Link Disgorgement

I took my first practice exam yesterday. It could have gone worse, which is all I'm asking for at this point. Unfortunately, I still have another week of study study study. Blegh. In the meantime, a roundup comes your way:

Kenya's President calls for troops, African or otherwise, to come and overthrow Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.

The Vatican has come out against a UN resolution urging the decriminalization of homosexuality -- the only European state taking that stance. In a world where gays and lesbians can still be legally stoned in some places, this is an unconscionable decision and a formal decision to cooperate with intrinsic evil.

If Mary Beth Maxwell is appointed to be Secretary of Labor, as is rumored, she would be the first openly gay person to serve as a cabinet secretary.

Speaking of cabinet appointees, Spencer Ackerman and Hilzoy wax lyrical about the appointment of retired Army General Eric Shinseki to head up the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Blackwater employees alleged to have killed 17 Iraqi civilians in a shooting spree have surrendered to authorities in Utah, where they are hoping to be tried (instead of the presumably less friendly Washington). The Iraqi public rejoyced upon hearing the news.

Tragically for my plans to rib them over Winter Break, my parents appear to have born about a decade too early to officially have been part of the dumbest generation.

Finally, if you haven't seen this episode of blogging heads TV, featuring the brilliant Ta-Nehisi Coates and the recently shot Brian Beutler (who by all accounts is also brilliant, but who I haven't really read), you really need to. I don't recommend BHTV that often, but this edition, focusing on street crime through the lens of Beutler's incident, is phenomenal.