The Dish

But close.

Depressions can bring out the worst in people. And the racism percolating in the London Spectator's comments sections caused Clive Davis to take a stand:

The problem, I think, is that some Speccie-ites seem to believe that generating “mischief” is all that matters.  That’s a dangerous game to play when the subject is race.  I hesitated before writing this post, partly because the people I dealt with at the Spectator were always considerate and helpful, and didn’t complain about my steady drift away from neocon orthodoxy. It’s also partly because it’s simply not the done thing for journalists to talk shop. I did cling to the faint hope that the web site would somehow clean up its act. It doesn’t seem to have happened so far.

Massie is also worried by paranoia and conspiracy theories that are on the rise in Britain as well as America.

I don't for a minute buy cannabis "fatalities". It's impossible to kill yourself with pot. The press reports "cannabis-related" deaths which is surreal. David McCandless, who devised the graph and runs Informationisbeautiful, adds:

There has never been a single documented case of fatal cannabis overdose. Also, the government's own figures don't tally. While drug figures from the Office Of National Statistics register 19 cannabis related deaths, the mortality stats from the same office log only 1 death.

But even granted that, you can see how the media irrationally focuses on what isn't the biggest problem by any objective assessment. And this focus can distort public policy. What would this graphic look like if the death-rate were assessed per user of each drug? Marijuana would appear as less toxic than aspirin. Below the fold:

A long hard look at re-tooling the message now for marriage equality is vital.

It's on now.

"Despite what CNN reported, decisions about not allowing cameras at the event were the prerogative of the sponsors of the event, and I, of course, respected their decision. I am about to set out on my book tour, where media will no doubt join us at many spots," – Sarah Palin, via Twitter.

Let's see if she has an open press conference for the first time since she was nominated to be vice-president, shall we?

"As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well," – General George Casey, Army chief of staff, on the Hasan massacre.

Don’t mess with this player in women’s college soccer:

How to sell a dollar for more than a dollar.

It’s good – if sobering – to see the specifics in the NYT:

Witnesses said that the floor became drenched with blood and that soldiers, apparently dead, were draped over chairs in the waiting area or lying on the floor.

Specialist Matthew Cooke, 30, who was expecting orders to leave for Afghanistan in January, was waiting in line to be processed in the medical building when Major Hasan opened fire. A soldier standing near him was hit and crumpled to the ground, and Specialist Cooke dropped to his knees and leaned over the soldier to shield him from being struck again, Specialist Cooke’s father, Carl, said in an interview.

Major Hasan walked up to Specialist Cooke, who had previously done a tour in Iraq, pointed his gun down at his back and shot him several times, Mr. Cooke said. “The rounds nicked his colon and several places in his intestines, bladder and spleen,” he said, but the specialist survived.

These human beings – citizens who risked their lives for the rest of us – were gunned down defenseless as they sought medical help. Because of religious fanaticism.