Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune, “‘Accommodations’ could open door to more demands”: Last week, I wrote about Minneapolis Community and Technical College’s proposal to install ritual washing facilities to facilitate Muslim prayer. Is this a tempest in a teapot, as some have suggested? Canada, our neighbor to the north, is farther down the “accommodations” road. A glance north can shed light on whether prayer spaces and ritual washing facilities are likely

This week’s podcast features Jeff Goldstein and Neo-neocon on the inexorable attraction of defeat in Iraq, America’s penchant for self-flagellation, and finding meaning in a chocolate Jesus. Why does doom sell, and why are we so susceptible to the pitch?

From the SunJournal, Maine, “‘Hate incident’ in city”: One student has been suspended and more disciplinary action could follow a possible hate crime at Lewiston Middle School, Superintendent Leon Levesque said Wednesday. On April 11, a white student placed a ham steak in a bag on a lunch table where Somali students were eating. Muslims consider pork unclean and offensive. The act reminded students of a man who threw a

Inasmuch as yesterday’s thread on the merits of concealed carry permits on college campuses / in “school zones” turned into something of a cop-bashing thread instead of a more concentrated discussion on just how effective more permissive CC laws might prove to be either as a defense or a deterrent against rampage violence, I thought I’d reintroduce the question here. Because my point was not to question the efficacy of

From the AP: U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian-made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region. It appeared to be the first publicly disclosed instance of Iranian arms entering Afghanistan, although it was not immediately clear whether the weapons came directly from Iran or were shipped through a third party. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint

John Stossel, “The School Violence Myth”: The randomness of the Virginia Tech shootings, and the way we hear the gory, horrific details reported over and over can make us lose perspective. One psychologist issued a press release saying, “We need to take action now to … end this epidemic of violence.” California legislators held special hearings on campus safety, and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said she hoped this would “reignite

Uh oh.  I smell blowback: A U.S. climate model simulation suggests anticipated increased wind shear over the tropical Atlantic Ocean might inhibit hurricane development. The study by scientists at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami suggests a robust increase in wind shear will develop over that area due to global warming. The researchers say that might reduce hurricane development and intensification. While other

From the AP: Iran has started enriching small amounts of uranium gas at its underground plant and is already running more than 1,300 of the machines used in the enrichment process, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency document obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press. The confidential document — a letter to Iranian officials from a senior IAEA staff member — also protests an Iranian decision to prevent agency inspectors