Chris Rodda reports on one U.S. Marine squadron’s “Return to Being ‘Crusaders’“: In 2008, when Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 was preparing to deploy to Iraq, the unit’s commander, Lt. Col. William Lieblein, did something very wise and sensible — he changed the nickname of the unit from “Crusaders” back to its former name, the “Werewolves.” Stating the obvious, Lt. Col. Lieblein said, “The notion of being a crusader in that part of the world doesn’t float.” But now, under... Read more

JoAnn Wypijewski offers a thought-provoking history lesson, reminding us that whatever we might think about A Handmaid’s Tale as a speculative, dystopian vision of the future, it’s also an accurate reflection of America’s dystopian past: The mass-culture story of slavery is usually told in terms of economics, labor, color, men. Women outnumbered men in the enslaved population two to one by slavery’s end, but they enter the conventional story mainly under the rubric “family,” or in the cartoon triptych Mammy-Jezebel-Sapphire,... Read more

Ben Peck of The American Prospect has a list of the “Top Ten Tax Facts.” The whole thing is worth reading — as is the source material Peck links to. Here are some highlights: 1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows. … 4. Corporate income taxes for the past three... Read more

In the previous post on this topic, I mentioned that the power brokers and power seekers of the religious right have deliberately nurtured, encouraged, enforced and exploited evangelical tribalism. They have helped to draw the particular boundaries of the tribe and to define who is Us and who is Them. But what accounts for the thing itself? The effort to delineate strict boundaries and to require unquestioning compliance with “the big four” (anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-evolution, anti-environmentalist) only works because evangelicals... Read more

If I had a band-aid on my finger and you asked why, it’d be kind of cool if I could say, “I was bitten by a Magellanic penguin.” Study: Women paid less than men. Study: White juries more likely to convict black defendants. Study: Homophobia may reveal denial of own same-sex attraction. Study: Sunday news show guests skew conservative. “In Florida’s Palm Beach County alone, Bank of America has sued itself for foreclosure 11 times since late March.” “They will... Read more

The following note is posted on LevonHelm.com: Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey. Dammit. Charlie Pierce has a lovely salute. And many more can be found on Twitter. That’s where I found a link to this odd little short story by Jacob Hatley, featuring Helm and songs from his 2007 album Dirt Farmer:   Read more

So the simple idea here is to try to get a Bread for the World chapter revved up at Saddleback Church, the Southern California mega-church led by Rick Warren. This would be a Good Thing. It’s something that ought to happen. It would, I think, be a big help for Saddleback, its people and its pastor. And it could be a big boost for Bread and for the hungry people it represents. Bread for the World is an ecumenical, nonpartisan... Read more

“In science fiction, if somebody tells you that everything you know is a lie and that you need to follow him down the rabbit hole, he’s probably telling the truth. But in the real world? He’s trying to con you.” “What Happens to 3 out of 4 Girls After Leafing Through a Fashion Mag for 3 Minutes?” (via) “The framers thought not just purchase mandates but medical insurance mandates were perfectly proper indeed.” “The students in UCLA’s undocumented immigrant club... Read more