[Dec 15] From TAC, prisoners’ dilemma: Indefinite detention of terrorist suspects poses a challenge to America’s most valuable legal traditions; and they only look dead: Neoconservatives lobbied for an unnecessary war and are getting blamed. But they have made comebacks before. The introduction to The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy. Where neo-conservatism was born: An excerpt from Journal of Significant Thought and Opinion: Commentary Magazine 1945-1959. A look at what the heck is a paleoconservative and why you should care. Sock it to the Left!: An article on the rise of the Spite Right. Measuring the American mood: David Brown on the relevancy of Richard Hofstadter. From Democracy Journal, a review of The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public; a review of The American Civil Liberties Union and the Making of Modern Liberalism; and Erwin Chemerinsky reviews The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions. A less active Supreme Court will not be a less controversial one. Antonin Scalia says low pay for federal judges threatens to undermine the US judiciary system by letting it become the domain of provincially minded career judges. From AEI, where preparation meets opportunity: Charles Murray on The Future of Freedom. Tuesday’s immigration raids on meatpacking plants weren’t about curbing identity theft, they were about union-busting. The Chamber of Commerce, run by corrupt lobbyist Tom Donahue, has turned into a pay-to-play vehicle for right-wing causes and corporate dishonesty. White-Collar Workers Unite: Barbara Ehreneich received a grant from SEIU to start United Professionals (UP), whose mission is to "protect and preserve the American middle class". Progressives need to end their fixation with corporate social responsibility–and focus on reform that actually works. Health Care For All: Jacob Hacker on how we can bring business and workers together on a plan for universal care. White progressives don’t get it: Policies designed without racial justice goals can actually deepen the divide, while creating the illusion that they've taken care of everyone. And reparations miss the point: Sure, slavery was terrible, but we must focus on fixing the glaring unfairness in the world today

[Dec 14] From Der Spiegel, an interview with Gilles Kepel on 9/11, democracy in the Muslim world and the way Europe treats its Muslims. From Democracy Journal, a matter of pride: Peter Bergen and Michael Lind on why we can't buy off the next Osama bin Laden; international legitimacy isn't a restraint on American power, but a precondition for its effective use; a review of The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power; American foreign policy must look beyond the nation state and toward human security; why American foreign policy will never be wholly realist or idealist–and that's a good thing; and crashing the Party of Davos: Globalization works for the bosses. Can we make it work for the workers too? Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus argues that it's time global capitalism gave up its strongest-takes-all ethic. From TCS, is the world moving "beyond liberal democracy"? Rowan Callick investigates. A review of Americanism: New Perspectives on the History of an Ideal, edited by Michael Kazin and Joseph McCartin. From Eurozine, an interview with Zygmunt Bauman on the unwinnable war. Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Why you're not demonstrating against the Iraq war. Brian Got His Gun: An article on why the US needs to bring back the draft. From Secular Web, an article on The Creative Selfish Gene and Teleology. Religion and Enlightenment: A reply to Richard Shweder's essay "Atheists Agonistes". Onward, Christian Soldiers: Look out, evil Madison Avenue, these Jesus warriors have a battle plan for you. Everybody wants to know, but nobody wants to ask: Why are Jews funny? From The Moscow Times, when it comes to Russian sex symbols, it seems you can never wear too much fake tan or be too blow-dried. An increasingly popular doll with genitalia and pubic hair offers an alternative to Barbies for a gift that can educate about sexuality without damaging body image. A review of Pornography: The Secret History of Civilisation. From Forbes, an article on aphrodisiacs that really work. Pleasure and desire are found in real human encounters, not corruptions of them. But recognising that will need a sexual revolution bigger than in the 1960s. The Rules of Flirtation: Carrie Jenkins does some conceptual analysis with practical implications. Sex and the Single Sperm: FAU's wild Darwinians are at it again. And this time, they want to measure your nutsack. And from The Scientist, an animal communications researcher makes good use of a condom, some glue, and an air pump

[Dec 13] From PUP, the introduction to Inequality, Cooperation, and Environmental Sustainability. The cost of an overheated planet: It is increasingly clear that there is a considerable cost to carbon dioxide emissions, especially to future generations. Ice is melting so fast in the Arctic that the North Pole will be in the open sea in 30 years, according to a team of leading climatologists. A look at how climate change could kill thousands of Asians. From Slate, a review of Richard Epstein's Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation. The introduction to Governing the American State: Congress and the New Federalism, 1877­-1929. The introduction to The Welfare State Nobody Knows: Debunking Myths about U.S. Social Policy. The end of mandatory retirement: They're 65 but they're not cleaning out their desks. A study takes rare look at how materialism develops in the young. Who is responsible? David Miller on the need to distinguish two types of responsibility. An excerpt from Real American Ethics: Taking Responsibility for Our Country. A review of Seeking Civility: Common Courtesy and the Common Law. Here is Irving Kristol's personal account of his Public Interest at the conference on "The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005." From NPQ, an interview with Gore Vidal: "Nancy Reagan had a key role in ending the Cold War... Sex and relationships don't go together". Sex and the City: Kenji Yoshino on how New York City bungles transgender equality. After a 217-year march of presidential nominees who were, without exception, white and male, the 2008 campaign may offer voters a novel choice: a woman or an African American. Keith Ellison made news for being the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, but his hard-edged liberalism is just as noteworthy. For the first time in decades, Republicans rather than Democrats are the ones with a southern problem. Mitt Romney's shifting views on social issues are causing him grief on both the left and the right, but political analysts dismiss social conservatism at their own risk. No Holy Night: As the right-wing punditocracy knows, banning Christmas is the linchpin of the entire liberal agenda. Dick Meyer on the connection between Alasdair MacIntyre and Stephen Colbert. And a look at how the Right Wing took off with the establishment of the John Birch society

[Dec 12] From The American Interest, democracies of the world, unite! We need a Concert of Democracies to manage the global politics of the 21st century. Kofi Annan on how Americans, like the rest of humanity, need a functioning global system. The system works poorly when the US remains aloof. From AEI, an essay on The Ugly Americans: How not to lose the Global Culture War. Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the US having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Incarceration Nation: The race to imprison is a national disgrace. It's time for serious reform. Road Trip: A man mistaken for an Al Qaeda operative tours Manhattan with his ACLU lawyers. From Buzzflash, an article on defending the indefensible: Torture and the American empire. Bush's war crimes cover-up: The Supreme Court ordered him to treat detainees as "civilized peoples" do. He refuses. A review of In the Name of National Security: Unchecked Presidential Power and the Reynolds Case. Despite its penchant for secrecy, the Bush White House has left a remarkable paper trail of crimes in its war on terror. A review of Satanic Purses: Money, Myth, and Misinformation in the War on Terror. Alexander Cockburn on why cockups are worse than conspiracies (and more). A review of Don't Tread on Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, From Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting. Norman Podhoretz on Jeane Kirkpatrick, a true American hero. From The Chicago Reader, environmental historian William Cronon says we’ve got to stop thinking pristine wilderness is the only nature worth saving. A review of The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. Is it really okay to substitute other people's pollution control for your own? Yes, but only with three important qualifications. The idea that every meal can be risk-free, germ-free and sterile is the sort of fantasy Howard Hughes might have entertained. But our food can be much safer than it is right now. From The New Yorker, the right to a trial: Should dying patients have access to experimental drugs? An interview with Senator-elect Sherrod Brown: " First we go after Big Pharma". From TNR, what kind of conservative is Ben Stein? Clay Risen investigates. Libertarianism in one country: John Derbyshire on the Brink and beyond. And David Kirby & David Boaz examine the libertarian vote in depth

[Dec 11] From The New York Times Magazine, here's the 6th Annual Year in Ideas. From Human Events, a look at the Top 10 Conservative Books of 2006. Two, Three, Many Neoconservatives: Matthew Continetti on forty years of The Public Interest. If Milton Friedman, with all his powers of persuasion, could not convince people that the market is an astoundingly productive system of voluntary cooperation, it is hard to say what will (and more from The University of Chicago). More on the work of Edmund Phelps, winner of this year’s Nobel prize for economics. The Not-So-Dismal Science: Tim Harford on how economists measure whether you're happy. A review of Income and Wealth by Alan Reynolds. Ghetto Capitalism: Sudhir Venkatesh's Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor unravels the mystery of the underground economy. License to Ill: Why American workers should get paid sick days. No friend of labor: Thanks in part to the National Labor Relations Board, most American workers haven't seen their share of the booming economy. Profiting With Honor: The latest worry is that smart people are being seduced away from more socially useful work by the lure of the almighty dollar. The brands have turned us into a nation of addicts: Today's children, who so want to be cool, are growing up to be the miserable victims of consumer culture. Boys mow lawns, girls do dishes: Are parents perpetrating the chore wars? Who Really Cares appears to show that religious folks, mostly conservatives, are more charitable than secular liberal types -- until you look closely at the numbers. Religion for a captive audience, paid for by taxes: A growing number of programs use tax dollars to pay for religious activities aimed at prisoners, recovering addicts, job seekers and others. Goodbye Utopia, Hello Luther! Half a millennium after the Protestant Reformation, American scholars seek advice from its leader. Can religion and science join forces to save the Earth? Especially now, when the two are, shall we say, barely speaking? Bill McKibben reviews Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment. Here are six ways that changing your life can prevent global warming. And a spot of rinksmanship: The ice-skating season demonstrates that regulation often just happens

[Weekend] From Foreign Affairs, Stephen Biddle, Larry Diamond, James Dobbins, and Leslie Gelb analyze the report of the Iraq Study Group and debate what should be done in Iraq. It is with humility and open-mindedness that Robert Kaplan read the report of the Iraq Study Group. Jim Lobe on how neocons move to preempt Baker report. What about the grunts? The Iraq Study Group talked to generals when it should have talked to corporals. Joshua Foa Dienstag on a dose of pessimism: The Bush administration must give up the unbridled optimism that has guided its foreign policy to such disastrous results. Alfred W. McCoy, author of A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror, on how the US has a history of using torture. John Seery on pro-life phoniness: What kind of weird, sicko mind asks us to make a one-to-one comparison between the number of dead fetuses versus the number of dead soldiers in our nation's history? From Reset, fanaticism, the brief history of a concept: The label "fanaticism" is increasingly attached to the perceived threat posed by religious fundamentalism. But rarely is the history of the term and the variety of its uses examined. The Roots of Paranoia: An article on the evolution of the 9/11 Truth Movement and the credulous American media that have served as its incubator. A review of My Name Is Rachel Corrie. An interview with Howard Zinn on A Power Governments Cannot Suppress. From American Heritage, an article on America’s Revolutionary Party: It’s always been the Republicans. A review of The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy’s Dossier on Hillary Clinton. What, exactly, does America look like to people like Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and Richard Viguerie? What Mary Cheney should expect while she's expecting: Forget morning sickness and weight gain and get ready for nine months of right-wing hand-wringing and embarrassed silence. Jonathan Rauch on what Franklin Kameny, an employee at the Library of Congress, did for the gay rights movement. Brad Stine is a stand-up comic by trade, but as an evangelist, he's on a mission to build up a new Christian man, one profanity at a time. "It's the wuss-ification of America that's getting us!" And boring, warmongering blowhard Christopher Hitchens adds "sexist" to his resume

[Dec 8] From Scotsman, we have had Rule Britannia, Cool Britannia, Brit Art and Britpop, and it is all the fault of the Scots: The Spiritual Identity of Britishness argues that Britishness is a concept invented by Scots. Would an independent Scotland be the land of the brave or the province of fools? Arguments for and against. Anti-enterprise Scotland go it alone? What a hoot. English nationalism, not Scottish, may decide the fate of the union. Is anything left of the "special relationship" on which Tony Blair staked his legacy? Geoffrey Wheatcroft investigates. A review of The Pope, The President, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World by John O'Sullivan. Peter Hitchens on The Great Tory Hope: David Cameron, leader of Britain’s Conservatives, is still the same public-relations shill he was before entering politics. From LRB, other people’s capital: A review of Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge; and the feminisation of Chile: Lorna Scott Fox goes back to Santiago. Adios, Presidente: A look back at six unremarkable years of Vicente Fox. From Japan Focus, an article on The Militarization of Space and US Global Dominance: the China Connection. An excerpt from Gerard J. DeGroot's Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest. A new issue of Social Policy is out. John Judis on Evan Bayh's day of infamy. An interview with John Edwards. Bradford Plumer on how labor unions can win in the South. America's 80:20 Divide: An excerpt from Jared Bernstein's All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy. Consumption has finally caught up with us: We're closer than we think to an age when gasoline becomes a luxury and restaurant meals become unattainable. Don't litter: Animal contraceptives are increasingly being used to manage wild populations. A new issue of Surveillance & Society is out. From The Washington Post Magazine, a special issue on its twentieth anniversary.  From Wired, an article on the world's worst superhero names. And an interview with Berkeley Breathed, creator of Bloom County

[Dec 7] From Economic and Political Weekly, an article on ecological embeddedness of the economy pdf. Joseph Stiglitz on the work of Edmund Phelps, 2006 Nobel Prize Laureate. From TAC, return of the native: An article on populism without the people; and a review of American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia. A review of A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement. Justice Grover versus Justice Oscar: Scalia and Breyer sell very different constitutional worldviews. A review of Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made. The American government’s system of checks and balances is slowly clicking back into place, and it is changing the legal and political landscape of counterterrorism. If terrorism is cultivated by modern media, how do we fight it? Douglas Rushkoff investigates. An interview with Gregory Davis, author of Religion of Peace? Islam's War Against the World. A review of Annihilation from Within: The Ultimate Threat to Nations by Fred Iklé.  Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon: A new radiation weapon that produces the "Goodbye effect" -- making victims run like crazy -- has been certified for use in Iraq. It feels like the skin is being ripped from your face, but the military says it's perfectly safe. Our system of mass incarceration affects more than you think: An interview with Bruce Western, author of Punishment and Inequality in America. From Human Beams, an article on the greatest cliché: The unexamined propaganda of "Political Correctness". On the forefront of the battle to expand green consciousness are the Bioneers, a group dedicated to uniting “nature, culture and spirit”. Laura Kipnis and Daphne Merkin debate The Female Thing. Why women aren't funny? Christopher Hitchens on what makes the female so much deadlier than the male. From Brainwash, an article on the sisterhood of the missing pants. From Nerve, an interview with Iain Calder, former editor of the National Enquirer. Forget Paris: The most transfixingly trashy tabloid stars can be found in the UK. A Norwegian appeals court has ruled that striptease is an art form. Jumping jack flash: Naughty "striptease" workouts are the hottest new fitness craze. From Wired, imagine what you could do with erotic entertainment if you weren't bound by the laws of physics or 18 U.S.C. 2257. And spying on eros: Yes, it is true. Spies are interested in prurient behavior everywhere

[Dec 6] From Open Democracy, the Catholic church, a better target for activists than the WTO, should be abolished, says Fred Halliday. The Pope Without His Sting: The challenge for the new Vatican is to tell its truth without telling anyone off. From CT, what really unites Pentecostals? It's not speaking in tongues. It may be the prosperity gospel; and shall the Fundamentalists win? An excerpt from The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, and an interview with author Philip Jenkins. A review of Revelation? Do We Worship the Same God? After a study revealed that less than 10 percent of evangelicals were Bible literate, James Dobson's Focus on the Family is desperately taking a two-day multimedia Bible boot camp on the road, selling "truth" for $179 a seat. With religion increasingly polarised, is there any benefit in not knowing if there is a higher power? Ex-vicar Mark Vernon explains why agnosticism is his creed. The volume of responses to the Wired magazine story on the New Atheism movement is totally overwhelming. So they're posting every single one online. Richard Dawkins answers your questions, such as "What would you say at the gates of heaven?" From National Review, an interview with Dawn Eden, author of The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On; and an article on taking on Condomism, a rubber ideology. A review of Disorders of Desire: Sexuality and Gender in Modern American Sexology. A review of Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers' Bodies. A review of Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age. From Workers' Liberty, a series of articles on the lives and times of great socialist feminists. An interview with Linda Hirshman, author of Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World. A review of Employment and the Family: The Reconfiguration of Work and Family Life in Contemporary Societies. Can liberals and conservatives live together? Elspeth Reeve investigates. Cold Fusion: Liberalism and libertarianism are too far apart philosophically to find much new common ground. South Park Libertarians: An interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on liberals, conservatives, censorship, and religion. And from TAC, a look at how Jim Webb breaks the Left-Right mold

[Dec 5] Liberals, libertarians, unite! Brink Lindsey on a new progressive manifesto: Ayn Rand meets Howard Dean. A new issue of The Objectivist Center's The New Individualist is out. From Seed, a look at how social exclusion can prompt poor decisions; and an article on The (Continuing) Tragedy of the Commons: Local communities can help preserve the world's forests. Using natural products for fuel is an idea as old as the hills, as this highly selective and lighthearted timeline demonstrates. Here comes the sun: The solar power concentrated in the world's deserts offers a vast source of efficient energy that holds the promise of a carbon-free future. The Supreme Court should rule that the EPA's we-don't-want-to-know posture about the dangers of global warming violates the Clean Air Act, and more from Elizabeth Kolbert. A review of Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back. The chapter "Tell Me How Much You Eat and I'll Tell You Who You Are" from Food is Culture. An article on the strange economics of breast milk. National health care? Daniel Gross says we’re halfway there. What's good for pharma is good for America: Richard A. Epstein on how critics of drug companies vastly overstate the industry's financial well-being -- and overlook its indispensable contributions to the future of public health. The New Soft Paternalism: When compulsive gamblers and others ask the state to restrict their choices, do they become freer? Thanks largely to Milton Friedman's influence, it's not economics but management that is - literally - the most dismal discipline. He may have had the last laugh; but it's no joke for the rest of us. Countering Conservative Economics: Four basic conservative economic shouting points—and how to calmly shout back. Rebuilding the middle class: Forget tax cuts and minimum-wage hikes; it's time for massive infrastructure projects that put millions to work in well-paying jobs. Peter Orszag on cool-headed, warm-hearted economics. Do immigrants make us safer? As immigration soars, crime falls -- and some researchers are beginning to trace a connection. Tyler Cowen on the immigration answer: It’s in Mexico’s classrooms. From Bad Subjects, a special issue on the changing significance of race. Eschew the Taboo: Christopher Hitchens on the pernicious effects of banning words. And there's little to like about hate-crime laws: Tacking on extra penalties for crimes motivated by bias amounts to policing what you think, not what you do

[Dec 4] From Democratiya, a review of Forgive Us Our Spins: Michael Moore and the Future of the Left. From The Liberal, Christopher Hitchens reviews Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter. From Free Inquiry, depending on context, wishing someone "Merry Christmas!" can now function as hate speech. In Religious Right Wonderland, you don't wish "Merry Christmas" any more; you wield it. From Liberty, an article on bumper-sticker indignation; an essay on The New Bible Wars; and a look at the political utility of religious pluralism. The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible recounts the moment the spiritual needs of black American slaves collided with evangelical Christianity of the 18th century and created an unstoppable cultural force. Christianity's long history of violence: A review of There is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ: Religious Violence in the Christian Roman Empire by Michael Gaddis. After a period of relative calm, the end is nigh. Religions are clashing, carbon emissions are increasing, polar bears are drowning, and apoca-lit is making a comeback. A review of Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief. From Arts & Opinion, an essay on the Seven Deadly Sins: Envy; and a blast from the past: G. K. Chesterton's "The Terror of a Toy". From The New York Times Magazine, open source spying: The nation’s intelligence agencies are giving their cold-war-era computer systems a makeover. But will blogs and wikis really help spies uncover terrorist plots? Authoritarian states like China, Iran and Egypt are having trouble dealing with the burgeoning number of blogs, which are giving people their first real taste of democracy. For $150, Third-World laptop stirs big debate. Is Microsoft driving innovation or playing catch-up with rivals? What comes after Web 2.0? Today's primitive prototypes show that a more intelligent Internet is still a long way off. How profits launch from platforms: A review of Invisible Engines. You might think that with the kind of rhetoric bloggers regularly muster against politicians, they would never work for them. Not too long ago, Gerald Fraller wanted to die: What does it say when a man wants to sell his soul on the Internet? But you would be wrong. The phone has had a splendid 130-year history. What will it look like in future? Will it even be called a phone? And everybody wants one now: A new fashion for state-owned English-language television news

[Weekend 2e] From First Things, an article on the Main Currents of Kolakowski; Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. on The Orthodox Imperative; an essay on Jaroslav Pelikan, Doctor Ecclesiae; a review of A People’s History of Christianity: Volumes 1 and 2; a review of Christianity and the Secular; a review of The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan; a review of In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State by Charles Murray; a review of Sacred Order/Social Order, Vol. 1, My Life Among the Deathworks: Illustrations of the Aesthetics of Authority by Philip Rieff. From Comment, an article on living with Liberalism and six strategies for faithfulness. An article on Benedict's post-secular vision. From Zeek, an article on religion and insanity. From Logos, Thomas de Zengotita on Doctor's Orders: Revisiting James Dobson's Dare to Discipline. Research on abortion finds that children who were "born unwanted" prior to the legalization of abortion not only grew up in more disadvantaged households, but also grew up to be more disadvantaged as adults. A review of Adult Themes: Rewriting the Rules of Adulthood. Is it just Katha Pollitt's imagination or are women wreaking more evil than usual these days? A review of This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. From Commentary, Mr. Virginia Woolf: The central drama of Leonard Woolf's life was his marriage to a woman who, among other things, did not like Jews. Polygamy, back in fashion: Big love dares to speak its name. Doctor feelgood: Your nearest happiness researcher can help – if only with a dime. Are you a Kate Moss or a Katie Holmes? Taste follows a certain path; style sets it. Style reflects the personality of the owner; taste make it. From Monthly Review, John Bellamy Foster on monopoly-finance capital. From The Economist, the oracle becomes less oracular: How central bankers communicate, clearly and not so clearly, with the outside world; and by the sweat of their brows: No amount of hard work can sustain the feverish growth of profits. Revealed: Why understanding economics is hard. And from Butterflies & Wheels, are we rational self-interested choosers? Deracination is something to strive for

[Weekend] From Democratiya, a review of Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century; a look back at A Federation of Free and Equal Nations by Léon Blum; an interview with David Held, author of Global Covenant: The Social Democratic Alternative to the Washington Consensus; a review of The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations by Paul Kennedy; a review of Letter from Kabul; a review of Iraqi Jews: A History of Mass Exodus; and a review of The Jewish Radical Right: Revisionist Zionism and Its Ideological Legacy. A review of The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace by Dennis Ross. An excerpt from Jimmy Carter's Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. A review of Selling Jerusalem: Relics, Replicas, Theme Parks. From Commentary, War-Making and the Machines of War: Like every military innovation of the past, today's high-tech weapons have altered only the face of battle, Victor Davis Hanson explains. From FT, the man behind Kennedy was responsible for penning memorable lines in epochal speeches: An interview with Ted Sorensen on JFK, Bush and crises old and new. A review of Dangerous Alliances: Proponents of Peace, Weapons of War. A review of To Dare and To Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, from Achilles to Al Qaeda. A review of Al Qaeda Now: Understanding Today's Terrorists. A review of What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation Building by Noah Feldman. Get the Memo: Laura Rozen on a readers' guide to Stephen Hadley's reflections on Iraq. Immanuel Wallerstein on the lessons of Vietnam, Indonesia, and Iraq. A review of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide, and Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs. More on Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post 9-11 Spy Class. A review of Ghost Plane: the inside story of the CIA's secret rendition programme. A review of The Torture Debate in America. Throw him in the brig! The Bush administration's latest, and most appalling, assault on habeas corpus. And from New English Review, John Derbyshire reviews Mark Steyn's America Alone

[Dec 1] Potpourri: From Cato Unbound, the conclusion to the debate on irrationality and the limits of democracy. With hi-tech weaponry reducing the risk of battlefield casualties -- at least on the side of those owning it -- traditional warrior virtues have become the preserve of the lone suicide attacker. A new issue of Green Anarchy is out. A review of Making Globalization Work: The next steps to global justice and The Next Great Globalization: How disadvantaged nations can harness their financial systems to get rich. Who is missing from the latest Atlantic Monthly's Top 100 list? Ross Douthat investigates. Oh say, can you swear on a Koran? Eugene Volokh on what’s correct. A review of Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine. Skeptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg is writing a book on global warming. Exchange Rates: Are U.S. stock-exchange executives grossly overpaid? Cowboys and Turkeys: What do we mean by Native Americans, Hispanics, and other officially sanctioned terms? A new issue of Socialist Review is out. It has been called the invention that will bring down global capitalism, and start a second industrial revolution and save the environment: The "self-replicating rapid prototyper", or RepRap for short, is a machine that literally prints 3D objects from a digital design. A review of Economic Turbulence: Is a Volatile Economy Good for America? The west's attitude to issues of reproductive health, especially in the US, causes women's deaths all over the world.  An excerpt from Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste. Deal sweeteners: James Surowiecki on sugar and ethanol. N**ga, Please! One black man gives his take on where "niggas" come from and where the word is going. The Pope has shocked theologians and opened a chink in the theory of papal infallibility by saying that people should feel free to disagree with what he has written in his latest book, Jesus of Nazareth. A bestselling book claims that women say an average of 20,000 words a day and men only 7,000. Can it be true? A review of Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish. A review of Roll the Bones: A History of Gambling. And there's no use banning the dreaded N-word, an expression no one should truly fear

http://www.politicaltheory.info/2006/december2.htm