To shatter the CIA - and even the "intelligence" provided by it, and replace it with military leadership and a disorganized super-intelligence agency, is a sign of decline of the US state.

These can be permanent changes. There is no going back. It weakens us vis a vis terrorism or any other threat.

And it will result in a militarized US government, and a militarized state less responsive to civilian control.

I have to believe we are in the "end days" for American imperialism. It has wrought barbarism all over the world, in the name of free markets and profits, for many years, not just with the Bush administration.

The Democrats have gone along with this process, or have only been dimly aware. If they endorse the new CIA "leader", as they did the Patriot Act and other regressive moves, they will prove they are still "part of the problem."

Greg G

The main problem with these surveys on the "second shift" is that they do not include car maintenance, house maintenance, financial maintenance, building things, yard work (which they mention in this story, but not as "housework.") and other traditionally male talents as part of "housework." I think if they added these, the division of labor, while still somewhat divided and probably unequal, would be more equal. The term "domestic labor" has to be widened to include ANYTHING that maintains the household, and not defined as "women's traditional tasks." Which is the tack taken by this survey, it seems.

They might also ask information on whether people are working a second (or even third) job - the other "second shift" - this time with pay. Probably more men are working second jobs than women, but again, I don't know. And we won't know unless these people improve their methodology. Working two jobs might explain why the husband is not home as much as he could be.

The other problem is that they never divide by class who does what, but just some vague general "male." Many times working class men might do more physical work while middle class men will just hire someone, etc. Or middle class women will have nannies, cooks, cleaners, etc. Or middle class men might spend more time with children, etc. And upper class men and women hardly do anything at all, but farm ALL the work out. As a result, these surveys are very flawed.

I'm an atheist, but if there was a God, and he wasn't drinking beer in God's Country, he'd be hunkered down in ... Ely, Minnesota. The reason is, nothing much changes in the woods around here. At least not yet. The lake is the same blue/green/brown/grey serene/windy violent/calm structure year after year. The old cabin stands, never leaks, never breaks a window even. The sauna perches on the edge of the lake, ready to heat us all to a burning sweaty hellfire. A tree falls here and there, but the rest just grow and stand straight. There are new droppings in the woods each night. The rocks and grounds shift slightly. Perhaps the water is getting a little more polluted. The snake in this paradise comes from fertilizer, leaking septic tanks and boat motors. One year there might be a mini-flood. Maybe/certainly the weather is changing due to global warming. But from our tiny view, people die, children are born, people break bones on the cabin stairs, people's ashes are distributed in the lake, and another generation takes over. Almost a hundred years now. And the lake and trees and cabin remain the same, unlike most anything else. Time will tell whether "god" has forsaken even this place.

Everyone is enjoying the downfall of so many corrupt, reactionary, clueless Republicans. But it seems odd that professional liberals like Sidney Blumenthal equates this all to the fall of the Soviet state. I.E. Gingrich as Lenin, DeLay as Stalin, Hastert as Breshnev/Chernenko.

Right.

A shallow view of history, but light impressionism never stopped an editorialist.

Suffice it to say these guys are solidly capitalist politicians. Actually, Mr. Blumenthal, YOUR system's politicians. Lenin was a world-class intellectual. Gingrich was able to write one mediocre, right wing fictional book with another person about the civil war. And, oh yes, DeLay has sent far fewer to the "gulags." Not that I want to stand up for him, but historical analogies should be roughly equivalent, not ridiculous exaggerations.

If I hear the Republican party called "Lenninst" one more time it only goes to show that red-baiting is not limited to cretinous Repbulicans.

Four things about the I-Pod, who I identify as mostly people with white cords going up into their ears.

1. I-Pod users never talk to anyone on the bus or train.

2. No one talks to them unles they are trying to get them to move.

3. I-Pod users don't read on the train or bus. They are part of the a-literate generation.

4. Listening to music while doing other things favors easily digestible music.

Etc. Nuff said.

I love music. I listen at homes or in clubs.

Listening all the time to music while walking around in the world seems very sad. It has been remarked upon by foreigners as one of the signs of American isolation. I don't think this is Luddite or "oldster" - descriptions themselves which are pejorative, of course. It is actually a broader sociological criticism that, and I am going to dish out my own pejorative as retribution, perhaps somewhat more shallow people are probably too busy listening to some single to even think about. Contemplation is made more difficult when you are always listening to a pre-programmed "sound track of your dull life."

The I-Pod is a symbol of American escapism and inwardness, or at least that is the way it looks to us folks on the outside, who haven't drunk the kool aid.