Lessons from Past Western Incursions in the Middle East. A speech by Juan Cole at the New America Foundation in which he discusses his new book, Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East, and the relevance and lessons of Napoleon's expedition in Egypt to the current American occupation of Iraq. A shorter version, covering many of the same points, is in this article: Pitching the Imperial Republic.
posted by homunculus on Aug 26, 2007 - 17 comments

Spiritual Highs and Legal Blows - the power and peril of religious exemptions from drug prohibition
posted by daksya on May 23, 2007 - 8 comments

Blog Against Theocracy --a blogswarm dedicated to the separation of church and state, ... Easter Weekend, April 6-8, 2007. Also see the non-profit joint venture between The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, First Freedom First.
posted by amberglow on Apr 6, 2007 - 51 comments

Ron Paul is now officially running for President. Some say his views, especially on Foreign Policy, make him a longshot.
posted by Gnostic Novelist on Mar 15, 2007 - 144 comments

Civil liberties and privacy may be priceless, but they may soon have a price tag. In this NYT article, describes efforts by the White House Office of Management and Budget to quantify the cost of enhanced security and lessened liberties. "As long as they're going to deal with monetary evaluations, I told them they should start asking about the cost of destroying democracy," said Mr. Nader.
posted by Birichini on Mar 11, 2003 - 10 comments