Panti Bliss on what it is that homophobes are afraid of. Rachel L. Martin on "The Brave and Tragic Trail of Reverend Turner." Scott Hancock and Alexandra Milano on the real rebels who overthrew the traitors. Anne Mellinger-Birdsong says, "Trust women." Mark Danner on "Our New Politics of Torture." Read more
When my brain is fried, I give you capybaras. Plus: What part of "Woody Guthrie" doesn't the anti-union governor understand? Bull Connor: Sunday school teacher. HarperCollins says it's Fiji Mermaid is the real deal. Read more
I like capybaras. They are gentle herbivores. Like humans, capybaras have lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C and are susceptible to scurvy. Unlike humans, they are incapable of sanctimonious lecturing, of delusional assumptions about the motives of others, or of promoting the misogynistic belief that women are intrinsically untrustworthy and inferior. Read more
January is here, but we're already getting ready for spring. The Saudi monarchy is rotten -- and really, really weird. Is our Bushes learning? And "Give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit." Read more
I realize it's only January of 2015 and next year's presidential election still seems a long way off. But with more than a dozen prominent (and not-so-prominent) Republicans already jostling for their party's nomination, it seems like we should've seen this by now. Read more
Religious liberty, if it is ever to mean anything at all, must include the freedom to be wrong. It cannot matter, legally, whether or not a religious belief is orthodox, or coherent, or part of a longstanding established tradition. Protecting religious liberty means protecting the right to believe in the implausible, the idiosyncratic, the offensive, the stupid, the factually insupportable, the demonstrably false. The EEOC just proved that Beverly Butcher's "Bible prophecy" beliefs are wrong -- and that he has the right to be wrong. Read more
"Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons." Read more
It's never too late to learn. An Ohio mayor creates a No-Go Zone outside of Cincinnati. We don't want you on that wall, we don't need you on that wall. An (allegedly) crooked politician gets arrested on the same day two mega-banks pay a token fee for the same exact scam. Read more
"Communications and computer technology were rather different eight years ago from the way they are now," I wrote in 2003, "And, one might imagine, eight years from now these technologies will be even more different." That proved to be correct then, and it's still true now. Here's another bold prediction I'll make about eight years from today: When you check back in to read this post in 2023, the Rapture still won't have happened, but the people now saying it will occur at any moment will still be making money saying that. Read more
Some Thursday evening links, including: RIP Marcus Borg; that time when Jesus beat up Jesse Ventura; remembering "Michelle Remembers;" hurray for Hurray for the Riff Raff; and the video replay overturns Mike Huckabee's claims to be truthful. Read more
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