If you can’t handle intense, one-of-a-kind humor, go here. “Sorry, this is the last one. Everyone loves the symbolism, but you’re falling way, way behind.” “Reflections on the Revolution in France? Hey, talk about your irony!” “See, Jerry, writing a tell-all novel about the firm wasn’t so funny after all. Be at your desk on…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Blemish? Yeah, I guess you could call it that
I’m reading David McCullough’s fascinating, thousand-page history of Christianity, which is simply called Christianity, with the snappy subtitle, “The First Three Thousand Years,” implying that there will be some backstory, which there is. I’ve gotten to about 1100 AD, or page 400, depending on how you want to keep track. According to McCullough, “one of…
The Washington Post, defining deviancy down, down, down, in so many, many ways
I shouldn’t read the Washington Post. And I don’t. But sometimes I run across links that draw me there. And each time they do, I find the Post has gotten even worse than it was before. The first link was provided by Glenn Greenwald, who did all my bitching for me, providing an withering, and…
The Newtator-in-Chief Lord Spare Us
Over at the New York Times, Republican truth-teller Bruce Bartlett has a column headed “Gingrich and the Destruction of Congressional Expertise,” explaining how, as Speaker, Newt “did everything in his power to dismantle Congressional institutions that employed people with the knowledge, training and experience to know a harebrained idea when they saw it,” said harebrained…
Princeton history professors and Berkeley economic professors: which is worse?
Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and he writes like this: “Although President Ronald Reagan was mocked by some as an actor in the White House who followed his script, Reagan was like Gingrich in that he spent much of his early adulthood deeply immersed in journals such…
Delfeayo Marsalis & Future Focus—“Blue Monk”
Delfeayo Marsalis, trombone; Marlon Jordan, trumpet; Mark Gross, alto; Vincent Gardner, trombone; Charnette Moffett, bass;, Herlin Riley, drums. I always like to hear Monk played by a good trombonist—it cuts across the grain, somehow. Posted by UptownMusicTheatrehttps://youtu.be/zgnNAEmbxTU Well, anything the brothers from the Big Easy can do, white chicks from Lakota West can do too….
Cats can talk! Turtles, not so much!
Another puzzler from Bicycle Ben from Harrisburg. Actually, the dude does most of the talking here, which is only right, until another species learns to draw. “Yeah, it is a race of sorts. The first one to figure out what the hell Jerry is doing with the bull fiddle wins.” “I know this is Friday,…
Chait and Frum, telling the truth all the way to the water’s edge
Over at NYMag, Jonathan Chait, liberal, and David Frum, conservative, take turns talking out of school and dumping on their respective parties. Chait has the easier task, because, as he tells it, it’s only the “liberals” who are out to lunch, but for Frum it’s the whole fucking party (which is totally fucking true). Chait…
A coupla National Review dudes, last seen thinking a whole lot about poor people
And not entirely without effect, either. In “The Freeloader Myth” Ramesh Ponnuru suggests politely to Republicans that they stop pissing on the 47 percent of the population who are so poor that they don’t have any federal income tax liability, on the grounds that, basically, it’s not nice to make fun of poor people, especially…
The Barack Obama Chinese-American Naval Full Employment Act of 2012
Last week President Obama traveled to the quasi-god-forsaken site of Darwin, Australia to twist the tail of the Chinese dragon by announcing that 2,500 U.S. Marines would now be spending time in Australia. “As a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future,” the…