TWO MUST-READ ARTICLES, both via The Corner: “Behind the Veil: A Muslim Woman Speaks Out.” Boring title, fascinating profile of Dutch woman who was basically hounded out of her country for speaking out about the violence and repression against women in Muslim communities. And “Chasing Hope,” the story of the woman behind the Texas Department of Transportation’s anti-drunk-driving ads. I don’t really know how to describe it–just read it and you’ll see why. Read more

if I’m gonna watch blogs, you’re gonna come with me Hand in hand, hand in hand, hand in hand… Argh, Internet access continues to be intermittent. But tomorrow I will bring you more than a blogwatch; for now, this is all I’ve got… Disputations: Two good thoughts on voting pro-life? He also directed me to Flos Carmeli‘s excellent suggestion, which could serve as a wake-up call for some politicians or a gesture of support for others, and is, really, appropriate... Read more

QUICK HITS: Gotta run, but check out Regions of Mind on gay Arab-speaking linguists (with stats), a photo of Dolley Madison (yes, a photo; yes, that Dolley Madison), and Elvis’s possible Jewishness (?!). Also this Washington Post symposium on what the Democrats gotta do now. It’s when I read things like this that I realize I, too, am a political junkie. Summary: Zell Miller says (sassily, as is his wont) that Dems should’ve appreciated him more. A guy who writes... Read more

AFGHANISTAN: MILITARY CHIEFS WANT BAKE SALE, NOT BOMBERS. “Gen. Richard B. Myers also said there is a debate taking place within the Pentagon about whether the United States needs to change its priorities in Afghanistan and de-emphasize military operations in favor of more support for reconstruction efforts.” Personally, I wonder how effective U.S. “nation-building” in Afghanistan can really be. But then, I also doubt the long-range effectiveness of catching and killing lots of Al Qaeda members: More will take their... Read more

AMY WELBORN ON “WHAT NOW FOR AMERICAN CATHOLICS?” Good stuff. Scroll around, it’s in three parts. Read more

I’M WRONG ABOUT CONSUMER SCIENCE: More from Zachary Schrag. This time, I get schooled in a big way! I am having trouble understanding your strong objection to the term “consumer science” as a synonym for home economics. To be sure, “homemaking is about a lot more than consuming.” But home economics is not. Home economics was founded in the early twentieth century by Ellen Richards, a talented scientist who would have been very happy as an industrial chemist had male... Read more

AM I HERBERT HOOVER?: More mail. Zachary Schrag writes, I’m pretty sure “Jazz Judaism” usually goes by the name Hasidism. See here. And there’s always this alternative. I am still having trouble distinguishing “rock’n’roll conservatism” from the older variant, “Herbert Hoover conservatism.” To be sure, there are differences on legalized pot and free trade, but at the core there is the old reliance on rugged individualism and collective self-help. It all looks very nice on paper until one day you... Read more

REPLY RE CLONING: Reader Mark Solomon summarizes the basic case for cloning. I think this gets at the basic arguments pretty well, with a few exceptions (I disagree that reason is the slave of the passions, for example; and for the record, no, I was not being disingenuous, I think reproductive cloning is bad for the reasons I stated and not merely as a stand-in for embryo-destructive research, and I was arguing against the pro-cloning writers for Reason), so I’ll... Read more

“Monsters, space people, mad doctors. They didn’t teach me about such things at the police academy.” –Paul Marco, “Night of the Ghouls” Read more

JUDGMENT DAY: TIME FOR THE GOP TO MAKE THE CASE FOR SOUND JURISPRUDENCE. My first column for Jewish World Review, a site unto the nations. If you want a quick ‘n’ salty postscript, click here. Read more