Monthly Archives: December 2001

It can scarcely escape my notice that many of the libertarian bloggers I read aren’t the religious type. Fine, I’m not going to be like, you know, judgmental about it. I do get a little griped, though, when it crosses … Continue reading →

Katha Pollitt has a fit of anti-religious mania (via Protein Wisdom): Just think of the damage religious mania (combined, as it tends to be, with nationalism and patriarchy) has wrought around the globe this year, the first of the new … Continue reading →

I said I had no business doing this! Effectively, my time to add things to this blog runs from about 4:00 AM, when I usually get up, to 5:30 AM, when I start my morning chores: letting the indoor dogs … Continue reading →

The French ambassador to the United Kingdom is said to be in deep merde for his comments describing Israel in the same terms. And I thought he was just reflecting the official views of the French government!

Uh oh. John Rockwell is retiring as editor of the Sunday Arts and Leisure section of the New York Times, as reported in the New York Observer. The root cause of the upheaval, Mr. Rockwell said, is that Howell Raines … Continue reading →

Editorialists are shocked – shocked! – that a speech by the publisher of the Sacramento Bee was heckled. This prompted one letter writer to ask whether these comments would have appeared if David Horowitz had been similarly howled off. Silly … Continue reading →

My lovely bride bought for me a six-volume set of “Famous American Statesmen and Orators,” published in 1902. Reading these speeches one is struck by the majesty of the language. How can one not be stirred by words such as … Continue reading →

Jekyll or Hyde?

Number 22 issued today.

Charles Krauthammer says that the U.S. should concentrate on doing the fighting while leaving peacekeeping to others. The Canadians invented it in the late 1950s and have completely reorganized their armed forces for that role. Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Canal du … Continue reading →

On Saturday, I post about Tony Lewis’s last column and today Jay Nordlinger and James Taranto make much the same points! Advantage: Excused Lame! Read it here first!

Speaking of arteriosclerosis, retired Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll of the Center for Defense Information says that the United States is acting like a schoolyard bully. The only excuse for warmed-over Reagan-era statements like these are if they’re being phoned in … Continue reading →

Michael Kelly made the same point this summer, more amusingly and in aesthetic terms, but the op-ed in Saturday’s Washington Post presents a bleak picture of America. We’re too fat. Obesity is epidemic, as Surgeon General David Satcher noted this … Continue reading →

Anthony Lewis is retiring after 32 years as a columnist for the New York Times. Of course, no one has read anything he’s written in the last ten years. The passion which he brought to his column is matched only … Continue reading →

Winona Ryder’s lawyer says her arrest was a “misunderstanding.” Yes, she probably thought that since she was a celebrity, the items would be “complimentary,” part of the Celebrity Bill of Rights (“The right to VIP and V-VIP rooms shall not … Continue reading →