I’m almost as relieved as I am terrified that the authorities managed to stop this deal for smuggled Russian radioactive elements. Even if we catch 99% of these guys that outcome could be horrific.

A nostalgic desire for globalism via capitalism from, of all places, The Nation:

From this point of view, Clinton may well be justifiably seen by future generations as a particularly intelligent and valuable servant of American imperial capitalism, in a way that went beyond diplomatic cleverness. He seems to have understood three things that the Bush Administration has wholly or partly forgotten: that the American economy is utterly intertwined with the world capitalist order, depends on the health of that order and draws immense benefits from that order. This is indeed likely to be seen by future historians as the central tragic irony of the Bush Administration's world policy: that the United States, which of all states today should feel like a satisfied power, is instead behaving like a revolutionary one, kicking to pieces the hill of which it is king

Early reports on LeBron are promising.

Bloggers vs. the EU, should be fun.

Glenn Reynolds on gay marriage. Interesting take. The neanderthals may be right, gay marriage may change straight marriages. But for the better.

Sometimes the poetic justice is so sweet it plays like music to the ears. The latest example? Sen. Hatch and his illegal software. Note to Orrin Hatch: Please shut up.

The Bechtel Corporation has long been a lightening rod for conspiracy theorists. The privately held construction company has played major roles in the construction of the Hoover Dam, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Alaskan pipeline and numerous vital infrastructure projects around the globe. The reach and scope of the company has convinced many that Bechtel is actually the most successful front the C.I.A. has ever developed. That is highly speculative, however what is abundantly clear is that this firm’s successes are perhaps only exceeded by its amazing connections. SF Weekly reporter Lisa Davis shares some of these connections and details the formal and informal connections that have helped make Bechtel an unqualified success.

Bechtel’s friends in high places is best exhibited by the roommate list from their uber-exclusive (and extremely drunken) Bohemian Grove retreat. Some notable bunkies from the 2001 enclave:

Mandalay Camp
Colin L. Powell
Henry Kissinger
Nicholas F. Brady
George P. Shultz

Hillbillies Camp
William F. Buckley Jr.
George H.W. Bush
Walter Cronkite
Donald H. Rumsfeld

While perhaps not as powerful and wide reaching as the Stone Cutters, the friends of Bechtel are impressive indeed. What’s less clear is how much of this is old-fashioned networking and how much is an erosion of the line between public trust and private gain.

Camille on Hillary.
On the evidence of this book, Hillary appears to believe that good intentions excuse all. Impediments to her lofty goals may have arisen partly through minor miscalculations on her part, she concedes, but most of the problems, in her view, have come from pigheaded reactionaries “who want to turn the clock back on many of the advances our country has made”, thanks to the Democratic Party, a congregation of the elect whose mission is the salvation of mankind.

Is David Beckham worth it? Depends on what the meaning of "worth" is.

Netflix is in trouble. Wal-Mart is bringing its considerable heft to the online DVD rental market.

As any sales guy will tell you, the close is always the hardest.

"Hitler's Second Book" discussed at the NY Times. It will be interesting to see what the fallout is from the English translation.

Gregg Easterbrook's TMQ has been so consistently good for so damn long it’s easy (too easy really) to take for granted. But today’s column is too good to let pass without a special nod. He is quite simply one of the smartest, funniest, flat out best sports writers working today.

A suprisingly ineffective hit-piece on Che Guevara from the NY Observer. It's not his fault vapid celebrities and liberals worship his image.

I think what I like most about this Slate article opining on why we don't love Tim Duncan is the title. The 7-Foot Square

So explain to me again how the erosion of our civil liberties will make us safer? I have to wonder about the effectiveness of a system that randomly flags letters in people's names.

The recall effort picks up steam and coverage. Unlike Bush and the Democrats there are some formidable foes lined up for Davis.

It may be fun to pile on to the New York Times these days, but stories like this (about "the get" CBS dangled to land the Jessica Lynch interview) show once again what makes the Time special.

Nice story about Howard Dean and his efforts raising money and spreading The Word.

The political and social upheaval of the 60’s is still being mined for meaning and context. A recently concluded conference entitled "The Black Panther Party in Historical Perspective" is reexamining the Panther’s role in American history. As the SF Gate article reads:

The Black Panther Party is the subject of growing academic interest as historians born after the 1960s take a new look at a movement known to their generation mostly from movies, memoirs and negative government reports.

Few of the figures from the Black Panthers are without controversy, heralded by some as revolutionaries and others as common thugs. Founded by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton they were the most public and popular extension of a radical, militant form of black empowerment. Infiltrated by the FBI and branded “the nation's most violence-prone extremist group” they suffered from a disinformation campaign that some of the conference attendees claim still lingers today.

Some consider this another in the long line of rehabilitative myth-making used to defend the reputations of the reprehensible. The Panthers were, to some, a group of violent, gun-loving, drug-addled, misogynistic, vapid, children who fueled their unreasonable demands with a racist blood-lust. It once again raises the questions; Who were the Black Panthers? What did they stand for? What is their legacy?

The Times with a a good article about Shoah business. Is it OK to trivialize something if it helps us to "never forget"?