The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

Stuck in an airport with my iPad yesterday, I came across this riff by Christian Toto over at Big Government on the success of George Lucas’s Red Tails at the box office: “Red Tails” producer George Lucas hawked the film as a patriotic ode to our World War II heroes, specifically black pilots who pushed [...]

Once Wolf Blitzer had, remarkably, found a way to further insult the intelligence of his audience — asking the candidates why their wives would be the best First Lady* — I figured it was just about time for me to stop watching the debate and do any number of other things with my evening. Besides, [...]

by Stillwater In comments in a previous thread, both Mark T and  James H suggested I give my take on ‘the racism in politics’ debate on the supposition that a concise and fairly clear argument of how racism is a fundamental part of conservative politics would be beneficial.  To be clear here, they weren’t advocating [...]

The State of the Union address was a bit of a disappointment to the punditry. But of course, the President’s message wasn’t meant for them. There’s probably no better example of what I mean than the intertube reaction to this bit, which was really the capstone of the evening: These achievements are a testament to [...]

I never watch the damn thing. I hate applause. But here are my reactions to the prepared remarks. We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the [...]

  The stringers are the biggest change between the Tiki 38 as originally designed by James Wharran and the Tiki 38 we’re building. To meet USCG regulations both the number and size of the stringers has been increased. The original design had two 3/4″x 1 1/2″ stringers in the lower hull section. Our boat has [...]

Noting that, for the first time in a generation, inequality will be a major theme of a US Presidential election, Michael Cohen writes how the result in November may establish a new conventional wisdom about electoral politics in America: With recent polls suggesting that Obama has used the inequality discussion to reclaim the mantle of [...]

Once upon a time I drove a Honda Civic CX and I felt like a patriot.

In his voyage account from the 13th century, Marco Polo tells of “the old man of the mountain” (Book I: Ch. 21), or Ala’u-‘d-Din Muhammad, one of the last rulers of the Nizari Ismailis, a heretical offshoot of Shiite Islam in lands stretching from modern Afghanistan to Syria: “In a beautiful valley, enclosed between two lofty [...]

Today dear reader, we set sail back to March 25, 1807 when the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. What seems a piece of historical trivia is also the start of an interesting anomaly within IR theory. Britain’s 60 year crusade against the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is the most notable example of an [...]

About that watch, my father e-mails: Au contraire. It was purchased in 1956-7 from the PX on our base near Gotemba at the base of Mount Fuji, selected from an array of Rolexes, the bulk of which suggested hardware rather than jewelry. It possessed a clean elegance the Oysters lacked. As for motives, I was [...]

As E.D. notes, this is good to see: Kain is skeptical, however, that we’ll see other politicians follow Christie’s lead on this one and embrace a more rational policy towards non-violent drug offenders: It’s certainly a welcome brand of conservative politics. But will it really appeal to other conservative politicians? In states where the drug [...]