…was just protecting his namesake lake: A 67-year-old woman says she was attacked by a beaver while paddleboarding on a lake named after the rodent in North Carolina. Betsy Bent told the Citizen-Times of Asheville that the beaver knocked her … Continue reading →
Now it’s coming out how the release of the Iranian hostages was arranged: the WSJ has reported that Obama paid a ransom of $400 million for them and kept it secret. Scott Johnson writes …[N]negotiators originally established a formula of … Continue reading →
That quote that I used for the title of this post is from Yeats’ famous poem “The Second Coming.” It’s one I’ve quoted many times on this blog, because it’s not only a great, great poem, but also because it … Continue reading →
…and then I’ll cease and desist (I think; I hope). I want to make it perfectly clear that I do not think grieving parents who make political speeches are above and beyond criticism. What I do think is that if … Continue reading →
…cuteness squared: I’m not at all sure I’d let a puppy that near a sleeping baby, though, however adorable.
Continue reading →Trump’s response to Khan was no anomaly; it was characteristic. And I mean the word “characteristic” in a double sense: “characteristic” as in “typical,” and also as in “a fundamental and entrenched part of Trump’s character/personality.” It is part of … Continue reading →
I’ve long respected Austin Bay, and so I found this article of his making the case for voting for Trump to be of interest, and I think it deserves an audience. Everyone who reads this blog regularly knows I’ve struggled … Continue reading →
One man (or woman), one vote. So how can your vote matter? Especially in predominantly red or blue states, where the results might seem to be (and usually are) a foregone conclusion. Well, ask the Democratic voters who stayed home … Continue reading →
I haven’t yet written about Trump’s reaction to the speech of Khazir Khan, the father of Humayun Khan, a Muslim soldier killed in the service of the US, although it’s been dominating the news for several days. I ignored it … Continue reading →
I know I’ve posted a video of this dance (“Partisans”) before, but I want to show it again. This video is of better quality than those that were previously available on YouTube, which makes me happy because it happens to … Continue reading →
When the recent police shootings in Dallas were in the news I was singularly impressed by Dallas Police Chief David Brown. In his public statements he was consistently calm yet intense, forceful yet articulate, during a time of great stress. … Continue reading →
It’s always hard to know what protests represent, because the crowds in the streets are always a very small percentage of a population. The real question is always: how many people sympathize with the protesters, and how many don’t? And … Continue reading →