Miscellaneous: The epic narcissism of Cindy Sheehan: Everyone is getting tired of the sanctimonious peace activist, who threatens to run against Nancy Pelosi and does a photo shoot on her son's grave. Concrete Policies Based on Concrete Values: The case for building our public policy on our professed beliefs. A response to Ezra Klein's "Overvaluing American Values. Stakes in kidneys: Trading organs for cash is illegal, so how can more be made available for transplant? Alfred, Bruce, and Percy — No Sissies: Names considered effeminate today were originally made famous by big, pugnacious men. So where did we go wrong? A review of Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life. Here are 17 reasons (or more) to stop charging people to ride the bus. A Battle Between the Bottle and the Faucet: Thirsty? How much money do you have on you? Is the GOP political platform contrary to Catholic teaching? Glenn Greenwald wants to know.
From Bitch, a review of You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother by Joyce Antler. From Business Week, a look at what drives the success of the "big brains" of the investing world—and what ordinary investors can learn from them. From Forbes, here are some Black Swan possibilities for the near and far future. What Ever Happened to Gary Cooper? A few words about gender differences. A review of Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance by John Berger. Arthur C. Brooks on the Left's "inequality" obsession. Generation Lloyd Dobler: Brian Doherty on the fight to avoid buying, selling, or processing in a wealthy modernity. If you're 50-plus, female, have a penchant for hats and are keen to "grow old outrageously", the Red Hat Society might be the thing for you. The Ethanol Backlash: Daniel Gross on the environmentalists, economists, and poverty activists who are turning against corn fuel.
A review of Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies by Pamela Des Barres. 14,000 reasons to be skeptical: Corporate takeovers — not a strong, stable economy — are fueling Wall Street's latest bubble. Back From the Dead: Doctors are reinventing how they treat sudden cardiac arrest, which is fatal 95 percent of the time. A report from the border between life and death. No Sex Please, We're Organizing: A nation of pack rats tries to get it together. The machines are already taking over: The real problem with a machine-driven society isn’t the machines themselves; it’s the relationships they create—or replace. Make Love, Not War? Why not have it both ways? Dropping a "gay bomb" on enemy soldiers might prove to distract them, yes, but these incapacitants, though no less harsh, will make the enemy forget what they were ever fighting for.
A review of The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger, Volume 1: The Woman Rebel, 1900-1928 and Volume 2: Birth Control Comes of Age, 1928-1939. How the Farm Bill affects more than just farms: The stealthy Farm Bill has fooled Americans for years into thinking it only affects people who wear overalls to work. Meat is murder on the environment: A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home. A passing reference to Scientology in an article by Annie Lawson prompted an invitation from the church in Melbourne to hear its story. This is what she discovered. A review of Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson. From The Brookings Institution, a paper on Rediscovering Federalism. From Daily Mail, won't anyone stand up for God?
