Waterboarding, a first-person perspective

I have a love-hate thing with Christopher Hitchens (disagree with him on a lot, think he’s an amazing speaker, wouldn’t want to get into an argument with him because I’ve seen him dismantle people with little effort), but this Vanity Fair article in which he describes his experience being waterboarded is really compelling.

How the lunar module evolved

Just a note to brag that the November 2007 issue of the British Interplanetary Society’s magazine Spaceflight: The Magazine of Astronautics and Outer Space features an article called “Grumman’s ambitious spider” about how Grumman tried to modify the Lunar Module to give it more flexibility and utility. The authors of this interesting article (which features [...]

America’s “Next Public Radio Star” Visits the Rodeo

By way of Jaime:
A dear friend of mine has just entered a contest called “The Search for the Next Public Radio Star.”  I realize this is a bit of an oxymoron, but suffice it to say that there is definitely a subculture (of which I am a member) in which working on public radio makes [...]

Olbermann shines again

Once again, Keith Olbermann gets right to the point and says it in a way I never could:
At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial — barely four months after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field — Mr. Lincoln said, “we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, [...]

Olbermann on Rumsfeld

From Crooks & Liars, thanks to Brian:
Keith [Olbermann] had some very choice words about Rumsfeld’s “fascism” comments tonight. Watch it, save it and share it.
Olbermann delivered this commentary with fire and passion while highlighting how Rumsfeld’s comments echoes other times in our world’s history when anyone who questioned the administration was coined as a traitor, [...]

what permanent war sounds like

“Six months.  Just let this play out.”
Now we know how long the American public’s memory is.

All the news that’s fit to slant

Robert Fisk of the Independent (UK) gives excellent reasons why newspapers like the LA Times and services like AP should be renamed “U.S. Officials Say” when it comes to war reporting:
Here are the sources — on pages 1 and 10 for the yarn spun by reporters Josh Meyer and Mark Mazzetti: “U.S. officials said,” “said [...]