Cartoon from xkcd, via Liberal Debutante

I didn’t just get this week’s illustration from Liberal Debutante; I got this link to some nifty photos from there as well.

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The best Mother’s Day post I came across last Sunday was this one by Jon Swift:

My Mother Is a Terrible Person

News Lynx

A surge in arrests is raising new questions about Iraqi jails—and heightening concerns among U.S. officials

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Disappeared without a trace: more than 10,000 Iraqis (via Juan Cole)

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US Set To Talk To Iran, Re: Iraq (Richard of This Old Brit points out that the situation in Iraq would be far less desperate today if Bush and Blair had taken this obvious step back in 2003, or even 2006)

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Blast from the Past (March, 2003): Mubarak Says Iraq War Will Produce “100 bin Ladens”

Headline of the Week: Mitt Romney Wants To Re-Tool Washington

Special Category: Winner of the Christopher Hitchens Award for this week’s least charitable obituary

UPDATE: Actually, this is the least charitable obituary of the week.

More Lynx

Echidne o’ th’ Snakes tries to figure out Papa Ratzi’s seemingly contradictory statements regarding the separation of Church and State.

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Leonard Pitts comments on the fact hat Barack Obama is the first of the presidential hopefuls to require a special Secret Service security detail:

Not Rudy Giuliani, who is a supporter of abortion rights.

Not Tom Tancredo, who is a hard-liner on immigration.

Not John Edwards, who is a critic of the war in Iraq.

Only Barack Obama, who is black.

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When mainstream media pundits attack the blogosphere for being too mean, Ezra Klein explains why such venom is appropriate. And Mike the Mad points out that mainstream media pundits are a bunch of halfwitted douchebags.

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Bill Hing points out that John McCain is avoiding the immigration debate, at least for now.

My guess is that he’s trying not to run afoul of the racist wing of the Republican party, which is a critical constituency for anyone who want to get the GOP nomination. He’s been far too conciliatory to run to the right of his current rivals, but watch him start to take a much harder line on immigration if he manages to get the nomination.

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Xicanopwr comments on a new ordinance in Farmer’s Branch, Texas that makes it illegal to rent an apartment to an undocumented immigrant.

The “unintended” consequence of measures like this is to encourage discrimination against Hispanics, whether they be legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, or American citizens. If a landlord doesn’t want to rent to Mexicans, he can just say that he can’t afford to risk his business by renting to a person who may have forged documents.

It might not be strictly legal, but I doubt that you’d find a jury in Farmer’s Branch, Texas who would convict a landlord of discriminatory practices under those circumstances.

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Helmet of Phrolds;ffsdaljfl points out a consequence of global warming that I hadn’t considered: artificially changing the climate will artificially change many species in unpredictable ways, as they evolve and adapt in a bid to survive in the new environment.

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The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Alabama’s ban on sex toys, saying that “the state’s interest in preserving and promoting public morality provides a rational basis for the challenged statute.”

Of course, the state’s interest in preserving and promoting public morality isn’t so strong that it would ever compel Alabama’s legislators to make it illegal for a man to cheat on his wife…

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Well, that’s all the links for today, unless you count this commentary on how the media determines which scientific studies they will bring to our attention.

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OK, that’s really all the links for today. Tune in tomorrow for a roundup of the week’s outrages.

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