No “get lost!” option
I have a whole menagerie of pet peeves, and here’s one of them. Way too many websites push some action or other with a choice to do it or not do it. Sounds reasonable and inoffensive, right? And it is, … Continue reading →
neo
Open thread 11/20/2025
By the roadside:
Continue reading →Orwell on the uses of hatred
In this post I’ll be presenting the “Two Minutes Hate” excerpt from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. I think the template for the passage’s physical description of Goldstein (the object of the Hate) may have been Trotsky, at least in part. Here’s … Continue reading →
Iran’s having a drought
And it’s a serious one; there’s been talk of possibly having to evacuate Tehran. So cloud-seeding was begun – and then came floods: Rainfall caused floods in parts of western Iran on Monday, after months of drought led to the … Continue reading →
On talking politics
From Robert Graboyes: If you and I have lunch together, I would be DELIGHTED to discuss history, science, art, music, architecture, economics, aviation, archaeology, travel, pets, cinema, television, numismatics, literature, sports, ethics, food, genetics, fashion, gardening, weather, family, transportation, agriculture, … Continue reading →
Open thread 11/19/2025
Roundup
(1) Michelle Obama says black people don’t swim because white people demand that black people not wear natural hairdos. Or something like that – you can figure it out, if you care to. Seems to me her statement manages to … Continue reading →
The UN Security Council unanimously approves Trump’s Gaza/PA plan
When was the last time the Security Council voted unanimously on anything in the Middle East involving Israel? In this case, Russia and China abstained – but still, the whole thing makes me suspicious. Here’s the news: The resolution implements … Continue reading →
Open thread 11/18/2025
Maybe I’ll have a week of dog posts for the open threads. Or maybe not:
Continue reading →The tiresome Epstein files
Trump has called on the GOP to vote for the release of all the Epstein files, and get down to touting their accomplishments and achieving more for the American people. One can conclude from this that such a release would … Continue reading →
A few things about Thomas Crooks, Trump’s would-be assassin
It’s been widely remarked that we know next to nothing about Thomas Crooks, the young man who shot Trump in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania. Crooks himself was shot dead that day. The FBI – headed by Wray at the … Continue reading →
Parsing the comments
For many years I’ve made it a practice to read a lot of comments all over the blogosphere and in the MSM. I’ve noticed in recent years a growth in comments from – for want of a better word – … Continue reading →