""OMG feminists want more women in jihad they are so dum lol"

Speaking for myself, that really wasn't my point.

My comment was intended to note that news angles associated with "identity politics" are all too often simply gambits- boilerplates from which lazy journalists can churn out copy; and that any group can manipulate or draw the attention of a journalistic outlet that gets into the habit of employing such contrivances reflexively, by focusing on ascribed identity as if it were inherently newsworthy, and the key to some profound insight.

However, when unpacked, the "insight" in such contrived stories is eventually found to sum up as "there's even a glass ceiling in jihad", or some similar amalgam of cliche and fatuity.

I'm not opposed to stories that highlight feminist/ethnic/gender/age/personal history perspectives. But I need them not to be all husk, and no core. I can do without the predictable take- there's no new information there.

Meantime, those who continue to be determined to overemphasize and fixate on matters of ascribed identity ubiquitously- no matter the wider context- are subject to having their perspectives undermined by people feeding their focus on image.

Increasingly, for instance, the American corporate right wing has taken to exploiting this- note the increasing number of female spokespeople for corporate lobbies like the factory farm industry, or for the military-industrial complex, or the prison industry.

And, of course, it's become a huge part of the image symbolism of public political gatherings for both parties- every podium in a national election camapign has to include an array of the Representative Phenotypes, for the benefit of the Image-Transmitting Devices- a game that the Republicans have proven that they are game to play up as much as the Democrats. More often than not, no matter which party, it's all contrived bullshit...but as long as there's mileage in having Image trump Content, the Bamboozlement will continue to be deployed. Even, conceivably, by Al Qaeda.

is brilliant writing. Whatever else Cintra is doing these days, with such peerless powers of observation and gifts for language, she really ought to consider doing some more of this sort of serious political journalism and media criticism.

It seems to me that what probably allowed Scott McClellan to perform his assigned duty of evasions and deceptions for so long was the fact that he was himself deceived- and for the most part, self-deceived.

Now McClellan isn't lying to himself any more- or, at any rate, at least he isn't living a lie from dawn 'til doom. The wall of denial has crumbled.

Anyone who's experienced that, in any capacity, knows how liberating that is, and what an opportunity it provides for personal and spiritual growth.

So give the guy a chance.

(And the Goebbels analogy used by a previous poster is entirely inappropriate for McClellan...I think they were confusing him with Karl Rove.)

Incidentally, has anyone gotten Tony Snow's opinions about McClellan's confessional memoir?

but Scarlett Johansson definitely needs to find a makeup artist who won't trick her out in mortician's makeup, with that garish shade of lipstick.

Scarlett, I want to be your friend. But consider yourself on notice: you're on my B-list until you stop acquiescing to such terrible fashion advice.

Don't let them "hot tranny" ya, babe.

mostly I just want to lurk and assess the various points of contention in this debate, but I'd like to bring in one observation:

many years ago, I remember reading about the possibility of harnessing wind power to create hydrogen through electrolysis of water- I seem to recall this was done by mechanically coupling windmills to electromagnets, to produce the electrolytic process.

Having not heard anything about the idea in decades, I just did an on-line search ( wind power electrolysis hydrogen [+ storage] ), and my search results seem to indicate that the idea is still being researched as a way of possibly providing a technology to store power surpluses from wind energy generation systems, for the times when they're functionally off-line. The technical abstracts, etc. within the search results appears to indicate that serious research is being done, and that the option of hydrogen production via wind power is being taken seriously.

Anyone around here knowledgable on the pros and cons of the viability of that technology, and/or it's present state of development?

than the barrel of crabs in this particular letters column.

Amity, did you read the Wired article linked attached to the URL provided (and linked in the signature)?

If the Generation IV pebble-bed technology works as well as it's researchers claim, one or two of them deserve to win the Nobel Prize.

No, it doesn't get rid of all of the radioactive waste- but if it works as claimed, it makes it several orders of magnitude easier to handle and contain.