New Podcast
The latest Sanity Squad podcast is up at Pajamas.
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Khatami, Cheney, whatever: misunderstanding freedom of speech
Last night I was talking to my fellow Sanity Squad members after taping this week’s podcast (no, it’s not online yet, but should be soon). The session you hear is usually just the tip of the iceberg for us. As … Continue reading →
Looking at 9/11, half a decade later
Does it seem as though five years have passed since that dreadful day of the stunningly blue sky, the orange flames, the plumes of grey-black smoke? In some ways it seems a lifetime; one looks back at before-9/11 and thinks … Continue reading →
Assignment 9/11: Glenn Wilkinson, firefighter, father
I signed up with the 2996 Project, a tribute to the victims of 9/11. The idea was to get 2996 bloggers to volunteer, and to have each write a post devoted to one person who was killed by Islamist totalitarian … Continue reading →
9/11: the watershed
[On this fifth anniversary of 9/11, I am reposting the following. It is part of my “A mind is a difficult thing to change” series, and deals with the events of 9/11 and my reaction to them.] INTRODUCTION Although I’ve … Continue reading →
Chemistry lessons: a thing of beauty is a joy forever
When I was in junior high school there was a huge poster of the Periodic Table of the Elements that hung in the science classroom in front of a little-used blackboard spanning the right side of the room, next to … Continue reading →
The Rover Conventions
Commenter “Sergey” has contributed a wonderful piece of folk wisdom about international law and its enforceability: In old Russia there was a proverbial Yiddish saying on usefulness of formalities of law in dealing with those who do not respect law: … Continue reading →
For those of you who like to follow the sport of troll morphing…
…it turns out that our new friend “Stephen Britton,” a far more polite version of his predecessors Stevie/Yahmir/Suzy/anon, is almost certainly one and the same.
Continue reading →J’accuse: a case of libel, the blood libel, and the French press
There’s a case about to begin in France that–according to blogger Richard Landes–could rival the Dreyfus case in importance. I’ve written previously about the underpinnings of the present case: the misleading media coverage of the alleged death of 12-year old … Continue reading →
The Dread Pirate Bin Laden
More on the subject of fear: Dean Esmay, a fan of “The Princess Bride,” points out that the Dread Pirate Roberts of that movie was an actual historical figure. Pirates have become almost comical these days, good for a laugh … Continue reading →
Fraidy cats and fear itself: Left and Right
There’s been a longstanding meme on the Left about the Right, one I’ve written about before. It’s a twist on the old schoolyard taunt, “Fraidy, cat, fraidy cat!” The allegation is that the Right is motivated by fear–and unrealistic and … Continue reading →
Bloggers and vacations
The Wall Street Journal is on to the not-so-well-kept secret of bloggers, which is that is that they tend to have some degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The ubiquity of the internet, laptops, and the like means that bloggers need never … Continue reading →