An Objection to War, From My Father to Me
Since today is my Father's birthday, I thought I'd share a brief story about one of his experiences 40 years ago, and how learning about this experience contributed to my perspective today.On November...
View ArticleThanksgiving With Teabaggers
I spent the Thanksgiving holidays with my girlfriend at her sister's house. My girlfriend and I talk politics fairly often, since she knows that it's very important to me. We also share many of the...
View ArticleThe Irresponsible Stonewalling of Torture Evidence in Britain
A couple of months ago, the British High Court ruled that a document containing information on the torture of Binyam Mohamed should be disclosed in full. The original document supposedly contains...
View ArticleRepublican Rep Calls Waterboarding "Torture", Still Likes It
Last night on Hardball, when discussing why he was opposed to bringing Gitmo detainees over to a supermax prison in Thomson, Illinois, freshman Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) defended the use of...
View ArticleHappy 20th Birthday, The Simpsons! (with VIDEOS galore)
On December 17, 1989, the first episode of The Simpsons hit the airwaves with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire."After more than 400 episodes and a feature-length movie later, they are now today 20...
View ArticleThe Poster Boy for Cheerleading the President
Jacob Heilbrunn has a new essay up at the Huffington Post titled "Please, Cut Obama Some Slack." It is Exhibit A in hero mythology of the President, as well as a prime example of chastising anyone --...
View ArticleHuff Post & Pataki Bash Obama on Terrorism, Fail Miserably
Earlier this evening, the Huffington Post ran an editorial by former Republican Governor of New York George Pataki, entitled "The Obama Administration's Systemic Failure on Terrorism." Pataki's...
View ArticleLike Crosswords? Then You'll Love Fireball Crosswords
To puzzle solvers and friends of puzzle solvers:Last year, the New York Sun folded, taking with it one of the best series of crossword puzzles in the country. Peter Gordon, the former New York Sun...
View ArticleDaily Kos Crossword Puzzle: 1-16-10 (solve it online!)
Greetings, puzzle solvers:It's been a while since I built a crossword puzzle for the community -- about 8 months, to be precise. Back then, one of the problems I ran into while posting crosswords in...
View ArticleDaily Kos Crossword Puzzle: 1-23-10
Greetings, puzzle solvers.Today's 13x13 crossword puzzle is titled "It's All Greek To Me!" You can solve it online or on paper by printing out the PDF file in the diary. See below the fold for more...
View ArticleKossacks, Please Please PLEASE Stop the Abuse.....
of my username!Okay, maybe "abuse" is too strong of a word. In fact, Kossacks aren't really abusing my username at all. But, I do have a point of procedure to make that I'd like others to follow. I...
View ArticleHow to Embed PDFs, Powerpoint, Excel into DKos Diaries
So, let's say the Supreme Court handed down a big ruling, or the Senate published a groundbreaking report of some sort, and you want other Kossacks to be able to read the PDF file. You could put a...
View ArticleNew Rules for Daily Kos Users: "How to Blog Good"
Last week, BFSkinner enlightened us on the finer points of "How to Write Good." He did a pretty good job of explaining some tips on how to make your Daily Kos diary shine, how to convey your message...
View ArticleNew Rules: Stop Thanking Daily Kos for Making the Rec List
Welcome to another addition of New Rules! This is an ongoing series in which I compile some of my least favorite meta trends on Daily Kos and then complain about them. You can read the previous diary...
View ArticleNew Rules: If It's a BREAKING Diary, It Has to Be a Diary
Welcome to another addition of New Rules! This is an ongoing series in which I compile some of my least favorite meta trends on Daily Kos and then complain about them. You can read the previous diary...
View ArticleNew Rules: Let's Talk About GBCW Diaries, Shall We?
Welcome to another addition of New Rules! This is an ongoing series in which I compile some of my least favorite meta trends on Daily Kos and then complain about them. You can read the previous diary...
View ArticleA War Criminal Confesses: Bush Authorized Torture
Last Sunday, the disingenuous and discredited (but still happily employed) torture supporter John Yoo wrote an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he bashed the Department of Justice for leading...
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2010 Oscar Predictions (and open thread!)
It's time for the Oscars! In the tradition of Nate Silver, I'm throwing together some predictions for how tonight's 82nd Academy Awards will go down. I'm also throwing in a little bit of analysis for...
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Journalism Win: Jeremy Scahill Wins the Izzy Award!
Jeremy Scahill of The Nation has won the second annual Izzy Award, an honor named after the muckraking journalist I.F. Stone and awarded to journalists who are recognized for "special achievement in...
View ArticleBartlett: GOP is Now Demanding "Absolute Subservience" (Update)
Following close on the heels of conservative commentator David Frum's recent column in which he lambasted the Republicans for their obstructionist tactics, former Bush economic adviser Bruce Bartlett...
View ArticleI Joined the Tea Party Today
To the Daily Kos community:I have been doing a lot of soul-searching lately. Earlier today, I made the decision to join the tea party. Please join me over the fold to hear my story.
View ArticleCalifornia AG Clears ACORN of Criminal Wrongdoing
San Francisco Chronicle, April 2, 2010: California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Thursday that he will not prosecute the community organizing group ACORN or conservative filmmakers who posed as a...
View ArticleShocker: CNN Creates a False Equivalence Over "Wingnuts" (late update)
Yesterday on American Morning, John Avlon of The Daily Beast presented his "Wingnuts of the Week," in which he identified two groups that apparently represent the political extremes of the left and...
View ArticleThe Lasting Consequences of Slaughtering Civilians
On Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked by Jake Tapper on ABC's This Week if the now-infamous WikiLeaks video showing the slaughter of Iraqi civilians would have a damaging impact on the...
View Article"Kagan is Gay" Rumors Prove We're Still an Adolescent Nation
Last Sunday, former Republican Senate staffer Ben Domenech published a blog post in The New Ledger in which he outlined President Obama's top ten picks to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court....
View ArticleTell Me Your Story, Daily Kos
"History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are."-- David McCullough Reflecting on the time I've spent on Daily Kos since September 2008, one...
View ArticleDisgraceful Government Hypocrisy Over WikiLeaks & ACORN
This will be a tale of two cities: Two Washingtons, two governments, two mass medias, and two political topics that bind them.Earlier in the month, the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks released the...
View ArticleTea Party Leader Mark Williams: "Allah is a Monkey God"
Mark Williams, the conservative radio host and chairman of the Tea Party Express, had a few choice words on his blog last Friday about a plan to build a mosque around Ground Zero (emphasis mine):The...
View ArticleRIP Gary Coleman: 1968-2010
This will be a quick, non-political diary. Actor Gary Coleman, famous for his role as Arnold Jackson on "Diff'rent Strokes,"has died.Gary Coleman has died at 42, RadarOnline.com has learned.Coleman...
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Plans for a 2010 Daily Kos Chess Tournament
To the Daily Kos community:I am writing to discuss a proposal for a second Daily Kos Chess Tournament. Last year, we held a successful inaugural tourney that I had suggested one day on a whim, only to...
View ArticlePurity and Other Argumentative Fallacies on Daily Kos
One thing that has always intrigued me about debating politics on Daily Kos is the types of arguments that people use to express their political views. As someone who has frequently criticized...
View ArticlePentagon: No Evidence that WikiLeaks Docs Harm Security
(Updated below)After the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks released more than 91,000 documents pertaining to the Afghanistan War, the Obama Administration was quick to condemn the leaks as an action...
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It's time to play Name That Kossack!
Greetings, soon-to-be-DK4 users!I've developed a fun little picture riddle game for everyone which I'm calling Name That Kossack. Here's how it works:I will give you a series of pictures, both...
View ArticleMeta Monday: A Requiem for DK3
DK3, child of Markos Moulitsas, beloved student of Meteor Blades, trusted colleague of Susan Gardner, siblings of the late DK1 and DK2, and notable frenemy of political commentators everywhere, died on...
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St. Patrick's Day: A Diary in Green
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I decided to repost this diary from last year in which I described a little bit of the holiday's history. In 2010, I wrote the diary using green font, but...
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It's time to play Name That Kossack!
It's time for another edition of Name That Kossack, the picture riddle game where a username is worth a thousand words. Here's how it works:I will give you a series of Photoshopped pictures, and based...
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Name That Kossack!
It's time for another edition of Name That Kossack, the picture riddle game where a username is worth a thousand words.Here's how it works: I will give you a series of Photoshopped pictures, and based...
View ArticleHuman Rights Diary Rescue: 3 Must-Reads on Gitmo, Bagram, and War
There were a few excellent diaries written this past week that I wanted to highlight for their incisive and informative analysis of issues pertaining to civil liberties and human rights abuses....
View Article18-Across: Guess which Kossack was mentioned in the NYT today!
I have a fun little story to share with you: Someone very special in the Daily Kos community has been mentioned in today's New York Times, but it's not in the way you might think. In fact, it's in the...
View ArticleDeath of an Enemy: A Personal Story
When I was in high school, there was a group of guys who used to torment me mercilessly. I never once got into a physical altercation with them, but they did just about everything else that could make...
View ArticleHuman Rights Diary Rescue: 4 Great Diaries on Osama, Torture, Manning, and...
Last Thursday, I decided to highlight a few diaries related to civil liberties and human rights that I thought were quite good but didn't receive that much discussion following publication. I've...
View ArticleMeta Monday: You Know What I Hate? DK4's Save & Preview Function.
Welcome to Meta Monday, a forum where I like to complain about some of my least favorite Daily Kos trends and functions.Today's edition will be something for DK4's Cranky Users, where I focus on one of...
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Fun with Mathematics: The Finite and Infinite Universe of YouTube
If you've ever sat down to watch one YouTube video, you've no doubt spent a lot of time watching several. Ever since it launched, YouTube has grown into a monolith of the digital media and social...
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It's time to play Name That Kossack!
It's time for another edition of Name That Kossack, the picture riddle game where a username is worth a thousand words.Here's how it works: I will give you a series of Photoshopped pictures, and based...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It's time to play Name That Kossack!
It's time for another edition of Name That Kossack, the picture riddle game where a username is worth a thousand words.Here's how it works: I will give you a series of Photoshopped pictures, and based...
View ArticleMr. President, There Is No Victory In Afghanistan
"We have put Al Qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done." --President Barack Obama, June 22, 2011For the past several years, I had often wondered -- as I imagine many...
View ArticleMeta Monday: What is the Best Daily Kos Diary You've Ever Written?
It's a simple question, Kossacks: What is the best diary you've ever written?Okay, I lied. It's not necessarily a simple question, especially if you've written a lot of diaries. Or rather, it's...
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It's time to play Name That Kossack!
It's time for another edition of Name That Kossack, the picture riddle game where a username is worth a thousand words. You can follow the new Name That Kossack group here.Here's how it works: I will...
View ArticleGlenn Greenwald Responds to Widespread Lies About Him (on Cato, Iraq War, and...
If you're a regular reader of Glenn Greenwald's like I am, you may have occasionally come across some rather vicious lies about his character - that he's a right-wing libertarian and that he supported...
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