William Saletan has a column up at Slate, arguing that drone warfare is humane because it kills so few civilians, and, comparing the average drone hit to Hiroshima, he’s right. But in his brief éloge de drone, Bill sails over a few issues worthy of deeper consideration, to wit: 1) How can we identify civilians,…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Victor Davis Hanson, seeking parallels, comes up short
Who needs Rush Limbaugh when we’ve got Victor Davis Hanson? In case you haven’t heard, the bloody murders committed by Christopher Dorner prove that the Left wants all of us whites to be murdered by black people! It’s so typical! Vic tells us that Dorner “wrote a rambling, narcissistic, and self-serving diatribe that the Left…
Jazz ansambl MA Zagreb (II godina)—“Shuffle Boil”
Polaznici kolegija Osnove jazz improvizacije 02 u emisiji Vrijeme je za jazz izvode skladbu Shuffle boil (Monk). If you’re like me, you didn’t know that Zagreb is the capital of Croatia. I also don’t know what “MA” means, or “ll godina,” though I’m guessing that “ansambl” means “ensemble.” First Violin, Dajana Marelja; Second Violin, Irena…
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Yeah, there are barbershops in New York where you can say ‘oxymoron,’ but this isn’t one of them.” “Let me give you a tip, Larry. No tip is better than no customer.” “Let’s just say this shop ain’t ever been unisex, and, Bloomberg or no Bloomberg, it ain’t about to change.” “How…
The Hagel Hassle: Everybody wins? I don’t fucking think so
Dave Weigel, who raps for Slate these days, is one of my favorites, but he comes a cropper with his too clever to be accurate take on the failure of Senate Democrats to force a vote on Chuck Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense. According to Dave, it’s win/win/win/win. Republicans get to act tough, Likudist…
The Divine Right of Popes
As a lapsed Episcopalian,* I haven’t resisted having a chuckle at the expense of all the Catholics scurrying about trying to make sense of Benedict XVI’s decision to abdicate. Ross Douthat does a pretty good job, agreeing that it makes sense to have a vigorous and active leader seated in St. Peter’s chair, but then…
If guns are outlawed, only Obama will have one? How about “You can have my penis substitute when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers”?
I’m copyrighting these, so if you want to use them you’ll have to pay me.
New at Bright Lights
My take on Charlie Chaplin’s penultimate (and second-worst) film, Limelight, is available at the Brightlights Film Journal, along wtih a brief guide to Mozart’s operas on Blu-ray. The whole BL issue, NSFW as always, is here.My earlier reviews of Chaplin…
The Electric Slide
Two recent stories in the New York Times should serve as a primer, or perhaps prophylactic, for whatever electric car jive President Obama has up his sleeve for tonight’s “State of the Union” address. The first, a tale of woe entitled “Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway,” by the immensely put-upon John M. Broder, explains…
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “If that were the case, he’d be reacting to the sunlight, wouldn’t he? Or is that just another myth?” “Don’t cover for them, Jerry. They were fools to go with E-Z Balm, and you know it.” “It is better than rouge, but it’s so intrusive.” “We all have a little Edgar Allan…