[NOTE: Like yesterday’s post, this rumination was sparked by Martin Amis’ book Koba the Dread.] Here’s a tragic quote about political change, from Dmitri Volkogonov, a man who wrote biographies of Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky: “Perhaps the only thing I … Continue reading →
I’ve been wading through Martin Amis’ Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million, a book about Soviet Russia and its crimes and betrayals. The reason I’m reading that particular book is that one of Amis’s goals in writing it … Continue reading →
…read this article, and then start reading the comments section.
Continue reading →[NOTE: Last night I wrote a draft of a post on how Barack Obama’s latest remarks on SCOTUS precedent are an attempt to emulate Franklin Roosevelt in the 30s. I was going to polish it up and submit it to … Continue reading →
Interesting. Now let’s see how this gets integrated into the narrative: A team of scientists led by geochemist Zunli Lu from Syracuse University in New York state, has found that contrary to the ”˜consensus’, the ”˜Medieval Warm Period’ approximately 500 … Continue reading →
In yesterday’s thread about eating beef, commenter “SteveH” asks: Where does this obsession with quanity of life come from? I could understand it if we lost years on the average lifespan over the past 100 years. But we’ve gained tremendously. … Continue reading →
I’m one of those people who takes voting very seriously, so much so that I think I’ve voted in every general election and midterm as well. The only ones I’ve ever skipped are the off-years with just the very local … Continue reading →
…with more of this horse manure. I refer you back to this for an explanation, and a tribute to Tsongas.
Continue reading →…in writing that anti-Gingrich letter that all the fuss was about yesterday, TNR’s Timothy Noah offers further background on some possible reasons behind Dole’s anger (in addition to what I’d already suggested here). An excerpt summarizing the gist of it: … Continue reading →
I’ve got an article up today at PJ with some background on the old (actually, not all that old) “women and children first” rule in maritime disasters. Please click on the link and read the article first, and then come … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Bumped up from yesterday.] There’s still plenty of time left to order from Amazon via the handy neo-neocon widgets on the right sidebar. I’m a big procrastinator, so I know. And there’s even time to sign up for 2 … Continue reading →
I’m reading—slowly, slowly—Steven Pinker’s long but fascinating The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Don’t laugh at the title because it seems absurd. Pinker presents a strong case to defend his thesis (although so far I’m only … Continue reading →