thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb Mark Steyn writes in his usual style about Mohammed Atta’s attempt to get a government loan to finance the purchase of an airplane, but the witticisms aren’t necessary. The actual interview with the loan officer can stand alone: after an hour-long discussion about cutting her throat, destroying Washington D.C., and the greatness of Osama bin … More ...
What to do? There’s plenty for right-wingers to complain about but solutions are notoriously scarce. A couple of days ago I put up a piece with some suggestions. Here are some others that friends have put forward:
War with Holland? We had a poll on the subject several weeks ago and most people thought the idea was silly. Now it’s in the news: US-Kongress droht Niederlanden mit Invasion (“US Congress threatens the Netherlands with invasion”). It seems the Dutch are annoyed that Congress is talking about protecting Americans from the International Criminal … More ...
Why are we the universal policeman? U.S. Will Hunt Masterminds of Rwanda Genocide through an “aggressive and targeted” campaign to hunt down those responsible, with rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to their arrest.
Christians aren’t allowed to be victims because it makes Islam look bad, and besides it detracts from Jewish suffering: Italian writer accused of distorting history. Meanwhile, Chronicles writer Srdja Trifkovic presents a dissenting view of the historical relation between the religion of peace and tolerance and Christianity.
The New York Times refers to a program in North Korea mostly involving compulsory termination of pregnancy as “prison baby killings”. It’s true some of the infants are killed a few seconds after they would have been candidates for death by intact dilation and evacuation—that is, immediately after birth—but the emphasis in the article … More ...
So what does a traditionalist conservative do when he becomes convinced that public life is proceeding on fundamentally bad principles? The usual resources of the extremist are unavailable to him, because traditionalism is adverse to dogmatism, conspiracy theories and cure-alls. On the other hand, he can no longer participate in what passes for the mainstream. … More ...
It’s coming thick and fast: Maryland state board of education proposes treating homosexuality as “cultural group” in multicultural programs, and Nickelodeon to present “issue” program on homosexuality so 8-13 year-olds, with the aid of Rosie O’Donnell and Linda Ellerbe, “can have some information and make up their own minds.” Even an 8-year-old, it seems, is … More ...
In spite of Scientific American’s confirmation of the obvious, that men and women are quite different, the presumption remains that the government should manange the differences out of existence. Witness these stories: “French Politics Finds Little Room for Women” (some male incumbants won’t stand down to make room for women) and Earnings of British … More ...
I just finished Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer. An interesting book in many ways, although rather miscellaneous, and it’s hard to know when he’s telling the truth. One interesting feature: he emphasizes the effect of immigration, national diversity, freedom, and economic opportunity in producing a common American type: decent, orderly, enterprising, prosperous, politically-minded, … More ...