Thus sayeth the ‘stache: “Last week, I toured the great Mogul compound of Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal. My Indian guide mentioned in passing that in the late 1500s, when Afghanistan was part of India and the Mogul Empire, the Iranian Persians invaded Afghanistan in an effort to ‘seize the towns of Herat and…
Author: Alan Vanneman
What is George’s game?
On Monday, I sneered at George Will’s sneering takedown of Mitt Romney. In the couse of his tirade, George also dealt President Obama a glancing sneer, dismissing him as a “floundering naïf,” though I think “bloodthirsty” might have been a more appropriate adjective.* Well, if George hates Mitt, and hates Obama, who does he want…
Condispeak: I’m not being condescending, I’m just reminding you that I hold your future, and your testicles, in the palm of my hand
In a recent interview, Condoleezza Rice discussed one of the many snags in her problematic relationship with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, aka “Mr. Asshole”: “he said something about my being ‘bright.’ And it just bugged me. It’s just one of those words that you don’t use about a colleague.” According to Condi, “I use…
Canada Trust Jazz Youth Summit—Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time”
Capté du festival international de jazz d’Ottawa, le TD Canada Trust Jazz Youth Summit joue Now’s the time, de charlie parker arrangé pour big band. Le TD Canada Trust Jazz Youth Summit, c’est un regroupement 17 jeune entre 17 et 22 ans partout au Canada qui ont passé des auditions pour être dans le band….
George Will, hittin’ on Mitt
George Will—that’s George F. Will to you, pretty boy—has been getting a lot of mileage out of this column, making fun of Mitt Romney, for not knowing whether he thinks ethanol subsidies are a good idea or not. Well, I’m sorry. Making fun of a politician with presidential aspirations for not knowing whether he likes…
Cats can talk!
In fact, they can do just about anything, according to Bicycle Ben, Harrisburg’s answer to Hans Arp. But who is talking here? Not the cyclist, obviously. He’s got too much on his mind. But the cats might have something to say, and even the chick, not to mention an omniscient voice-over. See if you can…
Ross Douthat, doubling down the dyspepsia
It’s tough, being a Republican with a brain these days. Or even half of one, judging from the howls of pain being emitted by two of my less favorite people, John Podhoretz and Ross Douthat. John, in what Ross describes as a “dyspeptic assessment of the Republican field,” takes a particular swing at Rick Perry,…
The New Inequality: 1) It’s growing 2) Does anyone care?
The new report from the Congressional Budget Office on Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007 is causing a fair amount of heartburn on the right. Apparently, the news that the folks at the top of the pole (the top 1 percent) more than doubled their share of the nation’s income,…
Football is just an extension of government. Or is it the other way around?
Over at Salon, Steve Kornacki has a nice piece on the endless machinations necessary to decide which college football teams get to become members of the cool conferences and which lose out. If you’ve ever asked yourself why, back in ’94, Texas Tech got into the Big 12, whoever they are, and Rice did not,…
Steve Jobs: Saint or Shithead?
Judging from the outpouring of comment on the Internet, I was touched by Steve Jobs far less than most. I have never owned a single Apple product. Back in the day, when computers were new, I disdained the Mac, thinking that “Apples were for girls,” a judgment that I think still stands up. Back in…