November 30, 2024 – 6:29 pm
How many of you think we are going to get all the way to January 20th without some kind of radically disruptive “black swan” event? (The obvious candidate right now seems to be war with Russia — which our Imperial Court and its European vassals seem hell-bent on bringing about — but there are all […]
November 27, 2024 – 11:47 am
Enjoy the holiday, everybody. We have much to be thankful for this year.
November 16, 2024 – 10:42 am
We’re back from our eight-day visit to Rome. Glad to see the U.S. still standing. Did I miss anything?
November 8, 2024 – 10:44 am
Dear Democrats, Four years ago, you took the keys to the family car. Did you drive it with care and respect? No. You got high as a kite and took it for a crazy, reckless joyride, without any consideration for the damage you were causing. From bumper to bumper – border security, immigration, foreign policy, […]
November 5, 2024 – 5:46 pm
Tomorrow, just as the reverberations of today’s election begin to ripple around the globe, the lovely Nina and I are heading off to the Eternal City for a long-postponed visit. I might find time to post something or other, but if not, I should be back in harness here in about ten days. (As for […]
October 3, 2024 – 12:56 pm
A quick review of my comment policy: WordPress, the software I use, provides a comment-moderation feature that blocks all incoming comments until they are approved by me. I’ve never switched it on; I’ve been fortunate, over the decades, never to have felt the need. After 6,766 posts, and 28,888 comments, I’ve only ever removed a […]
September 26, 2024 – 7:01 pm
By now you have probably heard that Eric Adams, the glabrous black ex-cop who is (for now) Mayor of New York, is under multiple indictments for various acts of political corruption involving bribery and foreign influence, the culmination of a probe that has over the past couple of months swept up a number of his […]
September 23, 2024 – 12:16 am
As are all of our days. (Woody Allen once asked why they should be numbered, and not lettered.) Today, though, as it happens — on September 23rd, 2024 — the number of my days is a nice round one: exactly 25,000. It’s been a bit of a slog at times, and I’m well out of […]
September 7, 2024 – 7:22 pm
Well, August is over, Labor Day has come and gone (and with it the annual four-day gathering and concert series of the Shoal Survivors, the musical collective I’ve been a member of for a decade now), and I really should try to get this blog up and running again. I’ve been in a slump for […]
Note: I’ve just edited this post; what I’d written here yesterday was way too dark. It’s probably going to be very slow here at the blog for the next few weeks. I’ve got kids and grandkids about to arrive who will be with us through July, and I won’t have much time for brooding and […]
Pressure is building as we head into the summer and fall. I wonder what’s coming. Some possibilities: 1) Despite Joe Biden’s now-undeniable caducity and incapacity, the people running the show keep him on, and do what’s necessary to claim a victory in November. (We know they will do whatever they think they can get away […]
Happy Fathers’ Day to all you dads out there. The question often comes up: “what is best in life?” When Conan the Cimmerian was asked this, he gave what is certainly a plausible answer: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.” While perfectly reasonable, this […]
The Muse is silent for the moment, I’m afraid. (There’s plenty to comment on — this outrage, for example — but I’d have little to add but splenetic grumbling, so I won’t bother.) Back soon. I’ve been digesting some substantial reading lately, and expect I’ll have something to say about all of that.
I’m away for the weekend – a recording session and live gig with the Shoal Survivors. Back soon.
Today I learned that the Biden administration has been holding secret talks with Iran to discuss how to bring Israel to heel, starting with toppling Israel’s government. To my many left-leaning Jewish friends: have you seen enough yet? Are you still voting Democrat?
Away in NYC for a couple of days. Back soon.
In my previous post I commented on the spectacle of pampered students and faculty at our elite colleges and universities cutting class, donning keffiyehs, LARPing as oppressed Palestinians (at the top of their lungs, and as disruptively as possible, which is always fun and exciting), and calling for the extinction of the Jewish state. (As […]
Oh, yes, readers: it can happen anywhere. Wake up.
I must apologize for not writing much these past few weeks; we’ve had personal matters to attend to, and have had to travel back and forth between home (the far end of Cape Cod) and New York several times (300 miles of driving each way). There’s a lot I want to write about when I […]
With a hat-tip to Charles Murray on X: The Seven Tribes of Intellect. (One has to wonder: what must it have been like to be John von Neumann?)
April 16, 2024 – 12:08 pm
We’re in NYC for a couple of days, where my lovely wife is having surgery for one of those damned basal-cell carcinomas that seem to afflict so many people these days. Back soon.
In a development that has medical and longevity experts scratching their heads, the recording/mixing engineer, former martial-arts instructor, acidulous opinionator, and bibulous curmudgeon Malcolm Pollack celebrated his 68th birthday on April 13th. Asked to comment, one leading expert said that the news has “made us wonder if we have to re-examine some of our most […]
Well, the Eclipse has come and gone, and as far as I can make out, there’s no sign of either the Rapture or the Apocalypse. (I realize such things might take some extra time to reach us here in the Outer Cape, but even on social media things just seem to be blaring away as […]
The White House has decided to dedicate this Sunday to its malevolent, Gnostic project of obliterating every sacred thing, every natural category, and every stone in the foundation of the American nation. “But wait,” you say, “this Sunday’s Easter!! Couldn’t they at least have picked some other day?” Gosh, you’re right. I’m sure they’d just […]
We’re away in NYC for a few days. Back soon. (Will be glad to get home.)
I haven’t been able to do any substantial writing for a bit – I’m still foggy from this virus I’ve had (though I’m recovering now, it was a nasty bug, with fatigue and cognitive wooziness to rival the Wuhan Red Death itself). I also had to make around trip from Wellfleet to JFK on Monday […]
Commenter “Landroll” asks, in response to my previous post about the incremental militarization of the New York City subway system: Like the line from the song says, “Whatcha gonna do about it?” I don’t know what song that is, but: So far, what I’ve done about it has been to move out of New York, […]
Our reader and commenter ‘mharko’ has left some excellent remarks on a thread at Bill V.’s place about our worsening political situation. Go and have a look, here. (Sorry not to have responded myself, mharko. I’m still quite foggy and unwell with this damned respiratory virus I’ve been battling, and it’s been all I can […]
February 29, 2024 – 6:09 pm
I’ve been nursing a surprisingly debilitating cold (or flu, or something) for the past few days. It makes it difficult to summon up the energy to do much of anything, and I’ve been unable to concentrate the little grey cells enough to write anything worth reading. (I did manage another comment or two in that […]
February 25, 2024 – 9:29 am
On the road. Back Tuesday. Update, Tuesday evening: I’m back home, but after dropping the lovely Nina at JFK last night for a 1:35 a.m. flight to Hong Kong (to visit our grandkids), and then driving five hours back to Wellfleet, getting to bed just before sunup, and sleeping fitfully for a few hours, I’m […]
February 22, 2024 – 10:34 pm
My friend “Spandrell” has a new version of his blog up and running. I’ve linked to several of his posts over the years, in particular his 2017 three-part essay on what he calls “Bioleninism”. (You can read that here.) Span is a very smart guy, and he’s one of the OGs of what used to […]
February 13, 2024 – 10:03 pm
As I write, the House has impeached Homeland Security secretary Mayorkas: a pointless gesture, a little kayfabe for the fans. Yes, he’s lied to us, and to Congress. Yes, he’s an enemy who hates us. But he’s an underling, a myrmidon, a stooge, an infantryman, a dogsbody. His impeachment will die in the Senate, like […]
February 12, 2024 – 2:31 pm
Well, the site’s all fixed up; I just spent hours recreating all the old linked-series entries in a new plugin (fortunately I was able to pull all the info I needed from the backend database, though it’s been six years since I’ve had to write any SQL, so it took me a minute to remember […]
February 9, 2024 – 5:08 pm
I’ve been having some backend issues with the website: page links, comments, etc. aren’t working, and for a while today the site was completely inaccessible. I’m trying to get it all fixed, but until I do things won’t be working properly, and the site may be down from time to time. Update, 2/11: I’ve had […]
January 28, 2024 – 1:12 pm
I’m saddened today by some bad news: the death of guitarist Dean Brown, who was a beautiful, gifted musician and a hell of a nice guy. He had for several months been battling a mysterious form of cancer, and on January 26th he lost the fight. My deepest sympathies to his wife Ruth, and his […]
January 21, 2024 – 1:08 pm
OK, folks, we are heading into a year that will likely make the last few seem like “the good old days”. I have put together a bluntly and unsentimental list of some of the direst possibilities. Which of these seem likely? 1) 9/11-level terror attack 2) New and far deadlier pandemic 3) Trump jailed 4) […]
January 13, 2024 – 12:35 pm
We’re back home — my lovely wife Nina had some surgery on Thursday, and is now resting and recovering. Back to posting shortly.
January 10, 2024 – 1:06 pm
I’m not likely to be able to post for a couple of days. Back by the weekend.
January 8, 2024 – 2:55 pm
Over at Maverick Philosopher, Bill Vallicella links to two contrasting articles. The first, by Binyamin Applebaum, an editor at the New York Times, is a panegyric on the presidency of Joe Biden. The second, by Peter van Buren at American Conservative, is a jeremiad called “Evening in America”. It’s a stark and fascinating juxtaposition. In […]
January 2, 2024 – 8:09 pm
I am very sorry to tell you that our longtime friend and commenter here at this blog, Robert (a.k.a. “Whitewall”) has very suddenly and unexpectedly lost his wife. I can only imagine the terrible shock and sorrow he must be going through, and I ask you all to think of him and to keep him […]
January 1, 2024 – 9:52 pm
To kick off 2024 — a year in which I think we all will be tested — here is an important reminder from David Bowie (PBUH): Great advice from David Bowie pic.twitter.com/CheUp389ow — Darrell Craig Harris Pro Bassist (@DarrellCBassist) January 2, 2024
December 31, 2023 – 6:09 pm
Happy New Year, everybody! Take a deep breath. 2024 is going to be “interesting”.
December 27, 2023 – 10:24 pm
I was saddened today to hear news of the death of Tommy Smothers, whose wholesome, good-natured comedy (and fine guitar playing) I, and all of my generation, grew up with. The America of that bygone era all seems like a fading and faraway dream. Here he is with another iconic figure from the Before Time: […]
December 24, 2023 – 11:16 pm
I hope you all have a happy and peaceful day, and that you can set all this tumult aside for a moment, enjoy the company of those you love, and think about higher, better things. Thank you all for stopping by here, especially those of you who kept checking in during the long interval when […]
December 20, 2023 – 12:41 pm
We live in a world of obvious lies. Magna est veritas, et praevalebit, goes the old saying — “the truth is mighty, and will prevail” — but “will prevail”, as should be apparent to all at this moment in our history, is clearly not the same thing as “does prevail”. I’m fond of quoting Theodore […]
December 17, 2023 – 11:59 pm
I’m just putting a placeholder here lest anyone think the blog is sinking back into desuetude (I’m not going to let that happen again). It’s Christmas season, and there’s a lot going on around here — for example, tonight we went to Chandler Travis’s annual Christmas Cavalcade charity show here on the Cape, which was […]
December 13, 2023 – 10:05 pm
I am very sorry to say that our longtime e-pal (and commenter) Bill Keezer has died. Our friend the Maverick Philosopher has written a remembrance of him, here. Rest in peace, Bill. It was a pleasure, and a gift, to have known you all these years.
December 12, 2023 – 8:12 pm
There’s a branch of science called “forensic entomology”. It’s used in criminal investigations to determine the time of death for corpses by examining them to see what species of insects have invaded the body. There are specific timelines for this, depending on where the body is found, and I understand that it provides a pretty […]
September 24, 2023 – 6:16 pm
Worm that jumps from rats to slugs to human brains has invaded Southeast US