[Oct 31] The first chapter from Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism by Marc J. Hetherington. Sebastian Mallaby on the decline of trust. The need to renew democracy after the Bush fiasco has inspired a manifesto reaffirming core liberal values. Bruce Ackerman explains. Among the Intellectualoids: James Bowman on Immanuel Kant for Dummies. From TNR, how evangelicals fell for Bush: Alan Wolfe reviews Tempting Faith by David Kuo; is the GOP the party of ideas? Jonathan Chait investigates; were the Clintonites wrong about the economy? (and part 2); Robert Rubin and Peter Orszag explain the baffling economy; and Peter Beinart on the two faces of Lou Dobbs. A look at the myth that low taxes and liberty go hand in hand. A review of The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO. Globalization anxiety: Lawrence Summers on how the world is richer than ever before, but the vast middle class isn't getting many of the benefits. Consumers are killing the welfare state: An excerpt from World War for Prosperity. Can cultural values save the environment? A panel forum on the publication of Forging Environmentalism: Justice, Livelihood, and Contested Environments. If governments do nothing, climate change will cost more than both world wars and render swathes of the planet uninhabitable. Can the world find the will to act? Top economist Sir Nicholas Stern counts future cost of climate change. God's green earth: What environmentalists and evangelicals have in common. There aren't many tyrants in history who can truthfully say they put the entire future of civilization at risk just to make a buck -- but Dick Cheney can. Here's a fool-proof plan to save America from fascism, at least for a while. From the scariest presidential candidate to the scariest billionaire to the scariest cop, these truly are the worst America has to offer. The kindler, gentler Satanist: The devil sells out, moves to suburbia and dons a fluffy bunny suit. From Reason, lay off the fatties: A review of Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic and The Diet Myth: Why America’s Obsession With Weight is Hazardous to Your Health. More on Beauty Junkies by Alex Kuczynski. And against feminist orthodoxy: In The Female Thing, Laura Kipnis airs the dirty laundry of the women's liberation movement

[Oct 30] Book reviews: From Metapsychology Book Reviews, a review of What is the Self? A Philosophy of Psychology; A review of The Rational Imagination: How People Create Alternatives to Reality; and a review of Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.  A review of Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. From The Telegraph, a review of Identity and Violence by Amartya Sen and Cosmopolitanism by Kwame Anthony Appiah. An interview with Richard Dawkins on The God Delusion (and a review and more). A review of How to Read the Bible. A review of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief and God's Universe. A review of The Trouble with Physics by Lee Smolin. A review of Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface (and "I came dangerously close to getting a PhD," author David Standish jokes, with the liberating relief of a man who just skipped out on a boring party). Michael Dirda reviews The Immortal Game:  A History of Chess or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain. From The New York Times, a review of The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability by Laura Kipnis. A review of It's Not the Stork: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends. A review of Gay Life and Culture: A World History (and more). A review of The Culture of the Europeans from 1800 to the present by Donald Sassoon. A review of The Story of French. A review of A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900. A review of A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia. From TAS, a review of Dixie Betrayed: How the South Really Lost the Civil War. A review of Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939. A review of Dictatorship of the Air: Aviation Culture and the Fate of Modern Russia. A review of Vietnam: The Definitive Oral History. A review of Seize the Hour: When Nixon Met Mao by Margaret MacMillan. A review of Mao's Last Revolution. A review of In China's Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship by Reed Hundt. A review of Dynasties by David Landes. And more on The Great Risk Shift by Jacob Hacker

[Weekend 2e] Potpourri: From Time, a look at why the sanctions threat doesn't scare Iran. Mass resistance is the other side of mass oppression: Women in Iran are not resigned. Even though he draws Washington's ire, leftist presidential candidate Rafael Correa's economic policies may be right for Ecuador. From PS: Political Science and Politics, a symposium on The Politics of Canada, including, Flawless Campaign, Fragile Victory: Voting in Canada's 2006 Federal Election; Canadian-American Relations in a Turbulent Era; Political Turbulence in a Dominant Party System; Value Diversity and Support for Electoral Reform in Canada; Is Canada a Westminster or Consensus Democracy? A Brief Analysis; and Northern Exposure? The Politics of Canadian Provincial Admission into the United States pdf. An interview with Bill Scher, author of Wait! Don't Move to Canada.  The Marines want to look Semper Fabulous: The Corps is updating its grooming standards, which deal with haircuts, facial hair, jewelry and other such issues. From The National Interest, the run-up to the mid-term election in the United States demonstrates that the mass media has transcended its traditional role as a vehicle for aspiring politicians. A look at the ickiness of "Dateline"'s hidden camera series. From Financial Times, the high priestess of internet friendship: Danah Boyd has become one of the chief thinkers of the MySpace age. MySpace, ByeSpace: Some users renounce social sites as too big. Not sure how to tie a tie? A rash of new sites offer advice on the basics. The Proof is in the Blogging: A flawed solution to a famed math problem spurs cyber soap opera. A researcher has come up with some simple math that sucks the life out of the vampire myth, proving that these highly popular creatures can't exist. A review of Phantasmagoria, by Marina Warner. And science and the public: Paul Kurtz sums up thirty years of the Skeptical Inquirer

[Weekend] From NYRB, Gary Wills on A Country Ruled by Faith. A review of The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America and Welcome to the Homeland: A Journey to the Rural Heart of America's Conservative Revolution. Amy Sullivan on why Democrats are losing the culture war. A review The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan. How will the Roberts Court interpret the establishment clause? The consequences of a shift away from Justice O'Connor's "endorsement" test for government sponsored displays of religious messages and symbols. House of the Damned: The Evangelical-run “Judgment House” replaces ghosts and goblins with gays and abortions. Saints misbehavin': Even the holiest men and women were not always thus. What I want for Christmas is... an anti-religion rant. From Harper's, more on The God Delusion. A review of The Teachings of Pope John Paul II: Summaries of Papal Documents. A review of Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda. From Telos, a comment on the difficulty that parts of the Left sometimes have in criticizing terrorism (and part 2). From Slate, a look at how torture begets even more torture. An interview with Ron Suskind: "The President knows more than he lets on". From Political Affairs, an article on Scientific Socialism: experiences and contributions for its construction. An article on Lenin and the right of nations to self determination. Christopher Hitchens, like Tom Paine, has made enemies by supporting American internationalism, but he will not rest until he wins them over. A review of Dangerous Nation by Robert Kagan. From The Economist, slow road ahead: America's long-term potential rate of growth is falling, perhaps to its lowest pace in over a century. Robert Samuelson on capitalism's next stage. How now, grown Dow? Republicans say the stock market is at a record high. Eh, not really. Robert Frank on how prospering may not make people happier, but it may make them healthier. From TAP, The Great Risk Shift's Jacob Hacker responds to Klein, Schmitt, and Yglesias. And N. Gregory Mankiw would like to see Congress increase the gas tax by $1 per gallon, phased in gradually

[Oct 27] From Writ, when constitutions falter: An article on the limits of law, as illustrated by the debacle in Iraq. From American Diplomacy, should the US use force to establish democratic governments? A panel discussion and questions & answers. From TNR, Bradford Plumer on how the GOP hypes the terrorist threat--again. Peter Bergen on what Osama wants: For the United States to wash its hands of Iraq now would give Al Qaeda’s leaders what they want. An assessment of Peter Galbraith's presentation of partition in The End of Iraq. The United States is considering two military options in Iraq: keep going, or fortify around key military bases. What will happen if neither works? To fully understand why the president’s change in linguistic strategy won’t work, it’s helpful to consider why “stay the course” possesses such power. An interview with Seymour Hersh on civilian casualties, American ignorance and leading questions. From The American Conservative, Andrew Bacevich on how even the latest dismal intelligence estimate fails to shake Bush’s faith-based foreign policy; Bush is no Churchill, and pretending bin Laden is Hitler won’t make this the next good war; a review of Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World by Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman; breaking the silence: John Mearsheimer finds important allies; size matters: Advocates of a military strike on Iran exaggerate the threat; and in making the case for war, American evangelicals ignored the plight of Iraqi Christians. How will the controversy over Islamic women wearing veils end? The debate about religious freedom v society's norms has strong similarities to a row that engulfed 16th Century England. From Forward, inside a genuine cabal: A review of Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America’s Hidden Power Brokers. A review of The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker. Atheist Evangelist: In his bully pulpit, Sam Harris devoutly believes that religion is the root of all evil. Atheists are becoming an ostracized minority. But now evolutionary biologists are trying to turn the tables: According to their argument, religion is the source of evil. More on The God Delusion. From Banner of Truth, an article on The Dawkins Delusion. And from The Huffington Post, Davis Sweet on every review of a Richard Dawkins book (slightly condensed)

[Oct 26] From Foreign Affairs, Stephen Schlesinger reviews The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American Power by James Traub. Is humanitarianism in a post 9/11 world headed for a crisis? Nowadays, tensions and disputes between countries are rising due to increasing problems of water scarcity, rapid population growth, degradation in water quality, and uneven economic growth. The planet in peril: Jim Hansen on how global warming, arctic ice melt and rising oceans will shrink nations and change world maps, and it’s not too late – but the world has at most 10 years to alter the dangerous trends. A look at how small-scale, homebrew beer production plays a vital role in sustainable development throughout the world. One world, many, many government policies: Irwin Stelzer on the public policy effects of globalization. From Le Figaro, the world enters the dangerous era of American impotence. The dollar is still the world's reserve currency, even though it hasn't deserved this status for a long time. The devaluation of the dollar can't be stopped -- it can only be deferred. The result could be a world economic crisis. A look at how America's middle class has become globalization's loser. Nicholas Von Hoffman on Wal-Mart’s family values: Who cares about kids? From Writ, a short primer on The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (and part 2). Lawrence Kaplan on why the Bush doctrine must survive the Iraq war. What does John McCain really think about Israel? John Judis investigates. From TAP, look beyond the Part D debacle -- the Bush administration is now taking aim at Medicare's status as a universal entitlement, by indexing premiums to income. A review of The Republican Playbook by Andy Borowitz. Michael and Jana Novak review Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers. From In These Times, an essay on going face-to-face with the fundamentalist base. Are liberals paranoid about religious conservatism? More by Amy Sullivan and Joseph Loconte. And Ralf Dahrendorf on today’s counter-enlightenment

[Oct 25] From Monthly Review, István Mészáros on The Structural Crisis of Politics; and an interview with Michael Perelman, author of Railroading Economics: The Creation of the Free Market Mythology. Nobel Prize winner Edmund Phelps on evidence-based economics. A special issue of the DLC's Blueprint is out, on Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed's The Plan, including an excerpt on breaking out of the frame game; the convoluted tax system loses track of what taxpayers owe. Here's how to solve some of its biggest problems; an excerpt from Andy Stern's A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track; a review of The Elephant in the Room and The K Street Gang; and a review of The Compassionate Community: Ten Values to Unite America. Max Boot and Michael O'Hanlon on a military path to citizenship. Why there's a course on war poetry at West Point: A review of Dismantling Glory: Twentieth-Century Soldier Poetry. A review of War by Other Means: An Insider's Account of the War on Terror by John Yoo. An excerpt from George W. Bush Versus the U.S. Constitution: The Downing Street Memos and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, Coverups in the Iraq War and Illegal Domestic Spying. A review of James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights; Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism; Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong; and Not a Suicide Pact: the Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. Election Deform: The Supreme Court messes up election law. Again. A review of Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made. The Supreme Press Critics: Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy take on the Fourth Estate. I Just Blogged To Say I Hate You: An article on the dead end of Republican punditry. The introduction to John Pilger's Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs pdf. And on life as a gossip columnist: "It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it"

[Oct 24] From The New Yorker, the CIA’s travel agent: Jane Mayer on the Boeing subsidiary that helps with extraordinary renditions. From The Economist, a sharp slowdown in the American economy could be offset by the growing and largely unrecognised power of Asia's consumers. From Business Week, karma capitalism: Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie " Wall Street". Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text? Millions for Millions: High-tech entrepreneurs compete with a Nobel Prize winner to provide credit to the world’s poor. Thanks for the cheap gas, Mr. Hitler! How Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa perfected one of the world's most exciting new fuel sources. James Howard Kunstler on how the era of cheap oil is over, and lost with it an energy-rich way of life that billions of city dwellers have come to take for granted. How close are we to environmental catastrophe? Bill McKibben investigates. The wisdom of survivalist crowds: Americans know something very bad is going to happen sooner rather than later and are preparing accordingly. From TAP, Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein discuss The Great Risk Shift with the book's author, Jacob Hacker of Yale University. Jonathan Chait on why Bush's tax cuts don't boost revenue. A review of Charles Murray's In Our Hands. From TNR, have religious conservatives' bargain with Bush paid off? Amy Sullivan and Joseph Loconte debate. God's entourage: A look at how private faith is going public among the African American elite of Hollywood. From Wired, a band of intellectual brothers is mounting a crusade against the belief in God. Are they winning converts, or merely preaching to the choir? And a profile of The Punk Rocker, The Illusionists and The Scribe. Richard Dawkins on why there almost certainly is no god. On the right to give offence: Freedom of speech should cede nothing to religious sensibilities, so read how the Looney American Foundation threatens to sue the Nobel Committee. From Political Affairs, global solidarity vs. homophobia: An interview with Doug Ireland. The Socialist, the Columnist, His Wife and the Prostitute: Even Scotland can be thrilled by a ripe sex scandal. From Sirens, an article on why men don't suck. And from Nerve, an interview with Arianna Huffington

[Oct 23] The Shorter History of God: An Idiot's Guide to Messianism might say God has been a little rough with his people. Is it time to take God out of the state? Faith groups are increasingly demanding new rights or complaining of being wronged. AC Grayling on why it is time to reverse the prevailing notion that religious commitment is intrinsically deserving of respect. On Sedgemore's Law of Religious Rumpus: "As any argument about religion progresses, the probability of believers complaining that unbelievers wish to ban them approaches one." Sam Harris on bad reasons to be good. Jim Holt reviews The God Delusion. Should Dennett, Dawkins, Harris and Wilson be surprised to see that religious tribes are flourishing around the world? Dinesh D'Souza wants to know. More and more and more on The Conservative Soul. More and more and more on Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to al Qa'eda. Niall Ferguson on how there are 300m Americans, but still not enough to rule the world; and they called it "the American Century," but the past 100 years actually saw a shift away from Western dominance. Through the long lens of Edward Gibbon's history, Rome 331 and America and Europe 2006 appear to have more than a few problems in common. A review of Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers. George Washington didn't think the Constitution was sacrosanct -- why do we? Sanford Levinson says it's time for a new constitutional convention. McCarthyism without habeas corpus: A Red Diaper Baby ponders what the 1950s would have been like if the government could've declared his parents enemy combatants. Till debt do us part? Families were once the great protector against risk. No more. A review of The Great Risk Shift by Jacob Hacker. A review of Chutes and Ladders: Navigating the Low-wage Labor Market. What lessons from the tax revisions of 1986 might apply to a similar effort today? Not long ago, "fair trade" coffee was hopelessly fringe. Today you'll find it at Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and even McDonald's. For some, this proves the movement has arrived. For others, the label has lost its meaning. A review of Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession With Cosmetic Surgery (and more). And why does 21st-century woman seem like a throwback to the Fifties?

[Weekend 2e] Potpourri: From TNR (cached links, might not work), a review of Marcel Mauss: A Biography by Marcel Fournier (and part 2); who really wrote the Truman Doctrine? John Lewis Gaddis reviews Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War (and part 2); Cass Sunstein reviews Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) by Sanford Levinson (and part 2); and Thomas Nagel reviews The God Delusion (and part 2). Peter Singer on gay sex and motorbikes: If an activity brings satisfaction to those who take part in it and harms no one, it can't be immoral. A look at how doctors join an effort to ban abortion. An initiative that seeks to overturn South Dakota's draconian ban on abortion will have implications in states across the country. Untruth in advertising: The anti-choice group Feminists for Life is clever. Dangerously so. Beyond Choice: A reproductive health vision for a post-Roe generation. A review of The Truth About Muhammad by Robert Spencer. A review of Richard Posner's Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. From Radical Middle, a look back at the Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada by Mark Satin. More on All Government Lie! The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone. From Forbes, what if you had only 100 days to live? More on Andrew Carnegie and Mellon: An American Life. Are you a middle class criminal? Wringing our hands about the decline of the middle classes is a very middle-class thing to do. And how to avoid the curse of happiness: Don't expect a partner to make you happy — we have to face up to our own problems

[Weekend] Human, citizen, Jew: It is easy to forget that just a few years ago, Hannah Arendt was considered an old-fashioned metaphysicist mired in her own obscure and idealistic world. From New English Review, John Derbyshire on The G-Word and the C-Word: Thinking the Unthinkable. A review of The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn. From the new web publication Cognitive Dissidents, Raja Halwani on Israel's right to exist; Ora Wise on a Jewish perspective on divestment from Israel; and what is Michael Lerner really talking about? What’s the right course for the religious left? Michelle Goldberg reviews The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right. More and more and more on Andrew Sullivan's The Conservative Soul. More on Tempting Faith by David Kuo, an addition to the Axis of Evil. Religion on Welfare: How Founding Father James Madison would view tax breaks and government funding for faith-based charities. A review of The Elephant in the Room and Buck Wild: How Republicans Broke the Bank and Became the Party of Big Government. Libertarians as the neglected swing voters: What's a true freedom-lover to do on polling day? Howard Rich is pouring big money into leveraging our electoral system to serve his libertarian agenda. From Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi on the worst Congress ever: How our national legislature has become a stable of thieves and perverts - in five easy steps. Electroshock: You don't need to believe in a vast vote-rigging conspiracy to be worried about the use of e-voting machines in November. From Counterpunch, an article on new voting strategies for a disenchanted electorate: How third parties can solve the "spoiler" problem and win elections. Racists on the ballot: Across America, right-wing radicals are running for everything from national political office to a county mosquito control board. An interview with Sidney Blumenthal on How Bush Rules: The Chronicles of a Radical Regime. Folier than thou: Michael Kinsley on the po-faced contest between Republicans and Democrats. As Foleygate shows, Washington has a unique definition of what it means to be "openly gay". Should the media keep playing along? And at the same time that gay TV is shaping the culture, the culture is also shaping gay TV, containing it and restricting it from going "too far"

[Oct 20] From Harper's, a hidden crisis is under way. Many government insiders are aware of serious plans for war with Iran, but Congress and the public remain largely in the dark. From Discover, the future of terrorism: Neutron cameras versus smuggled nuclear bombs. Biodetectors versus bioengineered smallpox. Is technology making us safer--or more vulnerable? The introduction to In the Moment of Greatest Calamity: Terrorism, Grief, and a Victim's Quest for Justice. From Christianity Today, a review of Teta, Mother, and Me: Three Generations of Arab Women, an essay on Islam in American Protestant Thought; and how can followers of Christ be a counterculture for the common good? Jean Bethke Elshtain investigates. From Nerve, more on the series A History of Single Life: Premarital celibacy as latest thing in retro hipness. A review of The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability by Laura Kipnis, and a profile from The New York Observer. Potheads, Puritans, and Pragmatists: Two marijuana initiatives put drug warriors on the defensive. From Touchstone, an essay on Transgressive Bohemians as Regressive Bobos. A review of Not in Kansas Anymore: Dark Arts, Sex Spells, Money Magic, and Other Things Your Neighbors Aren’t Telling You. Barry Schwartz on why owners often remove their homes from the market even when they'd make a windfall. As birth rates in the West decline, children become status symbols -- and blank slates for showy, affluent parents. Marketers have jumped on the trend. Their message? When it comes to luxury, no customer is too young. Why would Cheerios sponsor a NASCAR race? A new study shows how marketers can use sponsorship of seemingly unrelated events. Charities serve many indispensable purposes, but financing the livings of the powerful and privileged is not one of them. A review of Just What I Said: Bloomberg Economics Columnist Takes on Bonds, Banks, Budgets, and Bubbles by Caroline Baum. From The Nation, Katha Pollitt reviews The Trouble With Diversity by Walter Benn Michaels. A study finds legal immigrants who had darker complexions or were shorter earned less money than their fair-skinned or taller counterparts with similar jobs. And out of Africa, but from which tribe? DNA tests of Blacks promise ancestry answers, but report adds to critics' doubts

[Oct 19] American politics:  From Policy Review,  Kenneth Anderson (American U.): Law and terror: This is a democracy. Congress must legislate. A review of Voting to Kill: How 9/11 Launched the Era of Republican Leadership. From US News, Tyler Cowen on an economic agenda for Republicans, and Jacob Hacker on an economic agenda for Democrats. From TAP, we answer to the name of liberals: Bruce Ackerman and Todd Gitlin respond to Tony Judt, and a manifesto for liberals in the waning Bush era; door to door democracy: When it comes to progressive politics, grassroots canvassing is part of the solution, not part of the problem; congressional investigations of the executive branch have been sandbagged by the White House and its allies on Capitol Hill. Can the Democrats revive a lost art?; they have been outraged by Tom DeLay’s tactics. But if they take back the House, the lesson to learn from him is this: Hyper-partisanship can be good for the party of government; and if the Dems take over Congress, the question remains: what'll they actually do in power? Here's a look at the legislation they'd push. Hi-yo, Charlie Rangel! If House finally goes Democratic, Congressman becomes Ways and Means Czar: "Listen, I Can’t Have a Secret Agenda—I’m 76". Chris Lehmann on angry data nerds raining on Democratic parade. Michiko Kakutani reviews Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. Don't call him redneck: James Webb hates the expression, but is very proud of the culture. An interview with Jeff Smith, star of " Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" Eve Fairbanks on how FoleyGate can make every Republican look dirty. Amy Sullivan on how it may be hard to believe, but Bush does disdain evangelicals. Terms of endearment: Why do Southern folks elect regressive, warmongering politicians but still call you "sunshine" when they serve your coffee? State laws prohibit millions of ex-felons from voting -- and favor Republicans at the polls. But those who served their time have every right to serve their country by casting a ballot. Charles Murray on the GOP' s bad bet: Republicans have allied themselves with a scattering of voters who are upset by online gambling and have outraged the millions who love it. No spoils for the victors: Bruce Bartlett on how Congress will be on automatic pilot for the next two years regardless of which party is in control. And does media bias affect voting? NBER on "The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting"

[Oct 18] From Government Executive, the next boomtown for spend-happy spies is... Aurora, Colorado? The growing Denver suburb will play home to a major operations center for the National Security Agency. Can this man keep us safe?: A profile of Kenneth Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice. Superhero accepts a brief: Cartoon "Attorney Man" teaches sales to introverted lawyers. A review of The Consciousness of the Litigator. Sanford Levinson on our broken constitution: What many consider the greatest American document is in reality a blueprint for undemocratic governance. John Fund on how judges threaten direct democracy. Picking judges on the merits: A legal decision may finally chase politics out of the courthouse. Give and Takings: Property-rights initiatives threaten environmental protections in four Western states. A review of An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore and Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning by George Monbiot (and an interview on Heat). An interview with Michael Specter on putting a price on water. From Business Week, what the Nobel means for microcredit: Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus promotes peace not by brokering treaties, but by uprooting poverty through entrepreneurialism. An interview with Yunus. Walden Bello on how micro-credit is no silver bullet for global poverty--it's simply a safety net against macro-economic inequity. An excerpt from The New Law and Economic Development. From Human Beams, an article on how America’s collective delusion must endure: Domestic genocide of an economic nature. A review essay on Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships; Animal Ethics; and Animals, Ethics and Trade. Towards a culture of diversity: Starbucks claims it is more than just a business. But the gap between image and reality is wide. A review of Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class by Thom Hartmann. From MR, an essay on all the economics you need to know in one lesson. An interview with billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on his latest venture: digging up dirt on corporate America. A review of Andrew Carnegie. A review of Mellon: An American Life (and more). And charity is selfish: Tim Harford on the economic case against philanthropy

[Oct 17] From Freezerbox, God doesn't follow the law: How Americans' love affair with religion fosters lawlessness. A review of Representing God at the Statehouse: Religion and Politics in the American States; and Witnessing Their Faith: Religious Influence on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions. From The Remnant, an open letter to Pope Benedict on the necessity of retaining the traditional teaching on limbo; and a professor of law comments on the fundamental moral flaw in Vatican II that, at least until now, has been largely overlooked. This changes everything! The conclusion to the debate between Ross Douthat and Damon Linker on American Catholicism. From Christianity Today, an interview with John Stott on the future of evangelism. Why a Christian in the White House felt betrayed: An excerpt from David Kuo's Tempting Faith. In the latest episode of the so-called "ex-gay" movement's straying toward racial bigotry, the movement's leaders and its Christian right allies have failed to condemn an essay arguing Civil Rights Movement was "irrational". A review of Andrew Sullivan's The Conservative Soul, and an interview. Homosexuality is a direct path to pedophilia? It’s the kind of blood libel that in another era was spread about Jews. From Enter Stage Right, a review of Where Men Hide. Virtually abnormal: William Saletan on the perils of policing cybersex. From American Heritage, an article on Margaret Sanger and the painful birth of the sexual revolution. As South Dakotans prepare to vote on the nation’s most draconian abortion law, they’re hearing a frightening argument: that the state must “protect” women from abortion by forcing them to bear children. An A+ in Parenting is not only impossible, it’s undesirable: A review of The Madness of Modern Families. A review of Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession with Cosmetic Surgery by Alex Kuczynski. The Princess Buy: The quinceañera gains in visibility, and an old tradition creates a new market. A review of An Alliance of Women: Immigration and the Politics of Race. From The Black Commentator, a cover story on race, the Democratic Party and electoral strategy. Undercover economist Tim Harford on race, social capital and the ghetto. And a review of Profiles, Probabilities, and Stereotypes

[Oct 16] Cowboy Nation: Robert Kagan on the myth of American innocence. Coming to grips with our badness, but wiser than Chomsky: A review of Stephen Kinzer’s Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. Henry Kissinger reviews Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War. An interview with Jerry Lembcke, author of The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam. George Packer reviews Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell. Phillip Carter on how counterinsurgency is more like an election than a military operation. More on Ron Suskind's The One Percent Doctrine. Bob Woodward interviews John Kerry on the war on terror. Osama bin Laden is just as concerned with his public image as he is about fundamentalist jihad: A review of The Secret History of al-Qa’ida. Most wars are waged between combatants who share similar honor codes or at least comprehend each other's honor codes. But in the war on terror, there is no communication across the battlefield. A review of Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea. As talk of "terrorism" and "Islamofacism" dominate the airwaves, political apathy and blind idealism are threatening to supplant public engagement and dissent in both the Middle East and the West. A review of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (and more). An interview with with Frank Rich: Seeing the Decider as the Deceiver. God, guns and government: An excerpt from The War On Truth. Many of the historical precursors of fascism—white supremacy, militarization of culture, vigilantism, masculine fear of female power, xenophobia and economic destabilization—are ascendant in America today. What is it about fascist states and their obsession with the goose step? To us it's just a silly walk but for people living under the heel of oppression, the imagery is all too clear. So you still think Democrats are American? From The American Conservative, an article on how to rekindle conversation between Left and Right. It is an over-broad understanding of what it means to be a community that is one of the things conservatives and libertarians steeped in the classical liberal tradition find most off-putting about modern liberalism. And Peter Berkowitz reviews Neoconservatism: Why We Need It

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