Shaky ground in LA
There was a moderate earthquake in Los Angeles yesterday that was widely felt in the area, the strongest in more than a decade. And yet I wasn’t there. What does that odd statement mean?
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Maya Plisetskaya: a dancer like no other
How old do you think this woman is? Or this one (hint: it’s the same woman, around the same time)? Or how about this one? All three are pictures of Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. She’s eighty years old in the … Continue reading →
Sympathy for the terrorist?
I don’t know about you, but when I read this piece in the Times Online about Imad Mughniyeh’s (their spelling) assassination, I couldn’t help but feel it had just a smidgen of sympathy in it. Sympathy, that is, for the … Continue reading →
Vietnam: remembering the second act
In a recent Atlantic article by Robert Kaplan entitled “Rereading Vietnam,” the author discusses a number of books that have been given little press and short shrift by reviewers. These are histories and memoirs written by men who served in … Continue reading →
Crossing the country: night flight
Yesterday I flew on Jet Blue from Boston to Los Angeles. For me this involves not enough sleep the night before as I pack and suddenly realize in the wee hours of the morning that I can’t take half of … Continue reading →
Dangerous Nation: another look at the Spanish-American War (Part I)
Remember the Spanish-American War? You probably learned about it in your history classes–which was a long time ago, perhaps. If you were anything like me, you only remember a few key phrases: “yellow journalism.” “Remember the Maine.” The American people … Continue reading →
Airport security: no nunchuks, no gellin’
Yes, it’s official: now you can bring your beyond-the-checkpoint-purchased beverages on board the plane. What’s more, you can bring little bottles of hair gel and face cream and all that good stuff, as long as they’re small enough to fit … Continue reading →
“Unsatisfactory” is diplomatspeak for bad, bad, bad
France gives Iran quite the tonguelashing: Foreign Affairs Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy describes Iran’s refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program as “unsatisfactory”. “Unsatisfactory” is such a tepid way to describe what Iran is actually doing, which is to defy and … Continue reading →
No need to imagine: these terror attacks were deja vu all over again
Yesterday I wrote that the word “unimaginable” makes no sense in terms of the thwarted terror attacks. After 9/11, they were not only imaginable, but eminently so. But it turns out it’s even worse than that. Not only were they … Continue reading →
Richard Landes reports from France, the paralyzed ostrich
Richard Landes, of the blog Augean Stables and the website Second Draft, has recently returned from a trip to France and filed this eminently readable report on which way the wind is blowing in France today (and you don’t need … Continue reading →
We didn’t start the fire: should Holocaust Denial be criminalized?
The controversy over yesterday’s David Irving conviction, and the more general question of whether Holocaust denial should be a criminal offense, seem on the surface to be no-brainers, easily resolvable by saying that the principle of free speech dictates that … Continue reading →
Your mother (or grandmother, or great-grandmother) should know: gloves and the flu
An article appeared in this Sunday’s NY Times advising us that our relations with our neighbors may need to change if the much-feared bird flu pandemic ever arrives. This is what will be necessary if we want to protect ourselves … Continue reading →