Just a short little blurb on NPR this morning got me thinking that a thriving culture has little to fear from other cultures around the world. Nations with strong cultures are readily willing to allow their major cities to attain… Continue Reading
Here were my predictions for 2010, and here’s how they did: Jon Huntsman will resign as ambassador to China and begin to lay the groundwork for a Presidential bid in 2012. Has not happened. In retrospect, I failed to credit… Continue Reading
A computer virus (or more accurately, a worm) called Stuxnet has somehow infected the Iranian nuclear weapons program’s computers. This is remarkable because the Iranians had apparently gone to extraordinary lengths to isolate their nuclear weapons development computer system from… Continue Reading
I bet you didn’t know that women engaging in promiscuous behavior like wearing their head scarves low enough to expose their hair, and show off their figure under knee-length coats, are actually causing earthquakes. The sluts. See, you didn’t know… Continue Reading
Holy crap, it’s been three days and people are still blogging about Sarah Palin writing notes to herself on her hand while speaking at the Tea Party convention in Nashville on Friday. Seriously. How is that different than if she… Continue Reading
Thoughts as they occur to me: There are probably a lot of people out there more interested in the premiere of the iPad than in the President laying out his agenda for the next year. The whole Supreme Court is… Continue Reading
A year ago, I made some predictions for what would happen in 2009. How’d I do? 1. The United States Federal deficit for calendar year 2009 will exceed $1.5 trillion. Check. 2. A human being will be cloned. Not Yet… Continue Reading
Well, I am shocked. Truly shocked. Appalled and surprised. It turns out that Iran has a second uranium-enrichment facility at which it appears to be making weapons-grade plutonium. This has earned the condemnation of the G-20 nations, including the personal… Continue Reading
Bearing in mind the biases of its author, this Juan Cole essay is nevertheless interesting in its analysis of populist politics. The point is that there are substantial similarities between the political tactics, strategy, appeal, and goals of Sarah Palin… Continue Reading
Iran falls into national paralysis as the nation reels from apparently-corrupted elections. Initially, there’s little way for us in the West to tell if the elections were less democratic than expected, but over time we learn that the returns came… Continue Reading