to do the same: Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught throughout your churchgoing life, [...]
Centcom As expected, violence in Iraq has dropped following the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a coalition spokesman said in Baghdad today.Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said civilian and Iraqi security force casualties were at the lowest levels since the government was formed in May. So far this month, the civilian casualty count is well [...]
Mary Madigan posts at Dean’s World comparing Islamic radicals to organized crime. While like any analogy, this one isn’t perfect, I do think it is useful. While I do think that for many of these groups the original motivation was more in ideology than worldly gain, human venality and the very real need for money and [...]
BBC NEWS A US military review of strategy in Iraq is likely to back a limited troop increase focused on training, officials have told the Washington Post.Senior defence officials said a review panel appeared to favour an option dubbed “Go Long”, the paper reported. Other plans – “Go Big” and “Go Home” – were seen [...]
This Christian Science Monitor article reviews the debate on what to do now in Iraq. Basically, there are three plans. The Democrats phased withdrawal plan, the McCain 20,000 more troops plan, and the Abizaid (and probably Bush) stay the course plan. General Abizaid also claims that the doom in Washington is unwarrented and progress is [...]
The complete Blogging the Bible, so far. – By David Plotz – Slate Magazine Basically, Mr. Plotz found the story of the rape of Jacob’s daughter Dinah by Shechem, and the resulting mess that ensued, and which he had never heard of before and decided to actually read the darn book, and discuss what he [...]
TIME.com: The Dems Teach Pelosi a Lesson Nancy Pelosi showed us something important about herself this week. If Tip O’Neill thought that all politics was local, Pelosi’s view is that it’s personal. But what may have more significance in the long run is what her caucus showed her — that, unlike the Republicans they are [...]
CNN Milton Friedman, the Nobel-prize winning economist who helped shape and define free-market economic theory, died Thursday at the age of 94 in San Francisco.A spokesman for the Milton & Rose Friedman Foundation confirmed the news to CNN. The cause was heart failure, according to Reuters. Friedman, who won the Nobel prize in 1976, helped [...]
