MAN UNWITTINGLY LIVE-TWEETS RAID THAT KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN. In case you haven’t seen this yet. Via PES. I wish we were celebrating the end of a war. For more on that, my friends seem to follow and recommend Small Wars Journal, so you might check them out. Read more

THE NEEDLE’S EYE AND THE DAMAGE DONE: In 2008, Walter Olson of Overlawyered recommended This Gun for Hire. So now you know how long it takes something to reach the top of my Netflix queue! Here are a few thoughts on this terrific movie. First, Veronica Lake is extraordinary. Her sad, forgiving eyes and husky, hopeful, low-rent voice might be even more startling here than they were in Sullivan’s Travels. She’s a noir woman who is neither brassy nor slinky,... Read more

THIS IS YOUR LIFE: GENOCIDE EDITION: I take This American Life for granted and often it can seem too familiar and predictable. Some of the more famous voices on the show grate on me, and the giggles, awkwardness and teenager-y cuteness can feel contrived; sometimes I just want them to sound like grownups. Yet, not so rarely they come through with something pretty great that you wouldn’t hear elsewhere. Jogging the other day I listened to this pretty amazing piece... Read more

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE! You don’t have to know Russian–just pick one option and go from there. Super-cute and fun, with great creepy bits–be sure to play around until you get the flies’ Hamlet! Via EWC and MTM. Read more

ARS LONGA, UNIVERSITAS BREVIS: Uh, sorry for the probably-mangled Latin. Anyway, I don’t really have much to say about my Gay Catholic Whatnot talk for Carnegie Mellon U’s Newman Center. The audience seemed intrigued. I could intrigue audiences on your campus! Why not invite me? If you’re not on the DC Metro I’d need you to pay for my transportation plus a nominal speaking fee, and feed and shelter me if I’m expected to stay overnight, but I would be... Read more

DRIVING THE POINT HOME: It’s entirely possible I just didn’t get The Walworth Farce, part of Studio Theater’s Enda Walsh/”New Ireland” series. It’s about a violent, delusional father who forces his two sons to reenact, day in and day out, his version of the events which led them to flee Cork for London. Supposedly a comedy? It got about half a standing ovation tonight and although all four actors are really good, I have no idea why anyone would offer... Read more

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: FAST AND FEAST! Two successful experiments. First, the last meal I had during Lent: pasta with faked-up peanut sauce. I cooked spaghetti. While it was cooking I heated some olive oil in a pot. Chopped garlic and ginger and sliced onion went into the pot and got golden with browned bits. Then I added maybe two tbsps? of creamy peanut butter, some milk, and some bottled ginger-sesame sauce, and hit everything with the immersion blender. Added cumin, a... Read more

“JESUS IS RISEN” BEIRUT FLASH MOB! I hate flash mobs as a thing, but I can make exceptions. Via Mark Shea. Read more

Our reasons, in short, do not always really involve a belief that a prisoner is dangerous to us or has committed some crime; sometimes (and this is more debased) we mostly think we might find him useful…Here are other signs, according to the files, that a prisoner is dangerous: attitude toward the Star Spangled Banner; having been caught wearing a Casio F91W watch (a common model); perceived support for fellow inmates who committed suicide (there have been five).And more: according... Read more

25 ABANDONED YUGOSLAVIA MONUMENTS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY’RE FROM THE FUTURE. I can’t believe I already have the perfect tag for this. Read more