Vegetarian homesick blues

I’d prepared myself for the fact that, while in Germany, I wouldn’t be able to adhere strictly to my vegetarianism. If Peter Singer can talk approvingly about a “Paris exception,” then surely I can invoke a “Berlin exception.”

As it happens though, when I was in Wittenberg today (about which more anon, perhaps) I ordered a turkey skewers dish which, while tasty, turned my stomach into painful knots. This alone is sufficient incentive to deter me from falling off the wagon in the future!

Tomorrow I fly back home and to real life.

Obama’s climate plan

Gristmill’s Joseph Romm offers a defense.

Wm. F. Buckley, RIP

I enjoyed his writing even though I dissented from his brand of conservatism, and he always struck me as an honorable and charitable fellow. For better or worse, he hugely influenced American politics. RIP.

Holy pizza!

Today I went to a pizzeria near the Pergamon musem in Berlin called “Twelve Apostles.” Each pizza is named after one of the apostles: I recommend the Tomasso (Thomas). It has bell peppers, zucchini, onions, and hot peppers. Though my guidebook says that the Judas is possibly the most delectable.

Two on animals from the WaPo

Factory farms may be exempted from emission rules

A debate over culling elephants in South Africa

Just war reconsidered

The Christian Century reviews three books on just war theory and pacifism. All three agree that even if we accept just war theory, there’s a need for positive practices to nurture peace.

After Iraq

Andrew Bacevich on the search for post-Iraq principles for US foreign policy (via Gaius).

A CDU-Green coalition?

Okay, this is only really interesting to me because I’m in Germany at the moment, but the recent elections in Hamburg have fueled speculation that there could be a coalition between the conservative Christian Democratic Union and the Greens. As a kind of Christian-conservative-Green myself, that piques my interest

Did the surge work?

Michael Kinsley says nuh-uh.

Pray for Derek

If you’re the prayin’ kind. Bitten by a brown recluse! Speedy recovery, Derek!