November 13, 2012 – 10:24 pm
My, what a lot of advice folks on the Left are giving the GOP all of a sudden! They seem truly concerned. It’s all very touching. Meanwhile, I’m encouraged by how eager so many on the Right seem to be to shape-shift into something more marketable to the tiny voting bloc they imagine they might […]
November 12, 2012 – 11:55 pm
Sorry – it’s quiet here at the moment, because the lovely Nina and I are moving house this week. I’m no longer as young as I was, and this sort of thing is exhausting. Please browse our archives, take our ‘View a Random Post’ link for a spin, or go read some of what Bill […]
November 11, 2012 – 11:08 pm
I haven’t written much about martial arts lately, but tonight I do have a brief and instructive item. As I sat catching a bite at a local saloon last night, I saw what has to be one of the most stupendous UFC knockouts ever. It was administered to 38-year-old Rich Franklin by the 40-year-old fighter […]
November 11, 2012 – 1:40 am
In 2009 I wondered if secularism was an evolutionary dead end, a self-terminating defect. It is a fascinating question. The expansion of modern secularizing culture — in particular its characteristic features of irreligion, prolongation of education and the expansion of the educational franchise to women, widely available contraception and abortion and the elimination of any […]
November 10, 2012 – 11:25 am
In times like these, when hopes are dashed and all seems lost, when the red tide of battle has sown the fields with the corpses of your brethren, when a dark night has fallen that dawn may never break, it’s time to consult the Stoics. One of the greatest of them was Epictetus (55-135), a […]
November 8, 2012 – 6:39 pm
In my previous post I mentioned that as this blog turned more toward the political, I had noticed that there were some interesting commenters that didn’t come around any more. Longtime readers will certainly recall one, in particular, who posted here frequently: an exceptionally intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate man by the name of Bob Koepp. […]
November 8, 2012 – 1:50 pm
Last night I sat up late, ruminating on Tuesday’s result, and weighing defiance against despair. I thought about how the tone and content of this blog (which are of course just a mirror of the tone and content of its author) had been taken over, more and more as years went by, by the need […]
November 7, 2012 – 12:44 pm
Peter Kirsanow posted this at the Corner today: Now that president Obama has been given more “flexibility,’ conservatives need to pause, recharge, assess, recalibrate. Then fight. Conservatives can’t be in denial. The country may very well be at a tipping point. Yes, millions fewer voted for Obama than in 2008, but it’s astonishing and disconcerting […]
November 7, 2012 – 12:10 am
We lost. I don’t know quite what to say about that just yet. I thought that just maybe this nation could pull the nose up before it was too late, but I guess it wasn’t to be. Brace for impact. Nothing to be ashamed of, though. We had a couple of pretty good centuries there. […]
November 6, 2012 – 11:56 am
Shortly after taking office in 2009, the newly minted President Barack Obama, speaking of his plan to re-energize America’s economy, told Matt Lauer: “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.’ OK, folks! Today’s the day. Let’s get out there and assert the proposition.
November 5, 2012 – 3:23 pm
An interesting item from Dan Foster. Here.
November 4, 2012 – 11:21 pm
This over the transom from the Obama campaign tonight: Malcolm — This is cool: You can see exactly how many people named Malcolm have already voted. Take a look at that. Then share it with your friends so they can see how many people with their names have voted, too — and look up their […]
November 4, 2012 – 10:24 pm
Here’s a post by our pal Jeffery Hodges in which he excerpts some remarks by Salman Rushdie on the subject of free speech. There is also a comment, by someone called “Crude”, that triggered a knee-jerk reaction on my part — but which, as I began to respond, I realized deserved more careful consideration. I’m […]
November 3, 2012 – 12:48 am
I’ve been almost completely disconnected from the Internet for the past couple of days (I traveled back yesterday to storm-ravaged New York City, where I’m staying with friends, as our house here is still uninhabitable due to a construction project). So for tonight, just an item from the mailbag. The latest edition of Jonah Goldberg’s […]
October 31, 2012 – 11:12 pm
Here’s a grim item: a time-lapse film of Sandy ravaging New York, shot from a camera above the East river.
October 31, 2012 – 11:26 am
Got picked up on Michelle Malkin’s popular Twitter-aggregator site today. Not quite ready to quit the day job just yet, though.
October 31, 2012 – 10:47 am
Here’s a video that’s making the rounds, from Steven Crowder (the fellow who gave us that Lena Dunham parody a few days ago). In this one Mr. Crowder “redistributes” Hallowe’en candy to reduce inequality. Needless to say, the kids he’s taking the candy from don’t like it. It’s a funny video, sort of, and yes, […]
October 30, 2012 – 1:20 pm
Mangan’s is back up, after a long hiatus. Pop over for this item on the effects of high diversity.
October 29, 2012 – 9:27 pm
From NOAA, here’s the Water Vapor Loop for the eastern US.
October 29, 2012 – 8:39 pm
Here’s the big Con Ed plant at 14th Street. Blowing up. Here’s Long Island City and the East River. Jesus. Three feet of water on the floor of the NYSE (maybe; there are conflicting reports). This is getting biblical, folks. Worst of all, now: NYU medical center reported to be without power and no backup […]
October 29, 2012 – 7:08 pm
Tweeted just now by @tonywoodlief: Hurricane Sandy forces closure of UN, causing intolerable delays in the global spread of moral equivalence. Meanwhile, in New Jersey there are sharks in the streets. Update: that last one’s a fake. Here’s Atlantic City. And Brooklyn Bridge Park. Stuyvesant Town. Holy crap. Dennis Miller (@DennisDMZ) tweets: I’m in NY. […]
October 29, 2012 – 4:36 pm
Rickles at Reagan’s second inaugural. Here.
October 29, 2012 – 1:03 am
It’s 2 a.m., and getting mighty windy here in Wellfleet as Sandy moves north. Everybody knows the power’s going out sooner or later. I know that the worst of this storm is going to be felt south and west of here, but my, that wind sure is howling, and at times like this it’s awfully […]
October 28, 2012 – 3:40 pm
This warms my heart in so many ways.
October 28, 2012 – 2:49 pm
With a hat tip to Bill Keezer, here’s a look at the Obama administration’s increasingly routine use of kill lists and drone strikes to prosecute foreign policy. I excerpt two notable quotes from this post. The first is by its author: Benghazi illustrates the problem of the President having the authority for everything and the […]
October 28, 2012 – 12:08 pm
Kevin Kim gives us a memorable visual recap of the recent execution by mortar round of a tippling Nork military bigwig.
October 27, 2012 – 10:39 pm
With a hat tip to the indefatigable JK, here’s the latest on micro-drones. When I was at Singularity University this past April, a recurring theme was that the coming ubiquity of tiny, cheap and efficient sensors will soon have a seismic effect on the technological, and therefore the human, landscape. We like to think that […]
October 27, 2012 – 10:38 pm
Never heard of it? Neither had I. It has a negative Poisson ratio. Here. See also here and here.
October 27, 2012 – 10:28 pm
Breaking: big quake in the Queen Charlotte islands, off British Columbia. Here.
October 27, 2012 – 10:25 pm
Here’s a story that’s making the rounds today. I have no way of assessing its veracity.
October 27, 2012 – 8:26 pm
By now you’ve probably seen the Obama campaign’s video featuring Girls star Lena Dunham. It’s a pitch to female first-time voters, and the conceit of the video is to liken a girl’s first voting experience to her first sexual experience. “Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody,” the tattooed Ms. Dunham explains. “You want […]
October 26, 2012 – 10:31 pm
It being a lovely day yesterday, I stopped by the harbor to take in the view. Here’s the vista from Mayo Beach: After a minute or so I noticed that there was some sort of large animal in distress just offshore. All I could see was a single dark flipper lifting out of the water […]
October 24, 2012 – 3:58 pm
Mitt Romney drew scorn from Obama supporters, and warm approval from the rest of us, when he referred to Barack Obama’s “apology tour” during Monday’s debate. Obama apologizing for America? Never happened, says the Left. (Indeed, they even said it here.) Pah! Mere pettifogging and hairsplitting. Blogger Jeryl Bier explains, deftly and succinctly, here.
October 24, 2012 – 11:52 am
As we all know by now, the “Arab Spring” has led not to a flowering of pro-Western secular democracy, but instead has brought about a profound shift toward Islamist government throughout the region. Barry Rubin examines the President’s influence on this process, here. Hat tip: VFR.
October 23, 2012 – 5:49 pm
Do forgive me for all that doom & gloom in our previous thread. Here, this’ll cheer you up. From Jim Rickards.
October 22, 2012 – 10:47 pm
Well, there you have it, America. We don’t have to watch any more debates until the next presidential campaign gets underway, which won’t be for several months yet. Romney held his own well enough, and landed a few good blows (best of all: the apology tour). He looked steady and calm, and plausibly Presidential. That […]
October 22, 2012 – 5:55 pm
Readers, today we have come to the last debate of this historic election cycle. The stakes couldn’t be higher: upon this election hinges the very survival of this great Republic, and the security of our children, and our children’s children. So here’s tonight’s drinking game.
October 21, 2012 – 11:05 pm
From about 1580, in fact. Here.
October 20, 2012 – 9:06 pm
Just got this in the mail from the Obama campaign:
October 20, 2012 – 8:25 pm
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about defense-spending cuts. All I can say is they’d better not cut this.
October 20, 2012 – 12:30 pm
With just over two weeks to go until the election, I know many of you are still in the critical “undecided” column. If so, then perhaps this rousing exhortation, sent to me this morning by African Americans for Obama, will help you make up your mind: The American people and President Obama know how to […]
October 20, 2012 – 11:23 am
Here’s a gloomy piece about my genetic homeland. It contains this priceless quote from P. G. Wodehouse: “It is never difficult to distinguish between a ray of sunshine and a Scotsman with a grievance.’
October 19, 2012 – 8:20 pm
Here’s an odd little story — a million maps found in a 948-square-foot cottage about to be torn down.
October 19, 2012 – 8:14 pm
Want more of this? It’s up to you. Sixteen days and counting.
October 19, 2012 – 8:09 pm
Some “random thoughts on the passing scene” from Thomas Sowell: Not since the days of slavery have there been so many people who feel entitled to what other people have produced as there are in the modern welfare state, whether in Western Europe or on this side of the Atlantic. Yes, so much so that […]
October 18, 2012 – 10:04 pm
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama did a little standup comedy at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner tonight. Have a look. I’ve seen the President cracking wise before, but never Mr. Romney. I have to say, he was downright Carsonesque.
October 18, 2012 – 7:44 pm
Amazing slit-camera photography. See here and here.
October 18, 2012 – 7:16 pm
I haven’t posted anything about martial arts in quite a while, so I thought I’d share this clip of some truly remarkable practitioners. Hat tip: Matt Blazon.
October 18, 2012 – 3:29 pm
I wouldn’t want anyone reading the previous post to think I’m particularly stoked about Mitt Romney; he’s a total squish on many issues of importance to conservatives, and just another democracy-exporting dreamer when it comes to foreign affairs. Speaking of which: in this weeks Radio Derb, John Derbyshire zeroed in on the same comment from […]