There is a common assumption, particularly among passionate supporters of front-runner Barack Obama, that the unelected superdelegates to the Democratic Convention are waiting for an excuse to defy the wishes of rank-and-file voters and install Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. In truth, there is scant evidence that

I think you meant this instead:

In truth, there is scant evidence that There is a common assumption, particularly among passionate supporters of front-runner Barack Obama, that the unelected superdelegates to the Democratic Convention are waiting for an excuse to defy the wishes of rank-and-file voters and install Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee.

Seriously, I'm a passionate Obama supporter, I hang out on DailyKos constantly, and I haven't really seen this assumption having much currency.

This week the town of Potrero, CA (pop. about 850) held a special election in which Blackwater was symbolically defeated by more than 2-to-1 margins.

Blackwater wants to build a mercenary training base in Potrero. The base would cover over 800 acres of ecologically sensitive land and include several firing ranges, a helicopter pad and facilities to house several hundred students and staff. The planning commission members who voted in favor (with no citizen input) were all recalled this week. Citizens voted overwhelmingly--with all members receiving at least 60% recall votes, and with the loudest Blackwater defender having 71.4% voting in favor of recalling him. (For reference, this is a town that supported Bush over Kerry by 25 percentage points.) The new planning commission will promptly hold votes rejecting the building of the Blackwater mercenary base. However, their votes are only advisory to the county Board of Supervisors, who have the final say and seem to be in favor of the Blackwater mercenary training camp.

Rep. Bob Filner, whose district includes Potrero, is introducing legislation that would limit training of mercenaries to federal lands (i.e. military bases), so they can be under closer official supervision. Also, this would effectively prohibit Blackwater from building the Potrero training base. This is the best hope for saving Potrero, but the bill needs nationwide support, not just one local rep. Please, contract your reps and encourage them to support Rep. Filner's legislation. You can read more at http://blockblackwater.com/. Thanks!

Does anyone else think this has to be the same producer/script-writer/etc as the one Vernon Robinson for that odious "Twilight Zone" ad? Same kind of cadence in the voice too. Creepy all around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDTr6vHS5l8

Oh, good heavens, is 'Anonymous' being so subtly ironic that it is undetectable? Comparing FGM with circumcision is absurd on its face. And I say this as someone who is strongly against circumcision.

But 'Anonymous' isn't actually too far off from what I suspected was going on here as I read the piece--that FGM is very common. If FGM is grounds for asylum, majorities of women in many countries would suddenly be eligible. More than the board wants to deal with.

As tantalizingly patriarchy-blaming as the reproduction = useful to society angle is, I'm going to go with Occam's razor on this one. I think it's purely a nativist don't-want-too-many numbers game.

What nonsense! Listen, condors don't go around using those enormous bills to pick up little round metal balls off the ground and eat them. What they DO do is eat carrion, including animals that were killed using lead shot.

What is wrong with hunting with non-lead shot? Sounds like hunters are kind of doing condors a favor in providing piles of left-behind guts for them to eat. We just need to get rid of the lead. Why is this such a big deal??

What nonsense! Listen, condors don't go around using those enormous bills to pick up little round metal balls off the ground and eat them. What they DO do is eat carrion, including animals that were killed using lead shot.

What is wrong with hunting with non-lead shot? Sounds like hunters are kind of doing condors a favor in providing piles of left-behind guts for them to eat. We just need to get rid of the lead. Why is this such a big deal??

(The lawsuits, not the bad parenting.) Multiple birth, especially more than 2, should absolutely be considered malpractice. Children have a vastly increased chance of birth defects, permanent learning delays, etc. Not to mention physical effects for the mother, and emotional impact on the family. Maybe if more parents start suing, we'll finally get the multiple-birth rates for IVF and other assisted reproduction under control. (Aside: does Australia have better regulation of the industry than the US? Europe does, and their multiple rates are much more under control than here.)

The main character in A Wrinkle in Time's mother was a scientist. And a mother. She cooked food on the Bunsen burner in their home's basement lab. I don't remember much of the book, but I remember this. Very much so. How a throw-away few lines in just one book managed to counteract every societal message about women and science that I'd been internalizing, I don't know. I sit typing my doctoral thesis, pausing to look up from the laptop and say "wow!! you made a sandcastle!" and "grrr! I'm a tiger" to my 2-year-old twins. Madeline L'Engle made this possible.

Then why do they all look so happy??

From the excerpt at TPM:

One of these parties started at the Capital Grille with Cunningham ordering his usual filet mignon -- very well done -- with iceberg lettuce salad and White Oak.

Well done filet? With iceberg? Oh the humanity!!