Women In Iraq

In Basra, liberation doesn’t sound so great:

Religious vigilantes have killed at least 40 women this year in the southern Iraqi city of Basra because of how they dressed, their mutilated bodies found with notes warning against "violating Islamic teachings," the police chief said Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf blamed sectarian groups that he said were trying to impose a strict interpretation of Islam. They dispatch patrols of motorbikes or unlicensed cars with tinted windows to accost women not wearing traditional dress and head scarves, he added…

In September, the headless bodies of a woman and her 6-year-old son were among those found, he said. A total of 40 deaths were reported this year. "We believe the number of murdered women is much higher, as cases go unreported by their families who fear reprisal from extremists," he said.

The Wachowskis Do “Speed Racer”

Over to Peter Suderman. Who is uniquely able to appreciate the movie trailer’s

brain-melting visual effects, the throbbing techno soundtrack, the comic-book eroticism, the blending of fetish-fashion and high-style designer Eurotrashiness, the stoic, super-powered hero intoning Zen bromides, the bad comic antics …

Ron Paul’s Favorite Super-Hero

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Batman, of course. Here’s Ron’s reasoning:

"My favorite comic book superhero is Baruch Wane, otherwise known as Batman, in The Batman Chronicles.  "The Berlin Batman," #11 in the series by Paul Pope, details Batman’s attempts to rescue the confiscated works of persecuted Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, from Nazi Party hands.

“Batman’s assistant Robin writes in the memoirs, "[Mises] was an advocate of individual liberty, free speech, and free thinking… and so, should I add, the Berlin Batman." Batman, a Jew in hiding in Nazi Austria, was willing to risk his life for the sake of the promulgation of freedom, and I find this to be super-heroic."

It’s all about von Mises! I think this post is even nerdier than the Kant attack ad.

Straws In The Wind

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Take this for what it’s worth, but I’ve learned over the years that Dish readers are often attuned to shifts in the political atmosphere:

One of my weather-vane Democratic political friends, who has fiercely argued Hillary’s case with me for the last six months, called today to say he has switched and is backing Obama now.  This is interesting because he has been a big Clinton loyalist — someone who went to the nth degree defending Bill as president, and who has been aggressively advocating Hillary for a year now.

Among the last straws for him was Hillary challenging Obama on character grounds, which he saw as a harbinger of worse things to come if she is the nominee — he is put off by the old-style politics of it, and increasingly caught up by Obama’s call for a change of direction and attitude (which was amplified so well by Oprah this week).

Another reader adds:

I grew up on a small corn and soybean farm in rural Indiana, right past the Illinois state line. Last December, a family friend, a God-fearing, rural-by-birth white man who would fit the vast majority of the public’s outdated rural stereotypes, stopped by our home. Out of the blue, my father asked our visitor who he would be supporting in the next election. Much to this young undergraduate’s surprise, he said: "You heard of Obama? I like him a lot. He’s going to be our next President, I promise you."

Since that day, I’ve had a difficult time picturing anyone other than Obama as our next President. It’s going to happen, Andrew.

I’ve thought so for quite a while. But I don’t know. In general, I think we spend too much time thinking who will be president and too little time thinking who should be. Readers know I’ve long suspected  Obama’s rendezvous with history could be imminent. I’ve just learned to assume nothing.

Shakespeare, Calvin and Hobbes

A reader writes:

You mentioned Shakespeare’s verbing of nouns. I wish I could find the actual comic strip, but here’s the text:

Calvin: I like to verb words.

Hobbes: What?

Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when "access" was a thing? Now, it’s something you do. It got verbed. Verbing weirds language.

Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding.

Which inspired this:

"First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs." — Peter Ellis.

Shakespeare demonstrates that when you’re a transcendent genius, the rules that help the rest of us just get in your way.

What Yoda Could Teach The Democrats

Publius explains:

To rid ourselves of the Cheney worldview, there has to be a political fight against it – a final showdown. A game of chicken. Rank-and-file Dems need to know that their alternative worldview (no torture, rule of law, etc.) are politically viable. Every time one of these issues comes up, vulnerable Dems will rightly fear juvenile ultra-nationalist attack ads – that is, until the Dems stand, face them, and win.

Shorter version:

You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be.