Ironic Poem About Prostitution

Thank you, George Orwell.

When I was young and had no sense
In far-off Mandalay
I lost my heart to a Burmese girl
As lovely as the day.

Her skin was gold, her hair was jet,
Her teeth were ivory;
I said, "for twenty silver pieces,
Maiden, sleep with me".

She looked at me, so pure, so sad,
The loveliest thing alive,
And in her lisping, virgin voice,
Stood out for twenty-five.

I'll see your netbook and raise you one xpPhone

How would you like a phone with an AMD CPU, gig of RAM, 64 gig SSD hard drive, wifi, touchscreen, camera, and 5 hour battery?  Oh, and it runs a version of Windows XP.  Ladies and gentleman - the xpPhone.

Oops - Republicans "accidentally" reveal state secrets

After a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing on the interrogation of terror suspects, Republicans revealed some of what had been discussed - a big no-no for a closed hearing about classified information.  The Republicans are touting that information presented at the hearing indicated that waterboarding yielded valuable information, but Democrats won't comment because it was a closed hearing.

Oops - US accidentally releases nuclear secrets

In a bid for the 2009 Bonehead Move of the Year award, the U.S. government accidentally released documents containing "highly confidential" nuclear secrets, including an exhaustive list of civilian nuclear sites and stockpiles.  While it's probably not a big deal, it was a stupid move all the same.

GOP, White Voters, and Southern Strategy

In which Nate Silver takes a look at political party demographics and finds that the GOP has always been overwhelmingly white.  He also mentions Southern Strategy, and this contributor never realized the extent of racism used in politics - chalk it up to a little idealistic naivete.

The Truth About Abortion

Abortion is a divisive issue that incites strong emotional responses from all sides.  The problem is that many people don't really know what they're talking about.  Abortion is a relatively rare procedure that is only available in 13 percent of the nation's counties.  Where it is available, there are often many restrictions, some of which rely on political pseudo-science to scare off would-be patients (e.g. requiring counseling that tells girls that abortions increase the risk of breast cancer when no such link has been established).

The recent assassination of Dr. George Tiller, one of the last doctors still performing late-term abortions in the United States, demonstrates that domestic terrorism is still alive in this country.  Furthermore, it has put the Obama Administration in an uncomfortable position after the DHS released a report finding that it was highly likely that domestic terrorism might be commited by “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion."

As one of the few remaining providers of late-term abortions told MSNBC, “the only difference between the Taliban and the people who kill doctors in the United States is 8,000 miles.”

Salinger surfaces for a suit

Reclusive author, J.D. Salinger is suing an author by the pen name John David California who penned a sequel to his magnum opus Catcher in the Rye.  The new book, titled 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, features a 76 year-old man named Mr. C. (presumably Holden Caufield), after he escapes from a retirement home.  The novel is dedicated to Salinger, who even makes a cameo appearance.

If it makes it, the novel will be published in Britain in the summer and the U.S. in the fall.