Friday Night Jukebox
The Jukebox spins back to the late 60s this evening to highlight one of the most underrated pop-rock bands of all time: The Association (wiki here). They were overshadowed by some of their better...
Monthly Archive: April 2010
Arizona and the failure of the Right
Arizona may be my last straw. My home state has gone off the deep end lately (and I’ve written about it extensively – here, here, here, here, and here and even proposed a Northern...
Doubts about Ed Phelps’ Cowboy Capitalism
Jay Richards at the AEI blog is doing a series of posts about Ed Phelps’ old First Things essay about the morality of capitalism. I’m broadly supportive of Phelps’ project, but I think Richards’...
Nicholas Capaldi and the Red Tories (because when we talk about Blond we do so in triplicate)
I’ve given Phillip Blond another chance at convincing me of his vision but alas I find his final product rather incoherent at the end of the day. Writing in The American Conservative, Nicholas Capaldi...
I remember this gimmick
Conor Friedersdorf’s valiant attempt to convert Levin fans irresistibly recalls The Guardian’s 2004 letter writing campaign to American voters. The American reaction (short version: “Suck it, Limeys!”) – and some pretty solid research on...
Blond on Blond
As a counterpoint to Jonathan Raban’s negative review of Red Tory, here’s Philip Blond in The American Conservative (hat tip: commenter Schofield).
Red Tory Reviewed, Pass the Barbecue Sauce
Jonathan Raban gives a searing review of Phillip Blond’s Red Tory in the LRB. Ouch.
Are Drone Strike Operators “Unlawful Combatants”?
Steve Hynd provides a compelling case that, whatever one may think about the utility of drone strikes in countries where we are not officially engaged in hostilities, those CIA officers who operate the drones...
Plato, “Gorgias” & ‘epistemic closure’
In Gorgias, Plato expands on many of the themes of the Republic while posing the implicit question: Why do democracies fail? In particular, why did Athenian democracy fail? In doing so, he makes a...
(Political) Myths Doesn’t Equal Unreal
Br. Jamelle goes on the attack against radical centrism of the Thomas Friedman variety. He writes: The term “radical centrism” is absolutely incoherent. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines radical as “relating to or affecting...
Nudged
If I’m not mistaken, legislation in New York that would automatically enroll people as organ donors with the option of opting-out later is an example of “libertarian paternalist” choice architecture. One of the authors...
Girls and boys and Weezer.
Last weekend I was visiting some friends in a Major American City, and we were out back of their place swapping stories, and someone brought out a guitar. Once again, I found that “El...
A Golden Age of American Poetry?
From the NYRBlog: In a country in which schools seem to teach less literature every year, where fewer people read books and ignorance reigns supreme regarding most issues, poetry is read and written more...
The Deep Divide
Responding to the post by Br. Chris, I think Matt Taibbi has a point. Tea Partiers and other small government types were opposed to the bailout and would like to see an end to crony capitalism and the marriage...
So Zizek Walks Into Google
For those of you losing sleep awaiting my take on Zizek’s commentary on Christian mysticism and politics, rejoice and be glad, your day has finally arrived (over at my other blog Beams and Struts).
Palibbinism: Or The Financial Servile State
Matt Taibi writes: The Republicans, meanwhile, are in the difficult position of trying to sell Wall Street’s position on the Regulatory Reform bill to their base. That might not sound so very difficult, given...
Millman’s Taxonomy ctd.
William summarizes Millman’s taxonomy (and doesn’t that roll off the tongue? You almost want to capitalize ‘taxonomy’: Millman’s Taxonomy – as if it were some well established thing…) thusly: liberal vs. conservative (attitudes toward...
Our debased political discourse
The annoying tendency of opposition parties to pick really dumb nits is exacerbated by the fact that they did the exact same shit when they were in power. Witness Marc Thiessen, whose concern for...
Answers in Genesis
MSNBC reports that Noah’s Ark may have been found on Turkey’s Mount Ararat. The finders, led by an evangelical group, say they are “99.9 percent” that a wooden structure found on the mountainside was...
