flanders

Katha Pollitt writes the Subject to Debate column for the Nation magazine and her essays on life, love, and politics have become American standards. But you many not know that Pollitt is also a poet and published her first book of poetry, Antarctic Traveller, in 1982. Her new book, The Mind-Body Problem, explores many themes including motherhood, middle age, and what she's learned from some of her favorite authors.

It is all going according to plan. Goldman Sachs is the first to achieve solid profits. On its heels, JP Morgan/Chase. And if the Summers/Geithner plan continues apace other banks will return to profitability as will other sectors of American business. We're told virtually every day that we Americans believe in Free Markets and we need, first and foremost, strong financial institutions. So bravo. We are on our way. The problem, as we have learned through Republican and Democratic administrations alike, is that in the new America one person's profit is another's demise.

I said it in June, I'll say it again. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is up for confirmation and some jackasses are still ? still -- saying she has to explain her "wise Latina" comment? Altogether now - what did Sotomayor say? "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." And what was she talking about? Trigonometry? The price of milk? No. The topic under discussion was race and gender discrimination.

The only thing faster than Obama ratcheting up the war against Afghanistan is Robert Greenwald ratcheting up his "Rethink Afghanistan" project where he talks to all the experts -from Afghan civilians to U.S. soldiers- about the need to rethink exactly why we're going to war there, and if, just maybe, we shouldn't be. Take a look.