I am totally unfamiliar with "Hecuba," but after reading this post, I'm struck by how outside the Athenian mainstream Euripides' anti-war moralizing must have been. His audience was a city that condoned the Siege of Melos - not to mention many other, lesser, atrocities - and had no qualms about maintaining an extensive overseas empire through force of arms. It's kind of astonishing that the city's most famous playwright was such an outspoken anti-war critic.
@LawMonkey, Right, it feels as if the rules of the dreamworld were constructed with spiffy-looking gunfights and not much else in mind. I mean, Nolan could have created any rule-based framework for Inception - it is, after all, his movie.
But yeah, I agree that the movie itself is internally consistent.
The most offensive part about this video is the Yankees jersey. Sure, Southerners are supposed to be retrograde troglodytes, but what happened to regional pride? Shouldn't this douchebag have the sense to wear some local single-A club's gear?
Unfortunately, we're faced with the problem of symmetrical idiocy. Substitute "airport personnel" for "Al Qaeda" and you've probably got a fair description of the foibles of airport security:
@db, I suppose I did imply that Hanson was endorsing a return to some hunter-gatherer utopia, which probably doesn't do justice to the speculative nature of the original post.
I just visited Savannah and was struck by many of the same qualities Bess praises in the town's beautifully preserved historic district. My only qualm is how Bess is interpreted - I'm afraid that many people assume a properly reverential "culture of building" involves a very superficial recreation of historical architecture (witness the rash of faux-colonial developments).
@Jason Kuznicki, Funding institutions to train competent officers does not strike me as an unreasonable use of taxpayer funds. Where those officers are deployed is another issue entirely.
@Jason Kuznicki, The service academies have always been considered rigorous, selective academic institutions. And the challenges they face - maintaining a competitive football program and high academic standards, dealing with affirmative action etc - don't sound all that different from, say, Notre Dame.
On “By request”
I found Ackerman's comments about playing the race card kind of disturbing.
On “Euripides, “Hecuba” and Crimes during Wartime”
I am totally unfamiliar with "Hecuba," but after reading this post, I'm struck by how outside the Athenian mainstream Euripides' anti-war moralizing must have been. His audience was a city that condoned the Siege of Melos - not to mention many other, lesser, atrocities - and had no qualms about maintaining an extensive overseas empire through force of arms. It's kind of astonishing that the city's most famous playwright was such an outspoken anti-war critic.
On “My Inception Mini-Review”
@LawMonkey, Right, it feels as if the rules of the dreamworld were constructed with spiffy-looking gunfights and not much else in mind. I mean, Nolan could have created any rule-based framework for Inception - it is, after all, his movie.
But yeah, I agree that the movie itself is internally consistent.
On “For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter…”
Congrats, brother.
On “Retirement at 30”
I'm pouring one out for you, Dierkes. Best of luck.
On “Should we keep mini-posts?”
Keep 'em, please.
On “Little Brother is watching”
@Mike at The Big Stick, Haha, yeah. Shades of those epic threads about the Skip Gates arrest.
"
@Mike at The Big Stick, "As the resident police apologist here . . ." That's a classic disclaimer, Mike.
On “Surprise of the Day”
The most offensive part about this video is the Yankees jersey. Sure, Southerners are supposed to be retrograde troglodytes, but what happened to regional pride? Shouldn't this douchebag have the sense to wear some local single-A club's gear?
On “Meet the People Who Wrecked Your Civil Liberties”
Unfortunately, we're faced with the problem of symmetrical idiocy. Substitute "airport personnel" for "Al Qaeda" and you've probably got a fair description of the foibles of airport security:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/the-things-he-carried/7057/
On “Why I watch soccer”
@Sam M, I mean, I wouldn't point you to a WNBA game to explain the appeal of basketball. I think you just watched the wrong match, Sam.
"
@greginak, Good call, greg. I completely forgot about hockey. Kinda ruins my thesis, actually . . .
On “Against Progress”
@db, I suppose I did imply that Hanson was endorsing a return to some hunter-gatherer utopia, which probably doesn't do justice to the speculative nature of the original post.
On “Architecture & Innovation”
I just visited Savannah and was struck by many of the same qualities Bess praises in the town's beautifully preserved historic district. My only qualm is how Bess is interpreted - I'm afraid that many people assume a properly reverential "culture of building" involves a very superficial recreation of historical architecture (witness the rash of faux-colonial developments).
On “Against Progress”
@Cascadian, Good point!
On “Ricochet”
Does Mark Steyn really need another fucking platform? I mean, really?
On “At Long Lost, The End”
The YouTube embed is a little askew on my browser, Erik.
On “Fixing the Service Academies”
@Jason Kuznicki, Funding institutions to train competent officers does not strike me as an unreasonable use of taxpayer funds. Where those officers are deployed is another issue entirely.
"
@Jason Kuznicki, The service academies have always been considered rigorous, selective academic institutions. And the challenges they face - maintaining a competitive football program and high academic standards, dealing with affirmative action etc - don't sound all that different from, say, Notre Dame.
On “Ménage à cinq”
Rufus, the quality of your Franglais is superbe.
On “The Idiocy of Rural Food”
Does Vietnamese pho count as bourgeois cuisine? I was under the impression that its origins were rural, and it also happens to be totally delicious.
On “Why Rand Paul is wrong about the Civil Rights Act”
@Jaybird, Not many, but pervasive private discrimination is still a scary thought.
On “For the League’s urbanophiles”
@greginak, Thanks, greg.
On “Padding Your Resume”
@Mike Schilling, Thanks, man.
On “Patrick J. Deneen at Cato Unbound”
@Will, Props for another great topic/selection of contributors, by the way.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.