I had no idea that the great economic journalist Henry Hazlitt was indeed related to the great essayist William Hazlitt. Turns out, according to this archival Time article about H. Hazlitt succeeding H.L. Mencken as editor of the American Mercury, William was Henry’s great-great-great uncle. I’m grateful to Scott Lahti for bringing this to my [...]
Taki Theodoracopulos isn’t generally considered a great fan of the government of Israel. But did you know that he once volunteered to fight for Israel in the Six-Days’ War? Not long thereafter, though, the great Yehudi Menuhin told Taki to take another look at the plight of the Palestinians. What he saw prompted him to [...]
A decade ago, conservatives rightly ridiculed inner-city “midnight basketball” programs meant to reduce crime. Well, times change. Now a patriotic blogger is suggesting that the best thing we could possibly do for Iraq is: subsidize the national soccer team to the tune of, say, “a hundred million dollars.” Sound like a joke? Check out David [...]
Every time a space shuttle launch is impending, I like to regale friends with the story of NASA’s hunt for the high-tech computer components — nowadays found only on eBay — that make sure the shuttle doesn’t turn into a flying funeral pyre for the astronauts on board. The name of the sophisticated processor unit [...]
"Milicrats" — short for military bureaucrats — is a term William S. Lind uses in his piece in the new issue of The American Conservative, which prints tomorrow. It's apt, and being a resident of Arlington, Virginia, I live close to the precincts of milicrat central.
We have art here. Here's what kind of art [...]
News that the FBI is after Jack Anderson's papers reminds me that Bill Bennett's fondness for jailing reporters has some even nuttier antecedents. Like the plot to kill Jack Anderson. G. Gordon Liddy tells Playboy about it (via lefty blog Elementropy):
PLAYBOY: Why in God's name did you want to murder Jack Anderson in the [...]
Normally I just tear up the endless Chase / Citibank / etc. credit card applications that fill my mailbox every day. But as this fellow found out, a thoroughly torn-up dismembered application is no obstacle to getting a new card — even one with a different billing address and cell-phone number.
MIM Notes, the Maoist newspaper, has a web page dedicated to video-game reviews. Would Chairman Mao approve of Doom 3?
The Independent publishes some statistics about women’s place in the world that are sure — and, no doubt, designed — to get feminists riled up. Some of the numbers, though, might not reflect what the Independent had in mind. This one, for example:
67% of all illiterate adults are women
If that’s the case, no [...]