To give a sense of perspective, this page presents a compare/contrast look at facts relating to Jan. 6th, 2021 and the BLM riots of the summer of 2020. Lots of links and background information there, including a handy table featuring tidbits like these: Police Officers Assaulted: Jan 6 – 140; BLM – 2037 Federal Charges … Read more
I’m reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Benjamin Franklin right now. I was interested in it because I enjoyed Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs so much. And while this book isn’t as compelling as the Jobs book (not least because Franklin wasn’t as big of an a-hole as Jobs), I have learned that Franklin bathed more … Read more
This election, if it hasn’t brought out the worst in us, has brought out the worst in our opinions of other people. Suspicion of the government — an American tradition and, I believe, a prime indicator of a healthy society — has devolved into suspicion of and contempt for our fellow citizens — a prime indicator … Read more
Above is a scene from the (great) movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, where the demanding chess tutor is teaching the chess prodigy wunderkind how to see the board. The actual, concrete position of the pieces keeps the boy from engaging his creative vision to see where they could be. He needs the pieces to be more abstract, … Read more
Everything I’ve read on the internet in the last few days can be summarized in one of five ways: 1) From the most loving, accepting, tolerant people ever in the history of ever: “HA! HA! #LoveWins! In your face, everyone who has different morals from me! Plus, you’re idiots to think that this is some slippery-slope moment that … Read more
With the release of the CIA torture report, I thought I would write a little about my thoughts on torture, but then I remembered that I already did. Below is the entirety of a post from 2009, another time when a lot of people were thinking about the moral implications of “enhanced interrogation”: There’s been … Read more
When people stop coming to a restaurant, you suspect there’s something wrong with the food. When people stop watching a TV show, you assume there’s something wrong with the story. But when businesses start going through all the trouble of pulling up stakes in America and moving to other countries, our ruling class don’t think … Read more
Looking at the news, there seem to be a lot of bad guys running around lately, pretty much doing as they please. Why is that? Aren’t there at least as many good guys as bad? Well, that depends on what you mean by, “good guys.” Good guys aren’t the same as “good people” or “decent … Read more
It’s a little late for the 4th of July, but it’s something that’s good to have in your pocket anytime: Law professor Randy Barnett explains the significance of the Declaration of Independence line-by-line, starting with: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have … Read more
I very rarely call an article on the Internet “important,” but this post by Rod Dreher definitely qualifies. It’s a splash of cold water in the face for people who don’t realize that the sexual revolution in general, and the ascendance of gay marriage in particular, is pushing American Christianity into a very precarious position. … Read more
I subscribe to a survivalist/prepper blog called ITS Tactical (because I’m planning on becoming an unstoppable special forces commando as soon as I finish this bag of Doritos). They recently published a post on surviving cold weather conditions. As the post described symptoms associated with the onset of hypothermia, it struck me that the descriptions … Read more
If you’re a Christian who thinks that the Hobby Lobby case against Obamacare doesn’t have anything to do with you — that it’s just an esoteric argument over legal minutiae — you’re mistaken. It matters a lot. Justin Taylor points to an LA Times op-ed that explains why this Supreme Court case is about more … 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
It’s now been about five months since my household cancelled our satellite TV and started getting broadcasts with a good, old-fashioned, over-the-air digital antenna, just like our pioneer forefathers. The good news is that we’re all still relatively sane; I haven’t started talking to imaginary house guests or buried an ax in Scatman Crothers’ chest. … Read more
Andrew Klavan and Bill Whittle discuss whether or not a conservative can be an atheist. The answer is a pointed, “Yes, but…” An entirely different, but equally interesting, question would be, “Can an atheist be a conservative?”
It was 69 years ago today. Points and Figures pays tribute to D-Day veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Walt Ehlers: On this day 69 years ago, he went ashore in the “back half of the first wave” at Normandy’s Omaha Beach. The 12 men under his care survived that day. But, Walt’s brother, Roland, passed … Read more
We started off the week on kind of a bad note, so let’s try to finish on a good one. Paula Bolyard makes a herculean effort to pull together some things to be optimistic about, and by golly, I want to applaud her for the effort before I stick my head back in the oven. … Read more
Ross Douthat says that if you want to help America, commence with the baby-making: Today’s babies are tomorrow’s taxpayers and workers and entrepreneurs, and relatively youthful populations speed economic growth and keep spending commitments affordable. Thanks to our relative demographic dynamism, the America of 50 years hence may not only have more workers per retiree … Read more
Conservatives–especially the extreme, radical kind of conservatives like me and the people I meet at our regular “Gun-Fondling, Bible-Thumping, and Fried Chicken” festivals–tend to be on the pessimistic side. America, in their view, is forever on a slippery slope to tyranny, just one election away from losing our rights, under the creeping shadow of totalitarianism, … Read more
The Chronicle of Philanthropy (oddly enough, they make you pay for a subscription) looks at patterns of giving in America. Spoiler alert: there are absolutely no surprises in their findings: Red states are more generous than blue states. The eight states where residents gave the highest share of income to charity went for John McCain … Read more