Did Obama Just End the War?

President Obama delivered a landmark speech on the war on terror yesterday, but people are divided on just how impressed we ought to be. The New York Times is singing the speech's praises. "As frustratingly late as it was—much of what Mr. Obama said should have been said years...

Fast & Furious 6 'Spectacular Junk'

Fast & Furious is back, this time for round six—and it's not getting the terrible reviews you might imagine, snagging a 74% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 62 out of 100, otherwise known as "generally favorable reviews," on Metacritic . Here's what reviewers are saying: Fast & Furious...

One Reason Clip of London Attacker Is So Jarring

It almost looks like something out of a movie, but the video from London yesterday in which a man holding a cleaver with bloodied hands explains why he and an accomplice just butchered a man is unfortunately not. (You can see it in this story .) "There is a particular...

Hangover III Barely a Comedy

The Hangover Part III is here, but if critics are to be believed, you might want to black out and erase it from your memory. Here's what people are saying: A giraffe is decapitated in the first five minutes, and maybe someday "beheading the giraffe" will replace "jumping the shark"...

Rob Ford May Smoke Crack, but He's a Good Mayor

Philip Preville's Slate piece on Toronto mayor and possible crack-smoker Rob Ford is not exactly kind—he calls Ford "a crass, offensive, and ill-tempered buffoon" with a "capacity for breathtakingly stupid behavior," among other things—but, Preville says, you have to admit Ford has been a pretty good mayor. He's...

The Good News: Pope Francis Is Cool With Atheists

Pope Francis had a refreshing message when asked about atheists yesterday on Vatican radio, assuring his flock that yes, the godless could be good people, too. "'But father, he is not Catholic! He cannot do good,'" Francis imagined a follower protesting. "Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must...

Apple Case Clinches It: We Need Tax Reform Now

So what can we take away from Apple chief Tim Cook's testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday about the company's byzantine tax strategy ? Not that Apple did anything illegal, only that it's savvy enough to employ "smart accountants and tax lawyers," says the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal...

Immigration Bill Latest Proof Democrats Suck at This

The immigration bill that emerged from the Judiciary Committee yesterday has Sally Kohn wondering—and not for the first time—if the "modern Democratic Party's strategy is secretly being bankrolled by Eli Lilly as a ploy to sell Prozac to liberals," she writes at Salon . Democrats couldn't even "stiffen their...

Dear Republicans: No One Cares About These Scandals

So-called "scandals" like Benghazi, the IRS, and AP phone record seizures have dominated political discourse in recent weeks. And yet, polls find Obama's approval rating hasn't wavered. Maybe these issues will eventually gain traction with voters, says Charlie Cook in the National Journal —but maybe regular people just don't care....

Hey, Tea Party: How Does It Feel to Be Profiled?

Imagine you're an overworked IRS employee, charged with finding, in your massive stack of 501(c)(4) applications, the groups most likely to make electioneering their main focus. Wouldn't it make a little sense to focus on self-proclaimed Tea Party groups? Sure it would. And there's a word for that shortcut, Farhad...

Word Choices Show We're Me-Centric, Less Moral

Lexicologists poring over a Google database of books and word usage suggest three general traits of the past half-century, writes David Brooks in the New York Times . Society has become more individualistic (with words and phrases such as "self" and "I come first" on the rise), less moral ("virtue" and...

Now Can We Stop Cutting the Weather Service?

The National Weather Service had a warning in effect 16 minutes before yesterday's tragic Oklahoma tornado —but we may not be as prepared next time around, thanks to the sequester's 8.2% cut to the Weather Service, David Sirota writes on Salon . The organization representing weather service employees has warned...

It's a Good Thing Military Rape Stats Are Up

Lately, the media, public, and Congress have been abuzz over the military's "epidemic" of sexual assault, given a new annual report indicating that there were 26,000 instances of unwanted sexual contact last year. But that figure "is such bad math … that no conclusions can be drawn from it,...

Celeb Worship a Sign American Dream Is Dying

Watching the Great Gatsby might give you a shock of recognition, because it hails from a time like our own: One that's lousy with inequality, observes George Packer in the New York Times . Celebrities, he argues, function as "new household gods" for a population losing faith, and they thrive especially...

Get Over It, Foodies: Spam Is Delicious

It's time for foodies to stop turning their noses up at Spam, declares Anna Weaver in Slate . She offers up myriad reasons the canned meat deserves a spot at even the fanciest tables: It tastes good . In particular, it's more appetizing than that classic American favorite, the hot dog. But...

How Dan Brown Could Finally Get Some Respect

Make no mistake: Alan Yuhas is not a Dan Brown fan (the headline of his Guardian column begins, "Dan Brown still can't write"), but he does think the Da Vinci Code author deserves some credit for at least trying to get his readers interested in high-minded ideas. Sure, Brown's modus...

Star Trek Goes Boldly, Triumphs

Four years after he first thrilled audiences and annoyed hard core Trekkies with Star Trek , JJ Abrams is back with Star Trek Into Darkness , and critics are gushing over it, saying it's even more thrilling—and perhaps even more likely to annoy fans.

Google Glass Could Make Us Less Annoying

Given all the hate that's been piled on Google Glass lately, Farhad Manjoo strapped on a pair "expecting to experience the digital equivalent of a machine hacked together with duct tape and construction paper." Instead, he came away convinced that Glass, or something like it, will define the way we...

Two Very Different Views on Obama Scandals

Supporters of President Obama will be glad to read that all three of the scandals that have dominated headlines this week look like they're fizzling. So writes Ezra Klein at the Washington Post . Obama's detractors, though, can take heart to learn that "we are in the midst of the worst...

Yes, Obama Should 'Go Bulworth'

The political catchphrase of the day: "Going Bulworth." It was tucked in a New York Times piece on President Obama's latest troubles, with Peter Baker writing this of the president: "In private, he has talked longingly of 'going Bulworth,' a reference to a little-remembered 1998 Warren Beatty movie about...

Jolie's Best Message Applies to All Women

Stories about the victimization of women have been so prevalent of late—from the rising number of assaults in the military to the awful Cleveland case —that Anne Taylor Fleming has been both disgusted and infuriated when catching up on the news, she writes at Reuters . And then along comes...

Holder-Issa Showdown: White House Is Loving It

Things got heated on Capitol Hill yesterday as congressman Darrell Issa grilled Eric Holder over the recent White House troubles. At one point, Issa cut off one of the attorney general's answers to laugh about it, and Holder wasn't having it. “No, no, that’s what you typically do,” he said....

We'll Miss You, Dunder Mifflin

The Office signs off tonight after nine seasons and 201 episodes. A sample of the farewell tributes in advance (no spoilers in the mix): "It is not quite the same show as the one that debuted in March 2005, but it has continued to be a show I watch, grumbling...

Media Finally Gets It: Obama Is a Joke on Civil Liberties

Look around today, and it's easy to find a news story or column criticizing President Obama and his Justice Department for going after reporters' phone records. (Like these in the Washington Post , Politico , and the New York Times .) To which Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian can only say, it's...

How to Measure Success of Arab Revolution: Leopards

Need a tangible way to gauge the success of the Arab Revolution in coming years? Thomas Friedman suggests keeping an eye on the Arabian leopard. He's visiting Yemen, where the government is trying to protect the fast-disappearing cat. "If you visit Yemen in five years and hear that the Arabian...

How to Leak to the Media Without Being IDed

What with the Justice Department seizing AP phone records , Nicholas Weaver is thinking about how a modern-day whistleblower can safely leak info to the media without being identified. The sad truth, he writes in Wired , is that "we now live in a world where public servants informing the public about...

Disney Still Has a Princess Problem

After much outrage, Disney backed down on the makeover it recently tried to give Brave 's Merida—the new version, which was to be featured in the Disney Princess line, was no longer "messy, freckly, slightly overbitey," but teeny-waisted, sultry-eyed, and distinctly bow-and-arrow-less—but this is just a small victory,...

The IRS Was Stupid—but Not Partisan

The inspector general's IRS report is out (read it in full at the Washington Post , if 54 pages of dry analysis and liberal use of the underline function sound like your thing), and some pundits say it's not exactly as jaw-droppingly scandalous as it was made out to be. The...

Kidnap Coverage Is Cleveland Paper's Swan Song

The Plain Dealer 's coverage of the Cleveland kidnapping case has been nothing short of riveting, but it will be the paper's "last hurrah," writes Justin Peters on Slate . This summer, at least 53 members of its staff are being laid off, and the paper will deliver only three days...

What's Best for Angelina May Not Be Best for You

There's no question that Angelina Jolie made a courageous move in undergoing a double mastectomy . But in the applause for her decision, it's important to keep the cancer conversation in context, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams—herself a cancer survivor —at Salon . "I can swear to you that every one of...