Nov 17Carbuncular AmericaI can’t say I’m not happy that Trump has announced is re-candidacy. It’ vaguely reminds me of H. L. Mencken’s obituary for Ambrose Bierce, who, Mencken said, considered death to be “the last act in a squalid and rib rocking buffoonery.” In this case it’s not Trump’s death (yet), or…Trump2 min readTrump2 min read
Nov 16ApophasisI was sitting in a barber’s chair around age five, if I recall correctly (I probably don’t). …Materialism4 min readMaterialism4 min read
Nov 6In the gravitational field of the state (an election reflection)We know that power always destroys values and meaning. -Jacques Ellul A hat tip to Charlie Collier for putting me onto Michael Hanby. Michael Hanby says we are living through “a metaphysical catastrophe.” (Some might say a spiritual catastrophe, but maybe it’s the same thing.) This applies to culture and…Politics14 min readPolitics14 min read
Nov 3The letter — a tale of “progressive” cowardiceWe write with appreciation for your commitment to Ukraine’s legitimate struggle against Russia’s war of aggression. Your support for the self-defense of an independent, sovereign, and democratic state has been supported by Congress, including through various appropriations of military, economic and humanitarian aid in furtherance of this cause. …Progressives8 min readProgressives8 min read
Oct 27John Daniel Davidson’s fatwaIn Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamozov, two brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, have a conversation. Alyosha is a monk, and Ivan is an atheist raising questions about God and church to challenge his brother. Ivan tells Alyosha a story about Jesus returning to earth in Seville during the Spanish Inquisition. In the…John Daniel Davidson25 min readJohn Daniel Davidson25 min read
Oct 14On the BeachI went to kindergarten in 1956. Up until the early 1960s, we were required to practice “duck and cover drills.” These drills required us to jump out of our seats then squat in fetal positions beneath our desks, which we were told was how we could survive nuclear attacks launched…Nuclear War4 min readNuclear War4 min read
Oct 9What’s goin’ on?“. . . protest becomes a distinctive moral feature of the modern age and … indignation is a predominant modern emotion.” — Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 1981. I re-read the same books over and over again. Partly, that’s because — like watching the same movie a year after the first…Apocalyptic39 min readApocalyptic39 min read
Oct 1The discontent defaultBack in 1981, I lived in Panama. On the beach at Bahia Limon, Atlantic side. Everyone’s dream come true. We had coconut palms, exotic…Panama3 min readPanama3 min read
Sep 29The irresponsible stupidity of accelerationismIt was so common it became apocryphal. Everyone had heard a similar story, like the one about scuba divers seeing a dinosaur catfish next to a dam. Only it wasn’t catfish; it was commanders. I’m talking about my thankfully long-past Army days; and I suspect those in the Army now…Accelerationism6 min readAccelerationism6 min read
Sep 28I left the left when the left left me, but I’m not gonna “turn to the right”Politics. When I was young lad “humping a ruck” through mountainous Vietnamese rain forests, there was a guy named Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, sending orders to the Air Force to bomb Cambodia and to the cops at home to crack down on people who wanted him to stop…Left10 min readLeft10 min read
