VirusHead - Mutating bits of contagious discourse, because language is a virus.

Ok, I’ve been on pins and needles all night (and freaking out a bit), but my hubby finally has been released from detention at the Atlanta airport.
It turns out that the only thing he shared with the person they were looking for is his very common name.
The guy didn’t have the same birthday. He wasn’t [...]

I was rereading a bit about Emerson and self-reliance earlier. It affected me, as it always does. Before I wade into current political statements of opinion on the recent Presidential Directives (I’ve seen blog headlines), I’ve decided to treat it like I would treat any document I wanted to interpret. What follows is my initial [...]

I am very impressed with the Brits. Thank you, Lionheart, for protecting all those who fly between the U.K. and the U.S. Thank goodness there are still good minds working somewhere.
Here’s an odd thing, though. I was out of town and I just happened to catch the President reacting to this situation by saying that [...]

KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton Co. was awarded a $385 million 1-year contract (with 4 1-year options) from the Department of Homeland Security to establish “temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., [...]

It turns out that former Majority Leader and Presidential candidate Bob Dole was hired last year as a legal consultant by Dubai Ports World to shepherd the deal through, courtesy of Alston & Bird.
Wife Sen. Elizabeth Dole says that she is "deeply concerned" about operations at six U.S. ports being controlled by Dubai Ports World [...]

Sheesh, what next?
Charles Babington, The Washington Post:
“In bitingly partisan exchanges yesterday, lawmakers plunged into the dispute over Karl Rove’s hand in leaking a covert CIA operative’s identity.”
Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) proposed an amendment aimed at Rove “to deny access to classified information to any federal employee who discloses a covert CIA agent’s [...]

Abuse of the Patriot Act - Professor Tariq Ramadan
I am a member of the American Academy of Religion, and have been since at least 1990 (maybe earlier). The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the major scholarly society and professional association of scholars and teachers in religion. With 10,000 members, the Academy fosters excellence in [...]