…are obsolete?
Category Archives: Social Commentary
The Discussion That’s Been Lost
This:
Memo to the New York Times, New York publishers, and other morally clueless individuals scratching their heads over the Petraeus scandal: If you are writing a biography and either you or your subject are married to a third person, and you have sex, you have done something wrong. No mystery, no dilemma, no agonizing introspection needed.
Of course, knowing what is right is the easy part. Doing it can be hard. But if you are genuinely confused about the morality of what presumably happened in this relationship, it’s time to get your moral compass reset.
The problem is that we’re not allowed moral compasses any more. It’s too judgmental.
And of course, what they did was wrong even if there was no biography involved. But we’re not supposed to talk about that, just as we’re not supposed to criticize women who have children out of wedlock. Because, you know.
Soak The Rich
Now, anyone can play.
Ten Chemical Compounds
…with immature jokes for names. Hardy har har.
[Via who you’d expect]
NASA’s Safety Culture
Wayne Hale has an interesting excerpt from a recent speech by Admiral Gehman on the Columbia loss. I may incorporate this into my space safety book. Hard to believe that it will be ten years in February.
African Democracy
…is a sham. Ya think?
Absent a culture of liberal and particularly anglospheric values, democracy can be catastrophic. It’s why the Founders established a republic. Not to claim that Africa was well off under colonialism, but much of it was certainly better off. Just ask the residents of what used to be Rhodesia.
Just In Case The Petraeus Story Wasn’t Weird Enough
The Social Issues
Where do Republicans go from here?
Note that, despite the derangement of some, this has almost nothing to do with the Tea Party, which was successful in 2010 because it pretty much ignored them. Unfortunately the Democratic operatives with bylines (like George Stephanopolous) wouldn’t allow that to happen this year.
Remembering Those Who Served
[Note that I’m keeping this post at the top all day, but there’s lots of new content if you haven’t checked in in a while — just scroll past it]
Here is my Veterans Day post from last year.
And this is ridiculous, and one more sign of the decline of Old Blighty.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all those men died in Flanders’ fields so that this schmuck could burn a poppy on the Internet, but that’s certainly the sort of thing that Americans have died in battle for, and many of them did die at Ypres and other places for that right, even for non-Americans.
I’ll try to keep this at the top today, so keep scrolling.
Nazi Tank Manuals
Are surprisingly entertaining. Who knew?