Some stuff Ampersand is reading today

Yay! Groupthink Central is back!
I knew I was right to leave GC on the blogroll… Yuval has a good post up on Sharon’s surprising use of the “O” word (“To keep 3.5 million people under occupation is bad for us and them”) and subsequent backtracking in the face of horrified Likkudniks. Alas, the permalink is bloggered, so just go to GC and look for May 27th’s entry.

Additions to the Blogroll
Two new (well, new to me, anyhow) lefty blogs: Magpie and Skeptical Notion. And also a new-to-me right-wing blog, Assume the Position. Please go check ’em out.

Canada: It ain’t the culture, it’s the institutions
Via Magpie comes this interesting article, arguing persuasively that Canada is not more liberal than the US because the culture is more liberal, but because of how our respective governing institutions are set up.

Sociobiology as cocktail-party humor
David Chess applies sociobiological insights to modern business meetings. He’s not serious (I don’t think he is, anyhow), but his argument stands up as well as many “legitimate” sociobiological arguments do.

Suddenly, examining root causes is okay
Skeptical Notion points out that Paul Wolfowitz has been saying that a prime reason to invade Iraq was to move US troops out of Saudi Arabia, in order to reduce mid-east resentment of the US. Doesn’t that sound kinda… familiar?

Man discovers he’s been dead for over half a century
No, really – go read the story on Hot Buttered Death. And while you’re there, scroll down to the strangest search request of all time.

The Coming Palestization of Iraq
If you read only one blog post this weekend, read this one. Back in Iraq 2.0, a blog written by an American reporter who was in Iraq during the war, argues that “an intifada is brewing in Iraq, and American troops are about to stop being liberators and will be forced to embrace their inner occupiers.” Chis’ post covers a lot of topics (it’s pretty much your best one-stop shopping for the current Iraqi situation), and shows why it’s way too early to stop worrying about Iraq.

So what was that Private Lynch issue about?
Spinsanity has a good post of “myths, misconceptions, and unanswered questions about the war in Iraq.” What I found especially valuable was their coverage of the “saving Private Lynch” scandal, which even-handedly sums the issue up for those of us who haven’t been following it.

Second-Guessing Rehnquist and O’Connor
Like most feminists, I was delighted and surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision in Nevada v. Hibbs. After a long string of “pro-federalism” decisions, which limited Congress’ ability to impose civil rights protections on the states, the Supreme Court unexpectedly ruled that state employees could sue states for violating the federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

It’s no shock that the four (relatively) liberal justices voted the way they did; but why did O’Connor and Rehnquist (!) join them? Ignatz suggests, persuasively, that Rehnquist saw that federalism wasn’t going to win in this case, and so joined the majority in order to be able to control and limit the scope of the decision. Jack Balkin brings up that theory, but also suggests several other possibilities; I find his alternate arguments more plausible for O’Connor than for Rehnquist.

Welcome to GIANTmicrobes!
“We make stuffed animals that look like tiny microbes—only a million times actual size! Now available: The Common Cold, The Flu, Sore Throat, and Stomach Ache.” As Scrubbles says, “cute.”

Father’s Rights, Trollish Wrongs
Frank at I Protest has found himself embroiled in a debate with an “angry white male father’s rights” type – regarding child abuse statistics, mostly – and is more than holding his own. Trish Wilson weighs in, as well. Nice going, folks.

Mapmaker, Mapmaker, make me a map
Ariga presents a contemporary rewrite of “Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof. No permalinks, so look for the May 27th entry. Here’s a sample verse:

And the number-one minority in America is…
A really terrific Village Voice article by Ta-Nehisis Coates on the odd demographic fact that there are now more Latinos in the US than Blacks. Link via Prometheus 6, whose comments are also well-worth reading.

$44 Trillion dollars ain’t all it’s cracked up to be
A lot of liberals have been using the “$44 trillion” dollar statement as a club for beating Bush around the head this week. However, Maxspeak points out that there’s less in that $44 trillion than you might expect..