A NYC food blog of small ethnic eateries. Great photos, evocative text.

Would it have helped African Americans today if their forefathers had been given the land promised? An economist says yes.

"60% of sensory experience of drinking espresso comes from the retail environment!" It's the smell, stupid.

Yet another reason why torture is bad for national security. Or, the segment in which I agree again with Andrew Sullivan and find myself wondering if either of us has a goatee ...

"Al Qaeda continues to have a deep interest in acquiring weapons of mass destruction... I can trace the story of a sernior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these weapons to al Qaeda. Fortunately, this operative is now detained and he has told his story."

The man who spoke those words was Colin Powell at the UN. The "operative", we now know, was Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libbi. He was waterboarded and given Bush-approved hypothermia treatment, i.e. frozen till he could take it no longer. It was only then that he told of al Qaeda's links with Saddam's WMDs... the CIA subsequently found al-Libbi "had no knowledge of such training or weapons and fabricated the statements because he was terrified of further harsh treatment." So I now realize that part of the reason I believed the WMD case for war against Saddam was because the Bush administration had been secretly torturing suspects and got false confessions. The biggest intelligence failure in recent US history - the WMD case in Iraq - was partly created by the torture policy. [Link]

Andrew Sullivan lays it down on torture. I wish our presidential candidates would speak out as clearly and unequivocally

First: I do not believe that torture does save people's lives, because I do not believe it gives us reliable intelligence and because the use of it historically leads to its becoming the primary method of intelligence gathering, and so undermines our extreme need to develop better intelligence gathering, especially human intelligence... And I do not trust those in power who tell me otherwise, because there is no check on them whatsoever, no oversight that they have not cheerfully avoided, and any admission of guilt on their part would lead to war crime prosecution...

But secondly: yes, I do think that in a choice between legalizing torture and the loss of American lives, I would choose the loss of American lives, including my own.

This is not righteous victimhood. It is righteous self-defense. There are some things worse than avoiding all casualties in warfare. One of those things is abandoning the core meaning of what a country and a civilization stand for. If America does not stand against the torture of individuals seized without due process by an unchecked executive power, then American stands for nothing. In fact, if this standard had applied two centuries ago, America would not exist at all... To destroy the constitution, the rule of law, and habeas corpus and to legalize torture in the false hope of saving lives is the action of those who do not understand freedom and who do not understand America. It is the action of cowards and slaves.

What part of "Live Free Or Die" do these people not understand? [Link]

Stills from the cheesy TV Batman with captions from Frank Miller's Dark Knight. It's a scary combination.

I just tried out my first compact fluorescent bulb because I had to replace one that died, had no incandescents at home, and these were on sale 2 for 1 (still $3 each). I figured I would use my green to be green. But I'm afraid this is going to be like the low flow shower or the low flow toilet - "advances" I can't get behind.

For one thing, "Daylight" is actually blueish-white. I had no idea, and I can't say I like it very much. Reminds me of old school flurorescent lights , except without the flicker. But even if I did like it, there's another problem, which is it stands out when the other lamps are incandescent. This means that all the bulbs in a room all have to be the same type. Ugh. In this case I have two tall lamps on either side of my desk - one has a 100 watt incandescent while the other has a "75 watt" CFLB. The contrast is quite apparent. I suppose I might give in and swap the other bulb out, but it's not clear I like the color very much.

collision detection: Scientists program a computer that understands knock-knock jokes

Use baby talk instead. Of course, this will result in Americans sounding even stupider when they talk to foreigners. Now it wont just be slow and loud English, it'll be slow loud baby talk English ...

Rees fisks Ignatieff's fake mea culpa.