“…and the misplaced anger of “liberal” Jews.”
Nice to see the scare quotes.
Category Archives: History
Trump And Birthright Citizenship
Thoughts from Instapundit. It’s pretty clear that the writers of the 14th Amendment never had any idea it would be used for this. It was to deal with the aftermath of American slavery and continuing resistance by the Democrats to end it.
And of course, I’m long on record of believing that no one should have birthright citizenship. Work here, live here, but citizenship is a privilege to be earned, regardless of parentage or place of birth.
[Wednesday morning update, finally home in California after over six weeks away]
To clarify, in response to a discussion on an email list:
Simply, if you are born here, you have a right to stay here. It makes no sense to deport someone to a country in which they’ve never lived (i.e. DACA, even though Obama’s order was illegal). Everyone born here or otherwise legally here would have the same path to citizenship. But citizenship of someone born here via that path would not entitle their family to citizenship (i.e., an end to “anchor babies”). Everyone, including children of citizens born here, is responsible for earning their citizenship. Others are legal residents, but they don’t get to vote to confiscate my wealth.
Also, this is not about “preserving the Republican Party.” It’s about preserving the Republic itself.
A Letter To Our Chinese Friends
Americans (and westerners in general) really are different.
Yes, Judeo-Christianity is a fundamentally different philosophy and basis for society.
An Intact Shipwreck
The world’s oldest, found deep in the Black Sea.
Have to say, whatever else you think about the Grauniad, they have great science articles.
The South China Sea
China is getting more aggressive. This is a dangerous game. One wonders, of course, how much more aggressive they’d be if Hillary had won. Of course, she’d have give Xi Jinping a misspelled “Reset” button.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Three quarters of a century after they were hitting the beaches against each other, in a joint exercise, Japanese amphibious troops establish a beachhead alongside U.S. Marines from the Seventh Fleet.
First Man
Eric Berger liked the movie.
[Afternoon update]
Thoughts from Marina Koren. Despite Gosling’s stupid statement, “it’s not an unpatriotic movie.”
[Late-afternoon update]
Here is Alan Boyle’s review.
[Saturday-morning update]
For those saying they’ll watch it at home, I rarely go to the theater, but this is the sort of film that deserves a big screen.
[Friday-afternoon update]
John Podhoretz hated it.
The Battle Of Brett Kavanaugh
Was it the high-water mark of the new civil war for “the Resistance”? I’d like to think so, but I think they’re perfectly capable of getting more vicious.
Winston Churchill And Scott Kelly
We haven’t all gone insane, but a lot of us seem to be.
I have to say, though, that I’ve been pretty unimpressed with Kelly’s political acument and judgment. He should stick to astronautics. I would also note that the demands of the howling left that he do a struggle session is Maoist.
Sputnik
It’s been 61 years now since that event upended U.S. space policy. It’s worth (re)reading a piece I wrote a few years ago at The New Atlantis, while we’re waiting for my most recent one to come on line. Sadly, it holds up pretty well, and I would make the same policy recommendations today.
The Return Of The Space Visionaries
About a year ago, I started writing an essay comparing and contrasting Bezos’s versus Musk’s visions for humanity in space. As is often the case, it expanded into a history of space visions in general, and how we’re finally returning to the old ones, after the tragic detour of Apollo. It’s out in the current issue, but unfortunately, isn’t yet available on line. I expect it will be in a few weeks or less, though.
[Update a few minutes later]
This is sort of a space issue. There is a piece by Bob Zubrin laying out his concept for Moon Direct, bypassing what he calls the space toll booth (Gateway), and another by Micah Meadowcroft on how Mars will disappoint.