Visual Source: Newseum
Thomas Friedman sees the Palestinian attempt to gain recognition through the UN as a potential "trainwreck" for the United States, and suggests that we... use the UN to force recognition of a Palestinian state.
So why don’t we just update Resolution 181 and take it through the more prestigious Security Council? It could be a simple new U.N. resolution: “This body reaffirms that the area of historic Palestine should be divided into two homes for two peoples — a Palestinian Arab state and a Jewish state. The dividing line should be based on the 1967 borders — with mutually agreed border adjustments and security arrangements for both sides. This body recognizes the Palestinian state as a member of the General Assembly and urges both sides to enter into negotiations to resolve all the other outstanding issues.” Very simple.
Yes, I'm sure that would be very simple. Next up, warp drive and searching for intelligent life in the Republican Party.
Maureen Dowd goes after the Catholic Church for refusing to sanction gay marraige, but then takes a turn toward the "whaaa?" when listing the causes of sexual abuse within the church.
In yet another attempt at rationalization, the nation’s Catholic bishops — a group Dolan is now in charge of — put out a ridiculous five-year-study last month going with the “blame Woodstock” explanation for the sex-abuse scandal. The report suggested that the problem was caused by permissive secular society rather than cloistered church culture, because priests were trained in the turbulent free-love era. It concluded, absurdly, that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were causes.
Sylvia Longmire says that there are many good reasons to legalize marijuana, and one oft-cited reason that's not so good.
This is not to say that drug legalization shouldn’t be considered for other reasons. We need to stop viewing casual users as criminals, and we need to treat addicts as people with health and emotional problems. Doing so would free up a significant amount of jail space, court time and law enforcement resources. What it won’t do, though, is stop the violence in Mexico.
Dana Milbank notes that even Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann were unwilling to be seen at a rally with Glenn Beck, but there was one politician eager to climb on board the S. S. Crazyhate.
"I'd love to participate," Lieberman confirmed ... Joe Lieberman, first Jew on a presidential ticket, was embracing Beck, the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic memes in the mass media. One of the most visible Jews in America was making common cause with a man who invoked apocalyptic Christian theology in promoting his rally in Israel.
Milbank finds the idea that Lieberman would associate with Beck disturbing. I only worry that bringing their egos into such proximity could generate a black hole.
Leonard Pitts hosts an intervention for a media that won't fess up to its sad addiction.
The only thing more telling than watching Palin treat the media as a kitten does a ball of string was watching the media take it, watching them bend over and grab their ankles like a freshman in a frat house hazing as the paddle comes down. “Thank you, sir! May I have another?” Apparently, it would have made too much sense to designate a pool reporter or two to trail the bus, thereby sparing the dignity, and the dwindling resources, of what used to be a venerated institution.
On father's day, the New York Times notes that there's one place fathers don't get any love: the Supreme Court.
Children born outside the country to an unmarried American parent are considered American citizens at birth if the parent lived in the United States before the child was born.
For a mother, the required period of residence is one year. For a father, it is 10 years, five of them after he turns 14.
Fathers must also prove parenthood and pledge to support the child.
In a decision based on an outmoded stereotype that fathers are less committed parents, the Supreme Court let this obvious discrimination stand last week when it affirmed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Flores-Villar v. the United States.
Speaking of holidays, it sure is quiet around the virtual water cooler. I suppose everyone has gone off to visit dad... or maybe they're busy with something else.
Here. Smell this....
Richard Bryant at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues, tried to hypnotise 40 men who scored low in an initial test for hypnotisability. They gave 19 of the men a nasal spray containing oxytocin - a hormone involved in social bonding - and the rest a placebo.
Eight of those given oxytocin shifted from a low to medium level of hypnotisability, compared with just three using the placebo.
Make sure you get a good whiff before tackling my 7,000 word energy plan (complete with gas tax proposal) coming up next. You're going to like it. When I snap my fingers, you're going to fall completely in love with this plan. In one, two, three...
