Daily Hotshots!

Disclaimer: Irony alert

I'm adding a new feature to the blog: Daily HotShots! Following in the footsteps of Born at the Crest of the Empire, Defense Tech, and Juan Cole, I find this synoptic quick-see at articles I'm reading somewhat more efficient and perhaps more effective than posting separate entries.

Reminder to Voters: Neocons Want to Bomb Iran Steve Clemons links to an article by a neocon brain whose assessment of failure in Iraq entails invading Iran. No shit...

Aljazeera.Net - Pandemic fear over new bird flu strain Reports that a new, vaccine-resistant Bird Flu has mutated and raised the anxiety levels of epidemiologists who've been prophesying a worldwide pandemic for some time now.

God and the Welfare State - The MIT Press Book purports to document the history of the Religious Right in various strategizing and ideas of religious and political leaders opposed to the Welfare State.

Long Sunday: The Liberal Manifesto An excellent counter-counter-argument by jodi dean against the liberal manifesto formulated by Ackerman et al. as a riposte to the Euston Manifesto.

BBC NEWS | UK | Security firms 'abusing Iraqis' More reporting on the running amok of private security forces--aka mercenaries--in Iraq.

Fears over huge growth in Iraq's unregulated private armies More on western mercenary armies in Iraq.

Clifford Geertz Obituary A giant in the field of ethnography has died. I cut my teeth on several of Geertz's writings and have an unpublished paper somewhere critical of Geertz's notion of religion as a cultural system. I also studied with one of Geertz's native American pupils, Alfonso Ortiz.

The Myth that Low Taxes and Liberty Go Hand in Hand Provides historical background of anti-tax movements, showing that the present political movement against taxes is a recent phenomenon and is contrary to historical trends in post-Revolutionary America.

INTERVIEW-US tactics swelling Al Qaeda in Iraq-Sunni moderate Interview with Iraqi moderate that suggests that al-Qaeda has gained immensely in regions of Iraq where previously they were effectively non-existent.

Common Article 3, Torture, and Specific Intent Argues that inconsistencies in recent torture legislation leave open the possibility that the international laws against war crimes will be broken. It's a more subtle analysis than mainstream news reports of the various international conventions that apply and how the recent torture legislation passed by the Congress is inadequate.

How Can A Democrat Talk To An Islamist Posted by one of my hate-filled, irrational Muslim, this article explains what strategy might actually work in stemming the tide of Islamism in the Mideast and (I hope) around the world.

The Washington Note - Dismantling Cheney's Control Argues that job #1 if the Dems win Tuesday is to cut the Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal off at the knees--as they say in the corridors of power.

Movie Review: Syriana Another piece by Ali Eteraz; read it, you'll find something surprising.

How neoconservative moralism works Tries to get a proper perspective on the neconservative political philosophy and related issues.