Michael Agger, I look stupid: How to take a Web head shot (Slate)
“Lately, the Internet has been trying—politely—to find out what I look like.”
Ajahn Amaro, Between Arhat and Bodhisattva: Finding the Perfect Balance (Buddhadharma)
“Ajahn Amaro suggests how we can transcend the debate between Theravadans and Mahayanists over the true ideal of Buddhist practice.”
Ian Bell, Gay bishops: why stay if you aren’t wanted? (Sunday Herald)
“Worship your god anywhere. Embrace your faith in any manner you can. Why bother with the homophobes, and with the rest?”
Brian Beutler, After the FISA Fight: An Interview with Sen. Russ Feingold (Mother Jones)
“Why did some Democrats cave to the administration’s wiretapping demands? ‘A constantly pulsating fear of being accused of being soft on terrorism.’”
David Biello, Lights Out? How the Grid Copes When a Nuclear Power Plant Goes Down (Scientific American)
“What companies are doing to keep consumers out of the dark when a power facility fails.”
Greg Bruno, Iran’s Nuclear Program (Council on Foreign Relations)
“Nonproliferation experts note Iran’s ability to produce enriched uranium continues to progress but disagree on how close Iran is to mastering capabilities to weaponize.”
Mona Charen, A Child Killer’s Homecoming (Real Clear Politics)
“What can you say about a people who welcome a child murderer as a hero?”
Matthew Cox, 13 electrocutions, few answers (Army Times)
“Halliburton KBR improperly installed electrical wiring or failed to fix known electrical hazards at U.S. bases in Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 11 service members and two civilians …”
Peter DelVecchio, Calif.’s Prop. 8: It’s Not Over Till It’s Over (The Advocate)
“Far from being over, the battle over Prop. 8’s validity has not yet even been joined.”
Kevin Drum, Obama, the press, and Iraq (Washington Monthly)
“The big story on Saturday was Spiegel’s interview with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in which he endorsed Barack Obama’s 16-month timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops.”
Bruce Falconer, Congress Atwitter Over Members’ Use of Social Networking, Video Sites (Mother Jones)
“An obscure 6-member, bipartisan panel called the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards (also known as the “Franking Commission”), adhering to rules established in 1789, has long regulated congressional communications …”
Larry Greenemeier, I Hear Ya: Bush Signs Expanded Wiretap Power into Law (Scientific American)
“President scores victory in effort to widen scope of federal government’s warrantless recon power.”
Sheila Kaplan, Great Lakes Danger Zones? (Center for Public Integrity)
“For more than seven months, the nation’s top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contains such potentially ‘alarming information’ as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates.”
Mathias Müller von Blumencron and Bernard Zand (Interview with Nouri al-Maliki), The Tenure of Coalition Troops in Iraq Should Be Limited (Spiegel)
“Spiegel spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki about his approval of Barack Obama’s withdrawal plans and what he hopes from US President Bush in his last months in office.”
Richard Payne, Burning with the Fire of Shingon (Tricycle)
“Richard Payne is one of the few Westerners to undergo the one hundred days of training required to become a Shingon priest. He takes us inside his journey and this little-known esoteric tradition of Japanese Buddhism.”
Katha Pollitt, McCain Opposes Contraception — Pass It On (The Nation)
“Where is the discussion of the real issue, which is that for over twenty years John McCain has voted against contraception every time it came up and — now he tells us! — doesn’t even care or know enough to explain why.”
Susan Q. Stranahan, Broken Elections, Stolen Votes (Center for Public Integrity)
“Who can stuff ballot boxes the best and most? It’s a chilling question, fueling a worry that has been rattling many Americans’ faith in the institution of free and fair elections since the 2000 presidential election was decided by a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Tim Walker, One giant beeb for mankind (Irish Independent)
“It’s a cartoon about a lonely robot who can’t even speak, but America’s leading critics are queuing up to hail Pixar’s summer blockbuster as ‘ET’ meets ‘Citizen Kane’. Tim Walker discovers why we’re all about to fall for ‘Wall-E’ – and why it could even become the defining film of our times.”
Unsigned, Cognition nutrition: Eat your way to a better brain (The Economist)
“Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a fish-loving professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that appropriate changes to a person’s diet can enhance his cognitive abilities, protect his brain from damage and counteract the effects of ageing.”
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