This will be a short riff–a mere sketch, really–sparked by a comment that was part of an interview in the NY Times Magazine, drawn to my attention by this post of Gerard Van der Leun’s at American Digest. A historian … Continue reading →
It seems to be the time of year for Lists of Ten. The beautiful Alexandra of the beautiful blog All Things Beautiful has challenged bloggers to name the Ten Worst Americans of the past 230 years. I might be able … Continue reading →
I’ve been asked by Shrinkwrapped to come up with my suggestions for the “Top Ten Things New Yorkers Can Do to Stay Sane in ’06.” I’m not ordinarily one for giving advice (I don’t think people usually take it), nor … Continue reading →
Why do I say this story’s got everything? Well, let’s see: (1) anonymous and totally unidentified sources as the conduit for all the information, check; (2) accusations of religious profiling, check; (3) vociferous Council on American-Islamic Relations protests, check; (4) … Continue reading →
So far, at least, the aftermath of the recent Iraqi elections seems to be–as Austin Bay writes–more jaw-jaw than war-war. If even Reuters says so, it’s good enough for me. There’s a lot of post-election sturm and drang, to be … Continue reading →
No, I’m not just being PC. Today is that rarest of days–both Christmas Day and Chanukah at the same time. So I get the opportunity to wish everyone a happy holiday at once. I’m giving myself the gift of light … Continue reading →
In other seasons, it’s just a pond. A small and nondescript one at that, subject to some sort of algae-like scum in summer, and with a row of ducks on the side. It’s located in the park where I frequently … Continue reading →
As part of my “literary leftists” series, I’ve been doing research for a possible future post on Richard Wright, the black novelist and poet (and member of the Communist Party from the late 1920s through part of the 1940s), whose … Continue reading →
A while back, I wrote about the important job I thought Second Draft was doing in presenting facts and original material about controversial news coverage–and perhaps misrepresentations–of certain events in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Recently, Second Draft has taken on the … Continue reading →
Is the true meaning of these preliminary Iraqi election results unclear? You bet it is. The trends as they appear so far: a majority of the members of the new Iraqi National Assembly have religious ties– mostly Shiite (44%), but … Continue reading →
Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna has written a fascinating post comparing Iran’s President Ahmadinejad to Hitler. Oh, I know; it’s become downright fashionable these days to compare all sorts of world leaders to Hitler–particularly President Bush. But Ahmadinejad really … Continue reading →
I haven’t written yet about the controversy over government wiretaps designed to eavesdrop on conversations with terrorists. That’s partly because so many have covered the story already, and partly because I like to do a lot of reading on a … Continue reading →