“Hello, Jerry, Homer Simpson, remember last month when I paid back that loan? Well, now I need you to do a favor for me.” – Homer Simpson As the Western intervention in the Libyan civil war prepares to enter its third week, it’s been interesting reading the various American takes on the conflict, particularly those [...]
Archive for March 2011
It’s a Two Way Alliance
The Same Old Lines: Written, Read, and Snorted
“Continue the research.” – C.M. Burns The cover of last Thursday’s New York Times featured a below the fold picture of a seventeen year old digging a grave with a pickaxe. He’s done a very good job; the hole has sharp corners, is nicely rectangular, and appears to be plenty deep. The grave is soon [...]
Twilight of the Mesopotamian Gods
“Now look, it isn’t our fault that terrorists hate us. We’re just kids. We aren’t the ones bombing them now. We’re just kids. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world, but we’re just caught in the middle. It’s not our fault.” – Eric Cartman “The Afghan kids are caught in the [...]
Give War a Chance (It’s Too Late Not To)
“Okay Libya, exports?” – Principal Skinner “Yes sir, you American pig!” – Bart Simpson From a simple “the bastards are lying again” point of view, it is easy to snort at the Western lust for bombing Libya under the risible guise of protecting civilians. With the partial exception of the Persian Gulf War, every time [...]
Monoculture
“Password? Hmm, password, how ’bout ‘guest’. No way! It can’t be, Jesus Christ, that is just baby town frolics.” – Sterling Archer One of the more amazing things about the increasingly connected world in which we live is the ability to combine so much functionality into a single device. Whether it’s a smart phone, a [...]
Domestic Friedman Unit
“Everything changes when you hit the big one-oh. Your legs start to go, candy doesn’t taste as good anymore.” – Bart Simpson Six months from now the news is going to be insufferable for at least a week, and probably much longer. Oddly enough, this has very little to do with whether or not the [...]
What’s the Singular of Archipelago?
Torturing The New York Times
“This reporter promises to be more trusting and less vigilant in the future.” – Kent Brockman On Thursday, The New York Times ran an article about an Afghan diplomat who was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2008. He was held for two years by al-Qaeda in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan and, for the [...]
John McCain, Egypt, and the Great Middle Eastern Revolt of 2011
“Well boys, your old mother knows when she’s been beat. You win, young man, I tip my bonnet to you.” – Mom A while ago I was listening to a program on the BBC World Service, and they were interviewing some young people in sub-Saharan Africa about Barack Obama. As might be expected, Obama was [...]
