There’s a reason why we Americans still have an inferiority complex when it comes to British diction, erudition and (to a certain extent) humor: Can you name one, even one member of the US Congress who could write and deliver a speech such as the one given by William Hague above? Sigh. Hat tip to […]
Unqualified Reservations is a new addition to my daily blog reading, largely because of posts like this one: A better way to think of our present financial system is to compare it to Microsoft Windows. Windows is indeed complicated. It is astoundingly, brilliantly, profoundly complicated. If there is anyone in the world, even at Microsoft, […]
George Santayana famously said: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends upon retentiveness…Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Victor Davis Hanson, the noted military historian and classics professor, reminds us of the recent past in Iraq: After the victory of the 1991 Gulf War, a bipartisan consensus had emerged that […]
Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto yesterday, Pakistan has seen several large cities erupt in violence. Many of the protests have been peaceful but quite a few have turned violent, with rioters focusing on burning property and destroying anything they can. A summary map of the most active cities below: Far and away […]
It’s a sad day for the forces of moderation and cooperation in the Muslim world. Early this morning US Time, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed a short time after a political rally. Reports from the scene state that multiple shots where fired, and one person detonated an explosive vest at the time […]
Sometimes reality outshines The Onion: Dallas, Texas – Dellia Love is a vegan, a “raw vegan” to be precise. The word “vegan”, which is taken from from the first and last syllables of the word “vegetarian” is a form of vegetarianism but differs in that vegans eat no animal by-products whatsoever. So as a vegan, […]
A little over 10 years ago, I had the privilege of flying out to the USS Nimitz, which was underway off the California coast, and spending 24 hours on board. The commanding officer at the time was Captain (now Vice-Admiral, ret.) Alfred G. Harms, and I had the further privilege and honor of spending some […]
[UPDATED 11/27/07: Here’s an article from the CNN/Money web site that is raising the same issue: given current supply and inventory levels, there’s not much justification for oil approaching $100/bbl.] No, I’m not talking about whether or not the Peak Oil phenomenon exists, even though the Wall Street Journal seems to have jumped on the […]
“Space for all people” may sound nice, but who establishes (and enforces) the rule of law? I’m a very simple man, and here’s my simple understanding of property law: say I’m a solar-farmer on the moon, just selling my electrical output to them city-folk across the ridge at the spaceport. Pirates, who’ve mutinied against the […]
…from Megan McArdle, who is currently traveling through both countries: For some of the people around Ho Chi Minh City, of course, we were the good guys in the war; I spoke to a fair number of people who had relatives who had fled to the States after fighting on the South’s side in the […]
