Monthly Archives: September 2015

Natura Abhorret A Vacuo

September 30, 2015 – 6:01 pm

Big day in the Mideast: now that the Iranian deal is done, Russia is swiftly consolidating its control over Syria, and is demanding that we leave. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, the Russians are busily establishing a secure zone in the eastern Mediterranean. It appears that they are also mounting airstrikes, but not against […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Military, Foreign Affairs | Comments (16)

Coda?

September 30, 2015 – 10:02 am

Here’s another story from the Times, and for me, it’s a mighty sad one: The Music May Stop at a Storied Manhattan Studio The facility in question is Avatar Studios, which has for almost forty years been one of the finest recording studios in the world. It is now up for sale, and if history […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Music and Recording | Comments (4)

1529, 1683, 2015

September 29, 2015 – 8:32 pm

Here’s a headline from the New York Times: Rise of Austrian Right Lengthens Shadow of Nazi Era The article comments on the rise in Austria of anti-immigrant sentiment. What is remarkable, although not surprising, is that the entire continuum of political opinion on the question of immigration and and of the ethnic and religious composition […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Foreign Affairs, Jihad, Reaction | Comments (2)

Stateside

September 28, 2015 – 9:33 pm

Well, we’re back. It had been decades since I’d been to Vienna, and I’d forgotten what a lovely city it is. Gracious, orderly, and physically beautiful, it is a perfect embodiment of the sublime cultural achievements of a great civilization at its apex. (That apex is of course long past, but for now the order, […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (10)

Upon A Golden Bough

September 21, 2015 – 2:52 pm

Having passed a lovely weekend in Vienna, the lovely Nina and I are now in Istanbul. We’ll be back home, and this long-neglected blog will be beginning to get back to normal, early next week. I must say, there is a certain something about seats of empire. Even when the thing has thoroughly run its […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (13)

As I was Saying…

September 15, 2015 – 9:04 pm

I’ve written several posts about the culture of victimhood and microaggression now hegemonic in academia and elsewhere. Among other points, I’ve noted that such a culture of perceived oppression is actually made possible only by the clemency of the ambient culture: It is as if the grievance culture is a little “virtual machine” running inside […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Reaction | Comments (9)

Service Notice, and Open Thread 10

September 10, 2015 – 11:09 pm

Even though we’ve only just reopened the storefront here, the business may be mostly shuttered again for the next couple of weeks — this weekend we are off to a musical retreat in the Isles of Shoals, and then we’ll be getting a firsthand look at the European situation for the rest of the month. […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (11)

Dawkins And Diversity

September 7, 2015 – 10:20 pm

With the migrant crisis in Europe at full boil, immigration is a hot topic. I’ve just had another round with our multiculturalist gadfly in the previous post’s comment thread, but of course we’ve been over all of this before. I invite readers to review, in particular, the long and patient discussion we had here, which […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Pretty Good Posts, HBD | Comments (17)

As The World Burns

September 4, 2015 – 10:46 pm

Though it’s September, and time to get back to business around here, I haven’t had enough quiet time over the past few days to do any serious writing. (Though you may find it hard to believe, it actually takes me rather a long time to produce a substantial post — and then there’s coming up […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Darwin and Biology, Society and Culture, Foreign Affairs, Immigration, HBD | Comments (27)

Knock Yourself Out

September 2, 2015 – 9:52 pm

Something I hear a lot, in the ultra-blue precincts I haunt, is that the Second Amendment is a superannuated relic, an eighteenth-century atavism, and has no place in modern America. I hear mutterings about flintlocks and muskets, and become aware of a prevailing sentiment that the thing simply ought to be chucked. Well, have a […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Guns | Comments (6)

Okay!

September 1, 2015 – 9:36 pm

It’s September, and time to get back in harness. Have I missed anything? I have nothing prepared for tonight, but the little grey cells should be back in writing order again sometime in the next few days. Meanwhile, here’s a fantastic drum solo, some solid climate heresy, a video clip I find amusing, and some […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (2)