Category: Uncategorized

While he claims to be seeking world peace, Waafa Bilal (creator of the Bush assassination video game that’s generated controversy) strikes me as a seeker of pseudo-martyrdom for profit. In this interview, he claims that the Americans killed his brother and his father died from the grief, and that he’s letting himself be shot with…

I have been extremely distracted by reality recently, as I am in the process of moving. The only good thing about this horribly unpleasant process is that it will all be over in a few weeks. But meanwhile, this is eating up an incredible amount of time and blogging will be erratic until things settle…

The fine line between the right to speak in public and the right to disrupt the speech of others in public has long fascinated me. That’s because I’ve seen so many examples over the years of people being unable to control themselves when they hear things they disagree with. And while we all agree that…

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Gerald F. Seib observes that bad news for the economy is good news for Democrats: …the collapse of a big bank and the scare over the viability of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — seem likely to reinforce the basic dynamic of the campaign year: Voters think the…

Thought Mesh takes a look at why the left does not get the New American Empire. In my view, what most of the declinists miss is that the American Hegemony is unlike any previous empire in its structure and means. The former British Empire is the closest, but it still depended on far more direct…

Who do you want in the White House when an urgent e-mail arrives at 3AM? “It’s just amazing,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s very hard to even think about someone who doesn’t know how to use the internet. It’s like, ‘Really?’ My five-year-old niece can use the internet. She knows how to go to…

Via a hot tip from Justin, I learned that the Green Party has nominated famed 9/11 Truther Cynthia McKinney to be their presidential candidate. For those voters who think Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are too conventional, the Green Party this weekend named former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Georgia, its 2008 presidential nominee. At the Green…

An article in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal is a reminder of the endangered nature of free speech. What we Americans take for granted does not exist in most of the world — including supposedly enlightened Western Europe. The apartment of Dutch cartoonist (with a “rude sense of humor) was raided by “six plainclothes police officers,…

Speaking of “meaning” in the political context, a recent email exchange with a friend reminded me of one of my pet peeves: the inability to intelligently discuss issues when the underlying facts — and I mean basic data — are hopelessly politicized. This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the problem. In an earlier…

The other day I saw a Japanese beetle whooping it up on a magnolia blossom in my yard. Well, at least it was up to something; as you can see its hind legs were spread: I didn’t give it much thought. But last night, a large, strikingly atttractive beetle was firmly attached to the screen…

So I’m reading the comments at Gateway Pundit and I come across a commenter who says I should do a bit of research on the al-Ameriki tribe. Interesting. So I did a search. And what did I come up with? A wiky entry to start. It is short. So here it is: The Al-Ameriki tribe…

Ralph Peters takes on a popular but empty slogan: …Nor can all of the hipster slogans used to avoid debates be blamed on the ancients. The latest example of utter nonsense is Obama’s contribution, “The Audacity of Hope.” My fellow Americans, there is nothing audacious about hope. Hope is what makes people buy lottery tickets…

While I don’t want to get hysterical about hysteria, I do find hysteria very tedious. Especially the high-decibel hysteria over the economy like that detailed here (quoting E.J. Dionne): This is the third time in 100 years that support for taken-for-granted economic ideas has crumbled. The Great Depression discredited the radical laissez-faire doctrines of the…

Ever heard of a thing called an “ice shelf”? Well, I have! Despite Global Warming, I have been plagued by a persistent ice shelf, which I decided to call the “GE Ice Shelf” because of its location in the freezer compartment of my General Electric refrigerator. Unlike some of the world’s ice shelves, it has…

Children in Albany, New York are unhappy that even though summer has barely started, it’s already “back to school” time. That’s because the advertisers want parents spending money now: Kids may hate the timing, but parents like the pricing. “People are becoming wiser consumers, looking for deals whenever and wherever they can,” said Howard Schaffer,…

Much of what I write consists of me talking to myself, but in a manner which allows anyone to listen. Normally, we think of people who talk to themselves as a bit weird, if not mentally ill, and this is especially true if they do so in public. I’d like to be able to say…

The Presidential candidate who recently said economics is not one of his strong points appears to be taking lessons. …on deep background, this senior McCain advisor told me I was correct: no cap-and-trade. In other words, this central-planning, regulatory, tax-and-spend disaster, which did not appear in Mac’s two recent speeches, has been eradicated entirely —…

England really has become a foul place in which to live. I felt that way the other day when I read Rachel Lucas’s reaction (to the prosecution of a man who defended his family against rock throwing thugs — with a board!): ….what the fuck is WRONG with these people? I know there’s not much…

While I liked the movie Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, I did not like the way Thompson — an iconoclast who never hesitated to criticize anyone he thought deserved criticism — was re-spun and reduced to a sort of a hack leftist caricature. Sure, the fact that he hated Nixon…