Category: Uncategorized

While there’s supposed to be a rule against questioning people’s patriotism, Barack Obama had no problem calling Bush “unpatriotic” when he was running for office. What makes this flashback especially rich is the context. Bush, he claimed, had been “unpatriotic” because he added $4 trillion to the national debt over a period of eight years…

While few would agree with me, I think that attacking Rick Perry (there’s even an online form to help) is strategically the smartest thing Team Obama could do right now if the goal is to get Perry on the ticket. Not only is Obama’s popularity at an all time low, but among Republicans, negative attitudes towards…

I realize that Vice President Biden was trying to be “diplomatic” when he pointedly refused to second guess China’s barbaric one child policy, just as I realize that when he and his ilk talk about “reproductive rights” they are not talking about the right to reproduce. But what most gives me the creeps about Biden’s overall…

ED MORRISSEY: Biden’s Praise For China’s One-Child Policy: So Much For Being “Pro-Choice.” “Women in China have no choice over their bodies. The state enforces its policy with a totalitarian regime that requires IUDs, aborts children, and tortures and maim women who attempt to exercise choice.” Silly Ed. These are communists. It’s okay when communists…

The best version of this I ever saw was in a traveling show that passed through Rockford one year. I was hoping for a pleasant evening and was WOWed. This was brought to mind by Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone With Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Of course “Kiss Me Kate” and “The Taming Of…

Some people are upset that Rick Perry apparently likened homosexuality to alcoholism in his 2008 book. Here’s what he said: “Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink,” he wrote. “And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex,…

Megan asks whether welfare reform is working. First off, it has be pointed out that “poverty rate” is the most useless, contrived statistic in existence, other than perhaps “jobs created or saved.” This damned lie statistic says that no matter how well off you actually are on an absolute scale, you may be “in poverty”…

As I am tired of all things narrative, I thought I would link a few news items that don’t comfortably fit anyone’s narrative. First, Hugo Chavez has proclaimed solidarity with the embattled Muammar Gadhafi: CARACAS — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared Tuesday that he will continue to recognize only Moamer Kadhafi as the legitimate leader…

I was looking around the ‘net and for some Vonnegut material and came across a review of Player Piano. Here is the central theme of the book and the review. Remember the days Greenspan would trumpet productivity improvements brought on by the internet as a key factor in maintaining benign inflation during economic expansion? It…

There is a new science I have never heard of before. Cliodynamics. Interesting name though. It is about putting history on a mathematical basis. One of the practitioners of the art is Peter Turchin who along with S. A. Nefedov wrote a paper about Secular Cycles in history. It is about societies that are at…

Rather often these days the idea that CO2 is destroying the planet is touted. Well OK. This is important. Really important. I get it. So how about a War to stop China from making so much CO2? Its output is expected to be double the US output by 2020. That is a doubling every ten…

M. Simon has an interesting post commenting on Walter Russell Mead’s “Inequality Grows As Poor, Ignorant Atheists Swamp US” which Glenn linked earlier. As Mead notes, those with nothing to cling to are dropping God, who seems these days to appeal mostly to people who have it better in life: According to the American Sociological…

Walter Russel Mead is discussing the breakdown of religion in America and how it affects social outcomes. He neglects the beached whale in the room. But he does think that people can be taught religion. I’m more of the opinion that it is a cultural thing. The more chiseling you have to do to make…

We have two parties in America. One offers imaginary solutions to real problems and the other offers real solutions for imaginary problems. Some choice.

Are social issues being used as a “cover” by Republican legislators who seek to back away from painful fiscal conservatism? An intriguing article in Michigan Capitol Confidential (“Are Reluctant Reformers in Republican Ranks Seeking Cover Behind Social Issues?”) offers evidence that they are, and cites the case of a state senator who backed away from…

I love gunners. The Government uses the Drug War against you (same as Alcohol Prohibition) and most of you guys and girls fail to notice. Say. Where is the Drug Prohibition Amendment anyway? Something I have failed to notice.

In Running? I was asking the question: “Is Sarah Palin running?” A topic that really captures my interest. Obviously some research is in order. So I’m reading the comments at the Hill Buzz piece I linked to earlier and found this little gem: jenforpresident Kevin, there appears to be an “easter egg” on the Tea…

While I liked Rick Perry’s earlier (since modified) take on the Tenth Amendment, former Senator Rick Santorum did not: “We have people who say, ‘States have the right to pass gay marriage,’” Santorum said last night in Waterloo. “I say, ‘No they do not because they do not have the right to do wrong.’” I…

Pretty nice campaign ad huh? Kevin at Hill Buzz thinks she is running. He likes the video too! Me? I’m a Palin fan. I think she has enough cultural sensitivity to unite libertarians and social conservatives the way Reagan did. “If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.”…

While I have long known that I should read more science fiction, Glenn Reynolds really drives the point home with this Heinlein quote: “Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be…