Slate Articles

Temptation Island

Emily Yoffe — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

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Out of Air in Arizona

John Dickerson — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:17:41 GMT

The 20^th and perhaps final Republican presidential debate wheezed across the finish line and collapsed. At times it felt like the candidates had already talked themselves out on the big themes and could only bicker over table scraps. There was a long symposium on how earmarks and the congressional appropriating process work. Then, there was a confusing discussion of Arlen Specter, his re-election, and the judiciary committee.

Santorum’s Martyr Complex

John Dickerson — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:20:48 GMT

Is Rick Santorum suffering for his faith? One of his advisers suggested to the Washington Examiner's Byron York that he is, and that Mitt Romney is getting absolution. "Why is Mormonism off limits?" York quotes the adviser as asking. "We're having to spend days answering questions about Rick's faith, which he has been open about. Romney will turn on a dime when you talk about religion. We're getting asked about specific tenets of Rick's faith, and when Romney says, 'I want to focus on the economy,' [the press says,] ‘OK, we'll focus on the economy.’ "

Heavy Medals

Dahlia Lithwick — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:00 GMT

So, on the way to oral argument this morning in U.S. v. Alvarez, I was kidnapped by a tribe of angry space aliens. They beamed me up to a ship where they forced me to perform exotic anaerobic dance routines to old Leif Garrett songs. Later, they beamed me back onto the Supreme Court Plaza, but not before stealing my Medal of Honor.*

Don’t Burn After Reading

Brian Palmer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:15:00 GMT

Violent protests have raged outside Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan for two days after local workers found the burned remains of more than 100 Qurans in a pile of garbage from the base. What’s the proper way to dispose of a Quran?

Shame on You!

Emily Bazelon — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:11:13 GMT

Earlier this month, New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas brought down the wrath of civil libertarians by telling his cops to start putting plate-sized orange stickers on houses that they’d searched for drugs. The crazy thing about Serpas’ idea was that the cops wouldn’t have to make an arrest or find drugs to smack a sticker on a house—all they’d need was an anonymous tip and a quick investigation of the home. Cue the protests: The ACLU of Louisiana called the stickers a “scarlet letter tattooed onto the homes of otherwise innocent people, giving them no presumption of innocence.” When Serpas backed down last week, saying the stickers wouldn’t work without “widespread community support,” the Times-Picayune editorial page expressed relief that he’d scrapped a “dreadful idea.”

America’s Best Weather Forecast

Farhad Manjoo — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:32:26 GMT

If you start at the Bay Bridge and head west along most major streets in San Francisco, you’ll eventually get to a magical land of misery known as the Sunset. The name is a joke, and perhaps even a way to trick tourists: The sun rarely visits the Sunset, not even when it sets. The primary weather element in the Sunset is fog—thick, endless, depressive clouds of it that wash up from the ocean to completely saturate the land. I lived in the Sunset for a single, terrible year. Before I moved there, I used to be one of those snobby city-dwellers who’d look down on suburbanites who couldn’t handle San Francisco’s famously capricious climate. I’d heard the Sunset’s weather wasn’t great, but hey, how bad could it be?

Why Did Mitt Change His Mind?

Slate Staff — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:52:29 GMT

How, when, and why did Mitt Romney change his mind about abortion? William Saletan delved 50 years back into the GOP front-runner’s personal history to uncover a well-documented pattern of shifting stories and positions on the issue. Saletan will be chatting with readers about Romney’s core malleability, what it says about the candidate and what it means for the 2012 presidential race. Bring your questions and comments about Romney’s pro-life conversion to Slate’s Facebook page on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.

Considering Edith's OK Cupid Profile

Dan Kois — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:30:09 GMT

Dan Kois, June Thomas, and Seth Stevenson were on Slate’s Facebook page on Tuesday to chat with readers about the Downton Abbey season finale. The following transcript of the discussion has been edited for length and clarity. To see the full conversation, click on this link.

Get Your Kitchen Out of My Parking Space!

Matthew Yglesias — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:26:08 GMT

Gourmet food trucks are a business uniquely suited to our times. A global financial crisis has made credit tight for the past several years but left the skills and ingenuity of American workers intact. An obvious response to this: business plans that can be executed with a minimum of up-front capital—a van, not the whole restaurant.