This week’s Gadfly is now out. You won’t want to miss Checker’s feature editorial, in which he writes about why he sees “parallels between America’s present condition and Rome circa 350 A.D.” (Teaser: “Frappuccinos aren’t very powerful weapons against Al Qaeda.”) We’re also offering a piece about why Louisianans can’t get angered by jokes at their expense. (Teaser: It has to do with their legislature’s rejection of modern science.) And Amber makes her podcast debut with her very own segment, “The Gadfly Research Minute.”