Rhetorical Outbursts

Mark Steyn, describing President Bush’s recent interview with a group of conservative journalists:

The president’s view is that before it was Iraq it was Israel; with these guys, it’s always something. Sometimes it’s East Timor — which used to be the leftie cause du jour. And, riffing on the endless list of Islamist grievances, […]

Watch the video. Anything a normal, sane person is willing to pay $800 to have done to himself and then laugh about minutes later cannot possibly be considered torture.

To me, this looks like a measured and humane alternative interrogation technique. It is preferable to actual torture, which has historically been far more barbaric. Obviously […]

I’m fascinated by the The Wisdom of Crowds approach to predicting elections (and all sorts of other things).

Prediction markets like the IEM, operated by the University of Iowa, have proven more accurate at predicting elections than traditional polling. As the Wikipedia article on prediction markets explains:

These markets actually have a long and […]

My latest vice is checking Pete’s Pond, a live wildlife cam in Botswana, throughout the day to see if I can spot any wildlife.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” you say. But it is. You see, I can’t look away. I can’t drag myself away from the computer because there’s […]

Oh for goodness’ sake! I guess this means diplomacy is out. Talk about itching for a fight!

If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures,” the North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by […]

If more Muslim leaders sounded like the Aga Khan — and if they spoke out more often — the world would have a better chance of avoiding a protracted clash of civilizations.

He’s a British citizen living in France and educated in the West. He is also the leader of the Ismaili, a Shia sect […]

I’ll grant that the resolutions probably are useless, but we did ask nicely and quite some time ago I believe they agreed not to pursue this course of action.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council should congratulate North Korea for its nuclear test instead of passing “useless” resolutions or statements, North Korea’s U.N. […]

From ABC News:

The oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to “Shoot me first,” in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.

I don’t know whether her action made a difference in the fate of her classmates, but this […]