The Dish

A good stance, I’d say, well put:

Of course it’s our aspiration that at some point we’ll see a nation that doesn’t have abortion. But until that time, I certainly believe that allowing states and citizens and their representatives to fashion their own laws to protect the sanctity of life is very, very important.

I recognize that for many people, that is considered an act of murder, to have an abortion. It is without question the taking of a human life, and I believe that a civilized society must respect the sanctity of a human life. But we have two lives involved here: A mom and unborn child. We have to have concern for both lives. And so the expression of our compassion and our consideration — and work to change hearts and minds — and that’s the way, in my view, we’ll ultimately have a society without abortion.

If the pro-life movement were less prohibitionist and more aspirational it would win more converts.

Paul versus Huckabee. Honor versus prudence. And candor, too. Ross analyzes here, as did Marc last night. I’d say Paul is wrong that only a few people backed the war in Iraq. A hefty majority of Americans did, in the polls at least, and both Houses of Congress voted. The real question is whether it is more honorable to compound an error or to concede one. Honor is not the same thing as pride.

Start with the non-geeks:

In other work, Berger examined the 2004 yellow wristband phenomenon. A research team at Stanford first sold the bands to students living in one dorm. A week later, researchers began selling the wristbands in a neighboring dorm with a stronger academic focus and a social reputation as a "geek" dorm. A week after the wristbands were adopted by the "geeks," there was a 32% drop in students wearing the bands at the first dorm. The idea is "that people in the original dorm abandoned the wristband to avoid other students thinking they were similar to the geeks," Berger says.

(Hat tip: cktutors.)

Maybe there’s nothing salient here, if this reader is correct:

I don’t have specific information about Craig’s flights, but as a lifelong Minneapolitan, I’ve got some informed speculation.

The bathroom Craig was busted in is, as I understand it, the men’s room in the Northstar Crossing "mall" in the middle of the airport. This is the main terminal off of which all the concourses branch. It’s the area marked as M on this map. I’m assuming the bathroom in question is the one smack in the middle of this area.

Now, I’m guessing he flies direct to and from Boise, which would likely be a smallish Frontier Airlines flight operated out at the end of concourse G or C (or in the sub-concourses A or B). Meanwhile, flights to and from Washington would be further in, but could be on any concourse. So it’s really a toss-up as to whether this bathroom is out of the way or not. Most people changing concourses would pass by it, and if he had enough of a layover, he could conceivably have gone to the Northstar Crossing for shopping or the food court. So I think the itinerary/route question may be a non-starter, unless a more solid timetable is obtained.

Santa Ana, California, 3 pm.

The famous Iraqi blogger re-emerges in Syria:

As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again … The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness … How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death?

…I wonder at how the windows don’t rattle as the planes pass overhead. I’m trying to rid myself of the expectation that armed people in black will break through the door and into our lives. I’m trying to let my eyes grow accustomed to streets free of road blocks, hummers and pictures of Muqtada and the rest…

How is it that all of this lies a short car ride away?

The UK Secret Service files on one Eric Blair have just been made public. They were worried he was a commie. Summary:

The file essentially consists of reports of Orwell’s activities between 1929 and his death in 1950. It gives some insight into Orwell’s financial position while in Paris and includes a 1929 MI6 report to the Special Branch on his activities there, and various subsequent Special Branch reports. One of these by police Sergeant Ewing, from January 1942 (serial 7a), asserts that:

"This man has advanced Communist views, and several of his Indian friends say that they have often seen him at Communist meetings. He dresses in a bohemian fashion both at his office and in his leisure hours."

A Service officer rang Ewing’s Inspector to challenge this view (minute 9). Wartime enquiries as to Orwell and his wife’s suitability for employment as a journalist and with the Ministry of Food were all approved. It is of some interest to note the part Orwell’s answers to a published Left magazine survey had in convincing the Service that Orwell should not be considered a Communist. The file includes a copy of Orwell’s passport papers and original passport photographs.

A fascinating discussion of "abrogation" in Islam.

It’s an obvious one, but I hadn’t thought of it until a friend asked. Could someone ask which flights Senator Craig was taking during his lay-over, so to speak, at the Minneapolis airport? If we had that, we could see which gates he had to get to and from and also see if the restroom he used was en route or out of the way. His account of his actions would make much less sense if the restrooms were way off his obvious itinerary, no? So where were they in relation to his trip? If anyone knows, drop me a line.

The Dish has been having a discussion of "inattention blindness" here and here. The best demonstration of it I’ve seen was sent in by a reader. See if you can figure out the "Color Changing Card Trick." I missed it entirely.