DOLPHINS SING “BATMAN” THEME. Actually I’m very anti-dolphin–those smug, smiling Hippies of the Sea–but even I have to admit that this is awesome. Via DLB. Read more

LIVING MEMENTO: IS HAPPINESS WORTH LOSING YOUR MEMORY? Read more

URGENT–ANTI-TORTURE VOTE EXPECTED TONIGHT more. If you want background, try this and this. Read more

WEEKLY STANDARD ON DETAINEE TREATMENT: FOOL ME ONCE, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. When it comes to detaining prisoners seized in Iraq, Afghanistan and on the other fronts of the terror war, the Pentagon’s “just-trust-us” mentality continues to undercut American strategy. Thankfully, Congress is at last on the verge of doing what the administration clearly cannot: set clear standards for the treatment of detainees. … …[T]he Pentagon is itself currently in the midst of a drag-out... Read more

WHO’S YOUR DADDY? My column in the National Catholic Register: Who are a child’s parents? It seems like a simple question–the kid’s mom and dad, right? The people who made the baby. But for decades, legal and technological changes have been reshaping families, as reproductive techniques like sperm donation, egg donation, and surrogate motherhood become far more embedded in our culture than most of us realize. Now we have kids with two moms, four moms, or none at all. These... Read more

If you should fallInto my armsAnd tremble like a bloooooooooooooooogwatch! Amy Welborn: Really good post on seminary visitation stuff. Flos Carmeli defends Keats’s poetry and says he did have a philosophy. I dunno man, still not convinced, but have reached the limit of my own understanding of my initial claim, so perhaps should draw back…. Harriett Miers nomination stuff: Ramesh Ponnuru has a few questions. Rick Brookhiser looks on the bright side. Ninomania on the dangers both of Bush’s nominations... Read more

The candles blew and then disappeared;The blogwatch blew and then he appeared… Unqualified Offerings: “So the Department of Defense wants to get rid of homosexuals who want to serve and keep the ones who don’t. They are our shock troops in the War Against the Mirror People, perhaps.” Also, best title so far for post on “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Mike Walsh replies to my post on philosophy and poetry. I can’t tell if this cuts in favor of my... Read more

SIM SOLIDARNOSC: Kinda cool. Ultimately via Dappled Things. Read more

THEY’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!: “First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is).” A picture here. Via CM and IKM. Read more

WHAT HAS ATHENS TO DO WITH PARNASSUS?: So Ratty and I were yapping last night (when I should have been asleep, but instead was up bothering her) and she told me about a course she’s taking on the Romantic poets. Now, I actually find Romanticism interesting in theory, but the Romantic poets generally boring; nonetheless our conversation sparked a very small thought, which is that poets typically do poorly when their poetry is unsupported by some kind of underlying philosophical... Read more