Politics
President Bush made a characteristic error this morning while speaking to the press: [O]n Friday I stood up and said, I don't appreciate the speculation about Don Rumsfeld; he's doing a fine job, I strongly support him. […] I listen to all voices, but mine is
Politics
Tertullian The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Politics
Many of today's "conservatives" are not conservative. Their reaction to the fall of Saddam three years ago was a telling case in point. Rather than burning with radicality and hubris, wouldn't remembering the wisdom of Edmund Burke have been the conservative thing to do?
History
If the empire had been afflicted by any recent calamity, by a plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful war; if the Tiber had, or if the Nile had not, risen beyond its banks; if the earth had shaken, or if the temperate order of the seasons had been interrupted, the
Music
I walked down to Buckman this morning listening to "Skylarking" by XTC. Just as "Ballet for a Rainy Day" started, the sun broke out from the clouds.
Politics
The Bush administration believed that the Iraqi war would be beneficial in the long run because the Iraqi people would accept an imposed government led by Ahmed Chalabi. The administration now believes that an Iranian war would be beneficial in the long run because the Iranian people would accept an
Life
I noticed a strange smell in my bedroom this afternoon. I couldn't find the source of it. I opened the windows, but it wouldn't go away. So I turned everything off, went out for a while, then took another look around when I got home. I
Sports
During the last 12 months: * The College World Series was won by Texas, with Florida placing second. * The NCAA Division I-A Bowl Championship Series was won by Texas, with Southern Cal placing second. * March Madness was won by Florida, with UCLA placing second. Austin. Gainesville. Los Angeles. And no
Life
When my neighbors' cat wants in at night, he sits at the edge of their back porch, cries a couple of times, and gets let in. It would appear my neighbors weren't home last night. And that edge of their porch? It's about nine feet
History
President Bush carried every state of the old Confederacy in 2004, most by substantial margins. White people in those states have generally supported the President's Iraq policies by greater margins than people in the rest of the country. Which is odd, because most white Southerners are familiar with
History
A minor buzzword on the right wing of the blogosphere has been "Jacksonian", used to describe populists who support the occupation of Iraq. But anyone who is familiar with Andrew Jackson will know how bitterly he resented the British occupation of his native South Carolina during the Revolutionary
Portland
Wall facing SE 12th Avenue, just south of Taylor Street. (My advice? Take the lower door...)