Koplowicz.com

So, a lot of websites, including Wikipedia, are blacking themselves out today to protest SOPA.  Apparently someone has decided to take the protest one step further: instead of just imagining life without Wikipedia (because it's blacked out because of SOPA), some people are acting it out.  I'm seeing a bunch of Twitter hashtags for #factswithoutwikipedia.  Here's the best of the lot:

I've previously blogged about the true story behind Hanukah.  To recap: it had nothing to do with oil in the lamp.  That was made up by rabbis hundreds of years later, in a deliberate attempt to water down the true message of the holiday.

Palestine deserves statehood.

Now, before the wolves descend, let me make a couple things clear:

1. I am a Zionist in the traditional sense: I believe in the right of the modern State of Israel to exist, and to defend itself.  But even if you set aside the theoretical considerations, you've got a state that's been there for 60 years, with 6 million people living there.  Short of ethnic cleansing, there's no way to get rid of them now.

Every time I look at the American flag, I feel torn.  The flag, like every other, is a symbol.  The American flag in particular represents some wonderful things.  Most of the greatest events in the last 200 years were thanks to America, events such as the rise of modern democracy.  But America also has some stains on her history, things like slavery (after most of the rest of the civilized world had abandoned the practice), internment camps for Japanese Americans, and ethnic warfare against Native Americans.

Credit to Paul Peterson for sharing this article by Sirota from Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/news/david_sirota/2011/08/05/obama_fdr_debt_ceiling/index.html

The basic argument: Obama isn't weak; he just isn't a liberal.  Well sure, he's a Democrat, but his record seems awfully conservative.  Bottom line: he's a powerful centrist and Democrats should stop acting surprised when he doesn't advance their liberal agenda.

I disagree.

Yes, I'm going to talk about the royal wedding.  The outfits, no less.  I'm more interested in the men's uniforms, of course, but first a tip of the hat has to go to Princess Kate's dress, which was an obvious homage to American actress Grace Kelly, who also married into European royalty.  In another apparent homage to the United States, Kate had a Maid of Honor, which apparently isn't usually done in England.  Classy.

I want to comment on an op-ed from today's New York Times: A Very Liberal Intervention, By ROSS DOUTHAT.  The article is critical of America's involvement in the Libya campaign as a "liberal intervention," which apparently is one defined by interest in democracy, rather than selfishness.  Mr.