It’s the middle of Thanksgiving weekend and I’m out of stuff to write about, so how about some movie talk? We’ve all got our “That Guy” actor: the one who’s name doesn’t necessarily appear above the title in the credits, but when you see him on screen, you think, “Hey, something good is about to … Read more
Acculturated goes against the grain in a review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: I’m sorry. I’m just not buying it. I don’t believe The Hunger Games. I’ve now seen the second film in the series, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and I have the same impression that I did when I saw the first … Read more
[Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of the really important events this weekend (by which I mean the sales), here’s the annual repost of my thoughts on Black Friday. – j] I used to say that Christmas was a month-long holiday that started the day after Thanksgiving and ended on New Year’s Day. Now, it’s a two-month-long … Read more
The Supreme Court has decided to hear Hobby Lobby’s religious-freedom argument against the Obamacare contraception mandate. During this special time of the year, let us all take a moment to give thanks that John Roberts will have yet another chance to kick us all collectively in the nuts. Kathryn Jean Lopez covers the news on … Read more
Here’s another excerpt from my book Zero-Budget Christmas
Ace recently posted this after hearing MSNBC’s Martin Bashir ranting about Sarah Palin like a crazy homeless guy standing at the bus stop with his pants around his ankles: Leftist politics, I maintain, are not a politics at all, but a psychological response to one’s shortcomings and feelings of failure. Leftist politics are, simply put, … Read more
It’s a Mark Steyn column that references C.S. Lewis, therefore, according to the bylaws of this website, I had to post it: “No justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous,” wrote Lewis — and, likewise, no law can prevent a thug punching an old lady to the ground if the thug is … Read more
I’ve heard a lot of opinions about the Senate Democrats’ exercise last week of the “nuclear option” — the elimination of the filibuster for basically all presidential nominations other than those for the Supreme Court. Most people are asking both “Why?” and “Why now?” Some say that it’s a sign that Democrats think they’re going … Read more
In case I haven’t mentioned it enough, I have a book! It’s called Zero-Budget Christmas: The Almost Entirely True Story of Our Quest to Do Our Christmas Shopping Without Spending Any Money. And, well, that pretty much tells you everything about it.
But there are parts of it that are even more entertaining and informative than the title, and, since we’re kicking off the Christmas season in earnest this week with the ritual bloodletting that is Black Friday, I thought I’d post an excerpt from the book. I plan to sprinkle a few more throughout the season. Hope you enjoy, and if you do, the whole thing can be yours for a lousy 99 cents!
Have you noticed all the horrible economic damage that Walmart has done to the lower- and middle-classes? You know who hasn’t noticed? All the millions and millions of lower- and middle-class Americans who work and shop there: Washington, DC is two weeks away from ribbon-cutting ceremonies for its first two Walmarts. For the stores’ 600 … Read more
Have an hour to kill this Saturday? Is your favorite college football team so terrible that you’re desperate to find something else to watch? Or maybe you just like judicial interviews better than going outside and doing stuff and maybe interacting with people. If any of those apply to you, you could do a lot … Read more
Sesame Street, still knocking it out of the park after all these years:
From Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt newsletter (It’s good! You should try it!), a good stab at explaining why Sarah Palin makes liberals go completely outhouse-rat crazy: There’s something amazing about the overwhelming demonization of her from the fall of 2008; she really was turned into this Emmanuel Goldstein/scapegoat figure to the Left, an all-purpose bogeywoman to … Read more
If you keep an eye on the news during the day, you’re bound to hear all kinds of goofy stories — “Naked, Unconscious Man Wins Town Council Seat”; stuff like that. If you’re a news junkie like me, you hear enough of it that it goes in one ear and out the other. But sometimes … Read more
Let’s say you were president. Let’s further say that in spite of campaign promises to the contrary, your presidency has brought a certain amount of divisiveness to the land. Let’s even further say that no small portion of said divisiveness stems from the fact that, for whatever reason, a significant percentage of your constituents believe … Read more
Two entertainment news stories I saw back-to-back: Monty Python to reunite for new show after 30 years British comedy veterans Monty Python are set to reunite for a new show in their first major collaboration in 30 years, member Terry Jones revealed on Tuesday. “We’re getting together and putting on a show — it’s real,” … Read more
We Americans live in a pretty amazing country, but being here all the time make it easy to take for granted. So it’s nice sometimes to hear a perspective on America from people who weren’t raised on multiplex popcorn and outlet malls. Via Instapundit, here are some of those people on things they couldn’t believe … Read more
On Forbes.com, Peter Schwartz looks at how public opinion is subtly influenced by language: “Extremism” represents a far broader package-deal, designed to undercut the system of capitalism per se. This sham concept gained currency during the 1964 presidential campaign, when it was used to tar Barry Goldwater and his supporters. It is an attempt to … Read more
Conan O’Brien steps out of line ever so slightly and gets a taste of the political correctness enforcement buzz saw. From Business Insider: Friday evening, O’Brien posted a joke about Marvel’s new Muslim female superhero — Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim girl from New Jersey who transforms into Ms. Marvel after she’s suddenly bestowed with … Read more
If salvation depends on a perfect knowledge and understanding of God and His will, then we are all screwed. But I think that a gracious and infinite (and infinitely gracious) God grants a lot of leeway to his finite creation for their lack of understanding. For instance, the Church of Christ denomination thinks that it’s … Read more