Current Affairs

John McCain is wrong on this one, and the majority of the American people are right. Torture as a general practice must be disavowed, but we can never say it will never be used.

John Kerry, the Vietnam "hero" who wanted to be commander-in-chief (and, of course, still does), bashes American troops again. He can't help himself; that's just who he is.

It's too bad this study of literate cities is cut off at 250,000 population. I'd love to know where Fort Wayne ranks. I suspect we'd do well by some of the criteria (library use, for example), not so well by others (use of the Internet, for one).

The good news for congressmen and senators is that they rank above telemarketers and car salesmen in public trust, but not by much. The good news for journalists is that we rank above congressmen and senators, but not by much. Notice that the top five (out of 21 professions on the list) are all people we really need: nurses, druggists/pharmacists, medical doctors, high school teachers and policemen.

Rumsfeld didn't actually come out and say that press coverage of Iraq sucks, but that's really the only way to describe such inexcusable irresponsibility:

The interesting thing about this story is that almost two-thirds of the clergy surveyed no longer believe in Hell as an actual place of torment, but the "astonishment" expressed is over the fact that more than a third still do:

The concept of Hell as a literal place has declined in an increasingly secular world. But what surprised Stoddart is that "there is a solid number of Scottish ministers who still believe in eternal torment.

Here's an interesting way to get a state government's attention: seeking secession. And the response of Vermont to the people who want to leave for New Hampshire is poignantly clueless:

The state has more pressing concerns, including health care, education, investments in higher education, economic development and job creation, Gibbs said.

I guess I haven't figured out the right way to be middle class:

"They don't mow their lawn, they don't do their landscaping, they don't paint their houses," he said of the typical customers. "And they don't put up Christmas lights."

Score one for John McCain for not being "terribly offended" and thus bringing a little common sense to the "startling" revelation that the U.S. military is paying to have positive stories printed in Iraqi newspapers. The U.S.

When I complained in a post last month about cameras being everywhere, a commenter said something about "expectation of privacy" (i.e., if we're in public anyway, what's the big deal about being videotaped?) Well, the "expectation of privacy" isn't what it used to be.