October 28, 2012 – 3:40 pm
This warms my heart in so many ways.
October 27, 2012 – 10:28 pm
Breaking: big quake in the Queen Charlotte islands, off British Columbia. Here.
October 15, 2012 – 2:15 pm
I must apologize for the thin content here over the past few days — from time to time the demands and obligations of personal life leave me no time for blogging. (I realize that for waka waka waka to go dark for a day or two deprives no one of oxygen, but a lot of […]
October 5, 2012 – 9:53 pm
I’m feeling a little under the weather tonight, so all I have to offer is a handful of interesting links. Here’s an item about construction of three-dimensional objects by swarms of autonomous drones acting without central guidance. Here’s one about evolutionary music-composition algorithms. This item covers a topic that gets far too little attention from […]
October 3, 2012 – 6:32 pm
OK, folks, ready for the big debate? The good people at RebelPundit.com have given us tonight’s drinking game. Here it is: Bottoms up!
September 27, 2012 – 6:17 pm
To all who’ve emailed with links, comments, etc. recently: thanks as always. We’re moving house today and tomorrow, however, and will not be able to get to any of it for at least a couple of days.
September 24, 2012 – 8:28 pm
There will be reduced activity here this week, as the lovely Nina and I are fully consumed with the immense task of emptying our Brooklyn house so as to permit a major reconfiguration of its interior space. Given that our kids have now moved out, and that we are spending more and more of our […]
September 19, 2012 – 1:23 pm
That was quite a storm we had here in the Northeast last night, coming most abruptly on the heels of a delightful run of gorgeous late-summer days. It brought to mind Mark Twain’s remarks about New England weather: Yes, one of the brightest gems in the New England weather is the dazzling uncertainty of it. […]
September 14, 2012 – 6:38 pm
I realize, dear readers, that these pages, which once upon a time covered an eclectic salmagundi of topics, have had a relentless focus lately on politics and foreign affairs. Our interest in other things is undiminished, but with the world catching fire, and the most important presidential election of our lifetime right around the corner, […]
September 14, 2012 – 4:08 pm
This is just terrific. Obama in 2007: “I truly believe that the day I’m inaugurated, not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. If I’m reaching out to the Muslim world, uh, they understand that I’ve lived in a Muslim country — and I may be a […]
September 10, 2012 – 10:08 pm
Here’s a beautiful time-lapse video shot in two Western parks during the Perseid meteor shower. Full-screen recommended.
September 10, 2012 – 9:52 pm
In a post-n-thread over at Ace of Spades HQ about computer time-sucks, Ace complains of something that afflicts me too. He calls it “tab hoarding“. It’s the result of skittering about the Web reading items that contain links, opening the links for a moment in a new tab, and going back to what you were […]
September 7, 2012 – 11:21 am
Be still, my heart: Beer Wellness Land. More images here.
September 4, 2012 – 7:19 pm
To the person who sent the Churchill books to my home in Brooklyn today, with no note enclosed: if you’re a reader of this blog, thanks. (And thanks also, of course, even if you aren’t.) It’s nice to have something to look forward to when we get back to the city.
September 4, 2012 – 7:12 pm
In this election year’s frenzy of so-called “fact-checking”, we’ve been hearing a lot about the Obama administration’s recent maneuver regarding the 1996 welfare-reform law known as TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, part of the Social Security Act). In case you missed it, back in July, HHS secretary Sibelius issued a fiat declaring that the […]
September 1, 2012 – 10:43 pm
Sorry it’s been so slow around here, readers, but with the long and languorous days of summer now drawing to a close, the little grey cells should soon get back to work. (I’m afraid I’ve fallen behind in my email correspondence too — apologies to all.) So for now, just an entertaining follow-up on that […]
August 27, 2012 – 11:57 am
As we’ve all heard by now, the astronaut Neil Armstrong died last week. For the 43 years following his moonwalk, an achievement that he could surely have parlayed into wealth and glittering fame, the self-effacing Armstrong chose instead to lived a quiet life of teaching and farming. (In contrast, the pathologically narcissistic Barack Obama — […]
August 24, 2012 – 1:33 pm
As the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once explained, “Democracy is like a train. We shall get out when we arrive at the station we want.” That train seems to be moving along briskly in Egypt, where last week the democratically elected President, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, ousted the Mubarak-era leadership of the […]
August 12, 2012 – 8:58 pm
Here’s the damage to the U.S.S. Porter, in case you were wondering.
August 10, 2012 – 2:29 pm
Are you a transgendered Wiccan in a stable polyamorous relationship? Got a craving for a juicy, crispy, perfectly seasoned chicken sandwich, but would sooner camp out for Donny Osmond tickets than darken the door of a Chick-fil-a? Well, sir or madam, today’s your lucky day. Have a look here.
August 9, 2012 – 10:13 pm
Behold the geniuses who want to run the world.
August 7, 2012 – 11:31 pm
“Such is the nature of man, that for your first gift — he prostrates himself; for your second — kisses your hand; for the third — fawns; for the fourth — just nods his head once; for the fifth — becomes too familiar; for the sixth — insults you; and for the seventh — sues […]
August 5, 2012 – 11:34 pm
“Give me the razor, Jim,” said Turkle, his eyes glittering coldly. “Not until you drop that fish,” I told him, letting the strop slip from my hand. I heard it slap dully against the titanium frame. The… thing on the bench began to stir. One chance, I thought to myself. I’ll get one chance. “Jesus […]
It’s August, and it’s hot and sticky, even here in the Outer Cape. Under these conditions, my little grey cells are roused to action with the greatest reluctance, and even then give only second-rate service. So for the next few weeks substantial posts may be sporadic at best; all I’m likely to have on offer […]
Things having gone so well elsewhere in the region, it appears we have decided to throw our weight behind the Syrian rebels.
In response to a recent post featuring Victor Davis Hanson’s series of essays on the decline of civilized life in California’s Central Valley, a reader complained about all this pessimistic “conservative porn”. Here, then, is Dr. Hanson showing some optimism. Perhaps readers seeing this will be inclined to take his reporting from Mexifornia more seriously.
You’ve seen those ads for the Most Interesting Man In The World, I’m sure. Here’s someone who I think could give him a run for his money.
OK folks, here you go: Ayn Rand meets Johnny Carson.
Attention stoners: if pot ever becomes legal, you’re going to have more disposable cash. Learn more here.
Took ’em down. Too overwrought. Back in a little while.
It’s just too warm and humid to write. So here’s an article, in two parts, about the way we parse the world, and why. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.
You’ve no doubt heard about the runaway erotic bestseller 50 Shades of Grey. If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about, here’s a steamy excerpt, as read by a noted celebrity.
Britain’s isolation by salt water throughout historical time had a lot to do with its stability and rise to global power (though of course there is more to a nation’s destiny than geography). It wasn’t always that way, though. Learn more here.
From this morning’s parade here in Wellfleet: As you can see, not much changes around here.
Here’s something really wonderful, from our friend Horace Jeffery Hodges. Go and enjoy.
That the mainstream media list hard to port is so obvious to anyone who doesn’t share their reference frame that it’s hardly worth mentioning — or at least it would be so if everyone on the left didn’t deny it so fatiguingly and disingenuously at every opportunity. With that in mind, here’s a refreshing post […]
The other day I was reading up on Phlebopus marginatus, the Salmon gum mushroom of Western Australia, and noticed that it is “generally recorded as of unknown edibility”. I was surprised to see that — I mean, is the thing edible, or not? — until I thought about it and realized just what’s involved in […]
Call me crazy, but I think this is one rakish alligator.
Here’s Arthur Miller, remembering the sweltering New York of his youth. (I doubt I would have survived it.)
Working late tonight, with much to catch up on — so for now, just an odd little item about the physics of Slinkies.
We’re back, after a splendid trip. Visiting Venice and Florence reminds one just how tall the West’s candle once stood, and on returning home it’s hard not to dwell on how very low it has burned. But that’s just the way of the world, I suppose. Did I miss anything? I have a lot of […]
We’ll likely be off the air until sometime around June 21st: the lovely Nina and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with a little trip to Italy (Venice and Florence). We’ll have scant access to email and the Internet — and it will be nice to take a little break from all that is […]
From the website “prosthetic knowledge” comes this cross-section of a marram-grass leaf:
Here’s a nifty invention, at least four years in the making. Wonder how long the deregulating will take?
From NASA: a little historical item about a previous transit of Venus.