Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
“Gaza Is Starving,” a headline in The New Yorker declared in early January 2024, pushing a harrowing narrative that took hold during the first six months of the war. In March, The Washington Post asked: “Is Gaza Heading Into Famine?” A headline in the Post the next day answered: “Israel’s War on Hamas Brings Famine … Read more
If Obama had said that . . .” “If Obama had done that . . .” We often heard those lines during Donald Trump’s first term as president. The lines had grown tiresome by March 2017 or so (a couple of months into that term). But they regularly applied. I thought of them last week. … Read more
Former vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz recently told an audience at Harvard’s Kennedy School that former Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as a running mate because of his uncanny ability to connect with the average Caucasian cisgender dude “I could code talk to white guys—watching football, fixing their truck,” he explained. “I was the permission … Read more
The first degrowth president of the United States, President Trump, recently defended his tariffs with this gem: “They have ships that are loaded with stuff we do not need” and “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they … Read more
Aggressors on both sides of the civil war commit sexual violence against civilians Duria, 37, was traveling on public transportation in Khartoum, Sudan, in January 2024 when a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldier stopped the vehicle. After confirming Duria had no passport, he accused her of being a military spy. He then forced her to … Read more
The genuflecting yellowbellies of the Cowards’ Caucus in Congress—which is to say, Republicans as a whole—have groveled mightily in seeking to curry favor with Donald Trump and have, subsequently and ironically, done Trump no favors. John Thune, the Republican leader in the Senate, seems determined to follow the worst examples set by his predecessor, Mitch … Read more
AMERICANS HAVE expressed distress over the demise of manufacturing in this country for as long as I can remember. Often that distress has been reflected in popular culture. In “My Hometown,” a hit from his blockbuster album “Born in the U.S.A.,” Bruce Springsteen lamented the economic decline of small-town America and the disappearance of working-class … Read more
Dangerous policies, incoherent ideas, and amoral politics. The Democrats have responded to their repudiation by the voters by tripling down on the toxic ideas and preposterous policies that make sense only when one remembers that, as DOGE has exposed, in the end, they are patent grifts, opportunities for enriching themselves and their plutocratic, corporate globalist … Read more
After President Trump deported some gang members to El Salvador, a number of members of Congress have followed along fighting to secure their freedom. Some have vowed not to leave until they bring an MS-13 gang member back home. It seems like there’s a deal that could be struck here. While no one wants MS-13 … Read more
Amazing as it is, people continue to have things to say about Andrew Tate. When he first surfaced on Twitter a decade ago, his open celebration of materialism, his rigid, over-the-top application of “red-pill” principles, and his hatred of women made me think his was a parody account, some smart aleck exaggerating the worst of … Read more
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that marks his most decisive attack on the civil-service system so far. The order, “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,” ended collective bargaining for unions across most of the federal government. These unions have been a millstone around the neck of the government and taxpayers for … Read more
If you want to understand the dilemma of today’s Democratic Party, have a look at this comic book called Racial Capitalism and Prison Abolition. Thanks to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, this comic book, or its close equivalent, will soon be forced on Minnesota’s students. Because Walz has just added an “ethnic studies” strand to his … Read more
Trump cannot tolerate the idea that he’s wrong about tariffs (or anything else). As a result, when reality proves him wrong, he will not confess error and embrace free trade. I mean this is the guy who tried to float the idea that the Access Hollywood tape was faked. He’ll say the price increases are … Read more
Bishop Joseph Strickland invited priests this month to join a “prayerful community” of fraternity, while criticizing Pope Francis for apparently failing “to reject the siren call of sodomy.” The invitation came in a letter distributed by the former Bishop of Tyler, Texas — given to priests who attended a March 19 gathering of Catholics at … Read more
In Newbury, a fibreglass effigy of Paddington Bear was torn down by two drunken RAF engineers. For once, this was an act of vandalism the police would prosecute — though of course CCTV footage and the severed head of Paddington sticking out of a car boot made it just easy enough for the modern British … Read more
The ‘gee shucks’ routine was precisely that: a routine. But what excuse did the press have to play along? America’s weirdest governor re-emerged on the national stage last week to re-energize the floundering Democratic Party and help “fill the [leadership] void.” However, rather than galvanize his colleagues, Walz, who waves hello with both hands, mostly … Read more
Does Donald Trump want to be a superhero because he’s an authoritarian or is Donald Trump an authoritarian because he wants to be a superhero? I typically approach his gambits as fascist strategic ploys aimed at consolidating power under the executive branch. Everything I mentioned above can be analyzed that way. He’s going easy on … Read more
A few days after the anniversary of Oct 7, the New York Times reported that Columbia University Apartheid Divest officially endorsed terrorism against Jews and withdrew an apology by one of its members for threatening to kill Jews. Over the past weeks, the paper and the entire Democratic Party, including 103 members of Congress, the … Read more
They reduced Jews to ashes. In 2023, a fascist army burnt Jews to death. The Jews’ names were Ram Itamari, 56, a transportation manager, and his wife, Lili Itamari, 63, a schoolteacher. They were in their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 when the unit of anti-Semites showed up. … Read more
My father arrived in America from Germany in 1939, 75 years ago. It was March 17, St. Patrick’s Day—a holiday my father had never heard of—and New York City’s marching bands and colorful parade amazed him. If this was how America welcomed immigrants, it was truly fantastic. St. Patrick’s Day would become my family’s special … Read more
When the United States was attacked by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) did something it had never done before and has not done since: It invoked Article 5, the collective-defense provision at the core of the alliance. With Manhattan burning and the Pentagon in ruins, thousands of Americans dead, … Read more
After Oct 7, Robert Spencer, the eminent scholar of religions and expert on Islamic terrorism, witnessed the irrational return of antisemitism, not just on the left, but also on the right. “Fervent and articulate opponents of globalism and socialism began sending me articles in which globalists and socialists rehearsed all the alleged evils and misdeeds … Read more
…America’s most unsuccessful politician. He took over as governor of a state that had always been low-crime, and now, for the first time ever, Minnesota’s serious crime rate is higher than the national average. He became governor of a state that had long been prosperous, and after six years, again for the first time ever, … Read more
“Here I am, then. I have come home.” So said Pope John Paul II after landing in Warsaw in 1983, bending to kiss the soil of his native country. The mood was patriotic and defiant. “Poland for the Poles!” came the shouts from the crowd—union men, priests, fathers and their sons. “We are the real … Read more
Handouts to corporations distort the market, breed corruption, and politicize the economy. . . . Industries Driven by Federal Money and Politics “More industries are becoming dependent on the federal government and driven by politics, which is a dangerous move toward central planning in the economy,” adds Edwards. “Cutting corporate welfare would free markets, boost … Read more