The Plank
Abbas Milani's Speech In Support Of The Bahais
Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford, where he is the co-director of the Iran Democracy Project. His latest book is Eminent Persian: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979 (Syracuse University Press). READ MORE >>
Today At Tnr (august 15, 2009)
Terminal Hipness: What New York’s Recent Exhibitions Can Tell Us About The Art World’s Malaise, by Jed Perl Why Should Obama Save Darfur? To Be Crass For A Moment: It’s Good Politics, by Barron YoungSmith READ MORE >>
Want To Reform Education? Stop Hitting Kids.
States will soon be applying for shares of the Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund, a $4.35-billion portion of the stimulus package that the Department of Education will dole out based on states' commitment to education reform. There are 19 criteria for receiving RTTT money. READ MORE >>
Devil Went Down to Georgia
Ed Kilgore is managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and a frequent contributor to a variety of political journals. My, it's been an interesting week for the two Republican senators from my home state of Georgia. READ MORE >>
Slideshow: Let The 2012 Election Begin!
A Very Good Question
Ten-year-old student reporter Damon Weaver asks it in his interview with Obama: Can you dunk? Obama's answer: Not anymore. I used to when I was young, but I'm almost 50 now, so, your legs are the first thing to go. It definitely beats the question about whether he smokes. READ MORE >>
Hip Political Lingo This Is Not
In the latest attempt to prove that, while they might be at a nasty impasse on issues like health care, liberals and conservatives can find common ground on education policy, odd couple Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton will be hitting the road this fall, along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to promote school reform. READ MORE >>
Why Should Obama Care About Darfur, Anyway?
It seems clear that Barack Obama doesn't consider Darfur a priority. Then again, with so many domestic and foreign policy crises looming, one might ask: Why should he care? READ MORE >>
That Was Then....
Hmm, this would seem rather to undermine the Pelosi-Hoyer "un-American" argument. --Michael Crowley READ MORE >>
Webb To Burma
Maybe the most remarkable part of the story about Jim Webb's trip to Burma--the first member of Congress to visit there in over a decade--is that the American Embassy has no idea yet if he's actually met with the Burmese Prime Minister since, as the AP story puts it, "communications between Yangon and Naypyitaw were unreliable." More on the extreme strangeness of Naypitaw--which seems to be a cross between Brasilia and Pyongyang--can be read READ MORE >>
