Fun With Geography Edition

There’s talk of single-payer in Pennsylvania, Bibles-for-porn in Texas and iPhones everywhere. Plus: the Arab Jew cultural connection, and why Republicans and Greens are so mad at Obama.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

The links below open in a new window. Newer ones are on top.

Atheist Group Calls Exchange “Smut for Smut,” Prompting Protests From Christian Students at University of Texas San Antonio.

How to Fight a Better War (Next Time) Here, then, are three modest suggestions for recalibrating the American way of war. All are based on a simple principle — “preventive war planning” — and are focused on getting the next war right before it begins, not decades after it’s launched.

Baker Accuses Obama of “Caving In” on Israel-Palestine The James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University has published a major report entitled “Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement” based on off-the-record deliberations of former U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian officials over an 18-month period.

PA to Get Single-Payer Healthcare First? I’ve been writing about various states just beginning campaigns for single-payer healthcare. Pennsylvania is on the cusp of completing one.

Ralph Nader Was Right About Barack Obama We owe Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney an apology. They were right about Barack Obama.

The Arab Jews: Language, Poetry, and Singularity A joint Arab-Jewish identity seems an impossibility given the current political situation in the Middle East. And yet it was a reality, exemplified by Arabic-speaking Jews and their writers. In his extensive essay Reuven Snir investigates the complex history of Arab Jews.

Why Republicans want gridlock Groups in decline, such as the white working class that controls the GOP, tend to focus on blocking change.

Interactive chart: scientific evidence for popular health supplements

New technology invades the classroom? Mercer County Sheriff Kevin C. Larkin and what appeared to be a female aide interrupted a State and Local Politics Class (POL 102) held in MS 205, at Mercer’s West Windsor Campus on February 1.

Stanford student survey finds iPhone users hooked and happy Suspicions confirmed: The iPhone is habit-forming. A survey of about 200 Stanford University undergraduates revealed that almost a third worry about becoming addicted to their iPhones, think they may be using them too much and dread becoming “one of those iPhone people.”