What he said

Hitchens says the media should stop covering Sarah Palin until she holds a press conference:

At numerous rallies where the atmosphere has been, shall we say, a little uncivil, Gov. Palin has accused Sen. Obama of accusing our forces in Afghanistan of simply bombing villages. Only a moment's work is required to discover that the words complained of were never uttered in that form and that they occurred in a speech that stressed the need for more ground troops as opposed to more airstrikes (a recommendation, by the way, that begins to look more sapient each week, at least in respect of the airstrikes). Again, I have a question: Did Palin know that she was telling a lie? Or did her handlers simply assume that she would read anything that was put in front of her, however mendacious? And which would be worse? And when will she issue the needful retraction? There seems no way of putting her in a forum where these points could be raised. So, continued media coverage of her appearances is no better than lending a megaphone to a demagogue, the better to amplify her propaganda.

Still, I should note that Dan Savage got there first.

Waterboarding Hitchens

Hitchens has himself abducted and waterboarded in an attempt to gain insight into the question of whether waterboarding is torture. He decides that it is. Watch the video here. Read the article here.

Maybe Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani, Tom Tancredo, Deroy Murdock, Ted Poe, or Mark Filip would like to try it out and let us know how it goes.


Send Books, Build Democracy

Hey you. Yeah you, glancing sheepishly at the pile of books gathering dust on your shelves. Those books you keep meaning to read/give to Oxfam/sell on Ebay. Face it. You're never going to get around to them. So here's what you do: gather up a few and send them to the new American University of Iraq.

Located in Sulaimani, in the northeastern region which has grown and prospered under Kurdish administration for the past decade and a half, the university is modeled on the successful American Universities in Cairo and Beirut. Its board of trustees includes Kanan Makiya, Ayad Allawi, Fouad Ajami, and President Jalal Talabani. It aims to "promote and preserve a peaceful and democratic Iraq with liberty and prosperity for all its citizens and for the entire region." Officials hope to expand the university to Baghdad and Basra when the security situation improves.

Here's its first student.

Since classes are conducted in English, an English-language library is essential, and the university is asking for donations of books. They especially need literature, social science, history, international affairs, that sort of thing. You can send your books to:

Nathan Musselman
The American University of Iraq—Sulaimani
Building No. 7, Street 10
Quarter 410
Ablakh Area
Sulaimani, Iraq
(+964) (0)770-461-5099

Make sure to include that number at the end.

Get going then. Those books aren't going to send themselves. (Thanks, Christopher Hitchens)