…dozens of political leaders with rock-solid conservative credentials have begun to take a new line on crime and, particularly, the issue of reintegrating ex-offenders into society. This loose movement represents a sea change in conservative thinking and, arguably, the largest social reform effort to emerge from the right in several decades.
via The Party of Prison Reform | The Weekly Standard.
Instead he faked an epileptic fit and, when the guard opened the door to his cell, hit him over the head with a table leg before breaking his neck. “Thank Goodness for that pitilessly efficient training,” he noted. After putting on the German’s uniform, La Rochefoucauld walked into the guardroom and shot the two other German jailers. He then simply walked out of the fort, through the deserted town, and to the address of an underground contact.
Ambivalence about the source of legitimate government is not only a major obstacle to democratization, but is also a potential source of political instability.
via “Why China Won’t Rule” by Robert Skidelsky | Project Syndicate.
…Now they were mimicking his own sadistic ritual. Every day, Najjar greeted the prisoners with the words What do you want? forcing them to beg for the pipe — known in the prison by its industrial term, PPR — or be beaten twice as badly. The militia commander now standing behind him, Jalal Ragai, had been one of his favorite victims.“What do you want?” Jalal said for the last time. He held the very same pipe that had so often been used on him. “PPR!” Najjar howled, and his former victim brought the rod down on his back.
via In Libya, the Captors Have Become the Captive – NYTimes.com.
“Thats on some bullshit. You want caramelized onions? Stir for 45 minutes”
The Democrats changed their mind in order to secure a bipartisan compromise on health-care reform. Republicans changed their mind in order to prevent one.
via REVEALED: The Democrats’ devious plan to compromise with the Republicans – The Washington Post.
“Think about it, look at the map of the United States — blue being the Democrats, red being the Republicans — it’s almost all red,” Mr. Santorum said Saturday evening. “Except around the big cities. And yet when you look at the economic plan that Republicans put forward, it’s all about tax breaks for higher-income individuals who live in those blue areas mostly.”
via Santorum Sees Divide Between Rural and Urban America – NYTimes.com.
When NATO took to the skies over Tripoli, Benghazi, and Misrata, it delivered the greatest possible blow to future non-proliferation diplomacy. There’s been plenty of collateral damage as well. Substantial quantities of sophisticated and toxic weaponry disappeared overnight from large Libyan armament stores and may have found their way, in part, to the most vulnerable and inflamed areas of the Middle East. Worst of all, the Libyan experience has already compromised—for the moment, at least—any chance that international coalitions can be assembled and maintained to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat and the Syrian crisis.
via Efraim Halevy: What The Libyan Intervention May Have Cost Us | The New Republic.
But the center estimated that not everyone would pay lower taxes under that proposal. It estimated that 0.3 percent of taxpayers — most of them earning less than $30,000 — would face tax increases. And who would be the losers? Mostly single mothers, it appears.
via Parsing Santorum’s Tax-Cut Proposals – NYTimes.com.
To be sure, we have important rights and more legal privacy. But we still have not provided all the support women need to combine rewarding careers and healthy families.
via Contraception War Goes On – NYTimes.com.
The movie is a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the reigning imperatives of marketing and brand extension.
via ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,’ With Ed Helms and Danny DeVito – NYTimes.com.
Logistically speaking, the white-knight scenario is a stretch… Even if such a savior won all five states, he would be far away from the 1,145 delegates necessary to secure the nomination. But given the proportional nature of many of the contests in March, April, and May, there’s a decent chance no one else would obtain that number, either. Meaning Republicans would be staring down the barrel of a brokered or contested convention in Tampa this summer.
via The Lost Party.
