The worm has turned, according to an article by George Packer in the New Yorker entitled “Obama’s Iraq Problem.”
Yes, Obama’s Iraq problem. Continue reading →
Genes influence voting behavior?
Before you put too much credence in this, read this.
I’d love to find a link to the original study so I could read it for myself. Anyone who can supply one?
And I’ve often wondered how those who believe that political orientation is partly genetic—as some of the researchers quoted in the first link do—would explain someone like me.
[ADDENDUM: Just found the link. I’m busy today and can’t read it now, but will try to do so later. In the meantime, here it is for anyone who cares to plow through it.]
The leaders of Africa fail to live up to their Sister Souljah moment on Mugabe
If anything is clear, it’s that Mugabe of Zimbabwe is a dangerous thug who has taken his country down the road to economic and human ruin with his ruthless consolidation of power, his quest for revenge, and his Marxist leanings.
And yet his fellow African leaders at the African Union summit in the Red Sea, and even the highly-admired Nelson Mandela, are having trouble saying a discouraging word about him. Continue reading →
300+ French journalists can be very, very wrong: in al Durah/France2 trial, it’s the reputation, stupid
I’ve written reams about the al Durah libel trial in which France2 and journalist Charles Enderlin were the plaintiffs, some of it from personal observation of one of the trials I attended in October of 2006.
Even so, I’ve learned something new, fascinating, and disturbing from Anne-Elisabeth Moutet’s remarkable piece on “L’Affaire Enderlin.” Continue reading →
Boob jobs, divorce, and the unfashionable human body
In my continuing quest to lighten up and at least slightly de-Obamafy this page, I’m weighing in on the pressing question posed by this Time Online piece: does breast augmentation lead to—or is it a sign of—impending divorce?
Since I’m the sort of stuffed shirt (pun intended) that I am, I immediately turned to scientific research to find out. Continue reading →
Will it matter?
Email this article to some Obama supporters you know. It will be hard for them to dismiss the evidence therein because it appeared in the extremely liberal Boston Globe. But they may find a way.
And speaking of prom attire…
…which I was, here—did you know there are websites that feature maternity prom dresses?
In Unity: Hillary stands by her man once again
The Unity NH love fest (unity, get it?) involving Hillary and Obama featured a sartorial demonstration of the bond between them. As though they were a couple at a prom, his tie matched her suit, which was in a color close—but not identical to—the light turquoise shade I’ve come to think of as Hillary Blue. Continue reading →
The joys of cantaloupe
I was in New York City the other day and bought a cantaloupe from a small grocery store that was the best one I’ve ever eaten in my life.
I’m somewhat of a cantaloupe connoisseur, so that’s saying quite a lot. Continue reading →
Gerard Baker sums it up: we’re winning
Gerard Baker of the Times Online offers a valiant effort to counter the tide of defeatism that continues in the so-called “war on terror” despite strong evidence to the contrary. Good luck, Mr. Baker.
He makes some good points, to wit:
Next time you hear someone say that the war in Afghanistan is an exercise in futility ask them this: do they seriously think that if the US and its allies had not ousted the Taleban and sustained an offensive against them for six years that there would have been no more terrorist attacks in the West?
Baker also describes the success of the surge. Continue reading →
Heller and the Supreme Court
With the caveat that I’ve not read the full text of the SCOTUS opinion on Heller, but am relying on summaries and articles about it, I will say that I agree that there is nothing in the Second Amendment that would indicate its protection of the right to bear arms should be narrowly limited to militias. But I understand that it is an issue that has been debated for decades, and that the closeness of the decision—another 5-4 vote—underscores not only the political leanings of the current Justices, but the complexity of the discussion. Continue reading →
Writing by hand: the medium affects the message
[NOTE: I’m trying to make this blog an Obama-free zone for at least one more day. One day at a time, they say.]
This Atlantic article by Nicholas Carr is a recommended read, about the reported loss of concentration and patience for absorbing longer works that he believes comes from too much internet Googling.
Don’t skim it, now; read the whole thing!
I’m not so sure we suffer from the phenomenon that Carr describes so much as that we lack the time to read in a leisurely fashion, in part because there now are too many competing entertainments and methods of gathering information.
But I was especially intrigued by an anecdote from the article about how the medium by which a person writes, rather than reads, can change an author’s style. Continue reading →