September 2, 2011 – 6:26 pm
Well, the summer’s winding down on the Outer Cape, and after the terminal Labor Day spasm, it’s going to get a whole lot quieter here in Wellfleet. It’ll get quieter here on our little wooded knoll too, because the lovely Nina and I will be heading back to Gotham ourselves, come Wednesday. It’s been restful […]
August 30, 2011 – 11:36 am
Well, we’re stuck without power again, as of this morning. There are posts I’d like to write, but I’m not about to do so on this cell-phone, which is my only way of getting online. Worst of all: beer getting warm again.
August 14, 2011 – 2:18 pm
The Tea Party has taken heavy fire lately: blamed by the MSM for our recent market volatility and S&P credit downgrade, derogated as “hostage-takers” and “terrorists” by prominent Democrats, while leading Tea Party candidates have been the subject of scary magazine articles and intentionally hideous cover photos. (All part of the rough-and-tumble of American politics, […]
August 13, 2011 – 11:09 am
Charles Murray saw it coming.
August 12, 2011 – 9:13 pm
I have a feeling this could really catch on…
August 10, 2011 – 8:10 pm
As the long-awaited global apocalypse unfolds before our eyes, I’ve done what any responsible citizen with a proper sense of duty — or in fact, any sense at all — would do: run away. The lovely Nina and I have withdrawn to a well-provisioned bolt-hole in one of the nation’s easternmost extremities, and as long […]
Awful news: 31 US troops, including 22 members of Seal Team Six, were killed in Afghanistan by a Taliban attack on a Chinook helicopter in Wardak province, Afghanistan. This adds deep, and deeply symbolic, sorrow to what is already a very grim weekend indeed here in America. They went with songs to the battle, they […]
If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be a drug mule who’s just swallowed five condoms full of heroin, ask someone who’s long in the market this weekend.
August 4, 2011 – 11:02 pm
Got home too late to write anything tonight — worked a long day at the office, then stopped off on the way home to grab a couple of slices with what was left of my 401(k).
August 3, 2011 – 11:01 am
New blog on the way from our friend Kevin Kim. Here.
I find myself imagining a gathering crowd watching the Capitol from some safe distance as the frenzy increases inside, with the two houses of Congress joined by the President in a furious battle-royal. The mighty building starts to quiver and shake. Clouds of steam begin to rise, and the walls start to glow — at […]
In a dark mood, I ran across this little shaft of light yesterday: When the sound and wholesome nature of man acts as an entirety, when he feels himself in the world as a grand, beautiful, worthy and worthwhile whole, when this harmonious comfort affords him a pure, untrammelled delight: then the universe, if it […]
According to this item, Internet-connectivity addiction is as powerful, and as difficult during withdrawal, as habituation to alcohol or tobacco. This is such palpable nonsense that I thought it warranted an immediate post. Perhaps I’ll mention it on Twitter, too. But first I’ll see what the reaction’s been around the blogosphere.
It is too soon to write a post that comments in any analytical way on the Oslo massacre, though its ramifications will be profound, perhaps even to the point of changing the arc of European history. In its grotesque particulars, which are still coming to light, it is an act of such devastating horror, of […]
I’m talking about the weather, of course. This heat wave is as bad as it ever gets here in Gotham, and that’s saying something. Every year, as Spring latens, a creeping, hope-killing fear begins to stir in me, as I hear the brazen hinges of the Hell-mouth starting to swing open, and know that Satan, […]
Forgive me for asking, but what the hell are we doing aligning ourselves with these people? We’ve just given them the stamp of official US recognition, and granted them access to billions of dollars of frozen Libyan assets. Also: can someone explain to me why on Earth we should be giving one nickel of foreign […]
With a hat-tip to our friend The Stiletto, we direct you to a pungent example of the machinery of justice at work. The case concerns an Iowa jailbird who, it was alleged, had thrown feces at one of the screws — a simple act of defiance that is fully conformant with traditional primate style, and […]
With a hat-tip to commenter “Scott” over at Mangan’s, here’s a meaty interview, from King World News, with financial analyst Jim Rickards on the arcane topic of credit default swaps (and why they’re evil).
Well, here’s something I just found out the hard way: insects can get inside your laptop screen. I was sitting at the computer, saw a bug crawling across the screen, reached up to knock it away, and ended up squashing it. I went to wipe it off and realized it was behind the clear plastic […]
A friend and former magazine editor contacted me recently to ask my help in finding a designer for a freelance project she’s doing: a new magazine for a branch of our armed services. The person she thought best qualified for the job, a former colleague, turned down the work because of the moral distastefulness of […]
Here’s a striking image of that enormous storm on Saturn. (Al Gore was unavailable for comment.)
Well, we’ve just got back to the city after a very long day’s drive, and things will be getting back to normal here shortly. For tonight, just a couple of links: First, as the debt-limit deadline looms, you might enjoy this series of essays by Arthur Laffer on taxation. And here’s an item from Dennis […]
We’re tuning out for the long weekend; I’m sure the world will manage to keep on going straight to hell without us for a couple of days. Thanks as always for visiting, and please feel free to browse our endlessly fascinating archives, or to give the View a Random Post link a whirl.
Who says immigrants can’t assimilate?
Our friend The Stiletto has linked to a sad and instructive item, by the daughter of the feminist icon Alice Walker. The Stiletto excerpts the following passages: [M]y mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully […]
Lawrence Auster has put up two links today that I think deserve reposting here. In the first, Mark Steyn addresses our nation’s modern, self-abnegating approach to war: Transnational do-gooding is political correctness on tour. It takes the relativist assumptions of the multiculti varsity and applies them geopolitically: The white man’s burden meets liberal guilt. No […]
If you’re curious about the “go meatless” movement, then get a load of this.
When even Jim Cramer is somber about the market, things can’t be good. In a post published today, Mr. Cramer outlines what he thinks “Armageddon” would look like, should it come to pass: Throw in the towel and buy lower and later if you think the worst is coming. Or stay the course. At this […]
Yesterday, June 12th, the lovely Nina and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. Given that so many marriages fall apart these days, that’s a pretty good streak — and as the years lengthen, I’m asked from time to time just how we’ve managed it. I’ve given it a lot of thought. There are of course […]
Things look gloomy for the US economy these days. Job numbers are way down. The markets are sagging. A while back President Obama instructed American businesses to “step up” and resume hiring. That ought to have disposed of the problem at once, but for some reason compliance has been spotty. A report from the Small […]
Reader JK sends along this gem from H.L. Mencken. I reproduce it in full, with highlights bolded. H.L.MENCKEN 1524 HOLLINS ST. BALTIMORE December 2nd 1927 Dear Charles:- A few notes: 1. I bought some brown shoes six or eight years ago, and have worn them off and on ever since. I have also taken to […]
It’s a quiet holiday weekend, and I’ve nothing much to write about. The only major news from here on Hiram Hill is that a fox going by the name of Wily Willy seems to have taken up residence under our deck. He’s an elusive critter, but earlier today I did manage to whip out my […]
I’ve been busy mixing at the moment, and completely out of touch, with no time for following up on matters blogospheric (comment-thread rebuttals, etc.). Back in harness shortly, insh’Allah. One thing I have seen is the utter devastation in Joplin, MO — and tonight I heard a meteorologist saying something like: “those were little tornadoes, […]
Here you have it, from Stephen Hawking: “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”
Although there’s plenty in the political news to comment on (for example, President Obama’s immigration speech, and his telling businesses to “step up” and hire more workers), I just haven’t any time this week. We do, however, have a prescient item by the late Douglas Adams, sent my way by my friend Howard Robinson. Here.
Tonight, two items from Christopher Hitchens, who is, thankfully, still with us. One of the things I’ve always admired most about Mr. Hitchens (apart from his razor-sharp intellect, his quick wit, his willingness to change his mind publicly when reason dictates, his debating skills, and his formidable prose style) is his marvellous speaking voice — […]
Due to the demands of the workplace and a flurry of evening activities, I’ll not have much time for blogging this week, and things may be fairly quiet around here.
Well, predictably enough, the conspiracy theorists are out in force, alleging that the OBL operation was a hoax. Fortunately, our network of embedded USN sources has sent us, by clandestine channels, incontrovertible evidence straight from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson (that’s CVN-70, to you InfoDiss readers). This should, I think, put matters to […]
This just in, from a reader:
From President Obama’s address on the death of Osama bin Laden: …[S]hortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his […]
The lovely Nina and I are unwinding by the sea this weekend, and so soothing to the inflamed spirit are the fragrant littoral breezes, so dulcifying the clear spring sunshine, that it’s going to be hard for me to work up any of the partisan tirades and effusions of bitter gall that usually grace these […]
April 27, 2011 – 10:44 pm
Here’s a harrowing video clip of today’s tornado in Alabama. The terror of the person filming it is palpable, and contagious.
OK, enough politics. Time for a little Kumbaya, and maybe a reason to go on living. Here’s a young Scotsman by the name of Brendan MacFarlane. And here, and here.
Here’s the latest stab at a neurological explanation of political attitudes: a study that associates conservatism with larger amygdalas, and liberalism with larger anterior cingulate gyruses. We read: Based on what is known about the functions of those two brain regions, the structural differences are consistent with reports showing a greater ability of liberals to […]
If you haven’t seen it yet (and by now you probably have): a spirited — to say the least! — response to Congressional archdhimmi Lindsey Graham, from a Colorado pepperpot by the name of Ann Barnhardt. Move over, Pat Condell! There’s a new kid in town. Watch it now, before it’s taken down.
Today’s Science Daily newsletter featured a story about a new website that mines Twitter postings to make stock-market predictions. Given that stock prices are themselves largely dependent on the sentiment of the crowd, there might be something to it. Read the article here, or visit the site itself: TweetTrader.net.
Over at Mangan’s, Dennis questions commonly accepted ideas about sleep; it turns out that our sleaves may in fact last a little longer if we leave them a little ravel’d. Here.