Bookworm Room

Tweet You’ve probably noticed my conspicuous silence about events in the Middle East, especially in Libya.  I simply don’t have anything to add.  I’m a spectator here and, until the coin stops spinning and lands on one side or another, I’m not prepared to opine. All I’ve got now are hopes and fears, but not [...]

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Tweet Rodney King got his 15 minutes of fame for (a) getting beaten up while resisting arrest; (b) having his name attached to some horrific riots; and (c) plaintively asking “Can we get along?”  The last is a great thought.  I’d like to get along with people better myself.  “Getting along,” though, presupposes that people [...]

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Tweet I was reading Rick Steves’ Italy 2011 (the 2010) version, when I was surprised to learn this little fact on page 21: Because Europeans are generally careful with energy use, you’ll find government-enforced limits on air-conditioning and heating.  There’s a one-month period each spring and fall when neither is allowed. For those of us [...]

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Tweet We all learned in school about the Triangle factory fire in New York back in 1911.  The fire started and too many women died in significant part because of horrible working conditions the factory owners were able to impose on economically trapped women.  The fire was a PR disaster for management in America, and [...]

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Tweet I’m not quite sure how to describe this one without giving away the whole weird little joke.  Suffice to say that it’s quick and amusing. As for this one, you’ll be interested to know that Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians (“RCO”) believes women should be advised that, generally speaking, abortions are better for their [...]

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Tweet Is it too late to open a post for those who are interested in discussing books today?  I couldn’t get to my computer earlier, because of family commitments and those same commitments preclude my posting anything substantive today. I’m willing to bet, though, that many of you are reading something interesting that you’d like [...]

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Tweet Bruce Kesler managed to burrow like a tick under the institutional skin of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).  Hurrah!!!

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Tweet In an earlier post, I said that Obama’s decision to turn his back on DOMA, despite his professed support for traditional marriage, does not make him a Harry Truman.  Rich Lowry explains much better than I could why Obama’s current position is not a principled stand but is, instead, another step towards a pre-planned [...]

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Tweet I was very gratified this week, because I won on the Council side and my submission for non-Council (Zombie) won too.  It’s not a trifecta, but maybe a bifecta? Council Winners *First place with 3 1/3 votes! – Bookworm Room–Thoughts about the Wisconsin teachers’ union Second place with 2 2/3 votes – The Colossus [...]

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Tweet I got the following email.  I don’t know the essay’s true provenance, but the sentiments expressed are interesting, especially if it did indeed originate in EuropeL ALL EUROPEAN LIFE DIED IN AUSCHWITZ The following is a copy of an article written by Spanish writer Sebastian Vilar Rodriguez and published in a Spanish newspaper on [...]

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Tweet Here is a financial report on USA, Inc., presented as a slide show, as developed by financial analysts. Most of us Bookworm Room aficionados know that the economic state of health of our country is not good and getting worse. It is critical, actually. Unfortunately, there are many still wedded to Keynesian mythologies of [...]

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Tweet David Limbaugh does as good a job as any I’ve seen of explaining precisely what’s wrong with the President’s announcement that, because he disagrees with the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, he’s removing it from judicial purview.

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Tweet It’s a good video: Here’s the real point:  If you want to work for government (which can be a very honorable or practical or neutral thing to do), you are forced to pay union dues.  You know, when you pay those dues that they will be used to fund the Democrats.  This is true [...]

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Tweet The one thing about crises at home and abroad is that they inspire people to deep thoughts.  The Watchers are on it.  (This week is also special, because we welcome a new council member, The Political Commentator.) Council Submissions Rhymes With Right – A Texas Teacher Looks At Wisconsin The Colossus of Rhodey – [...]

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Tweet I’ve always admired Harry Truman for his ability to go forward with moral acts despite the fact that these acts were at odds with his personal prejudices.  Although he was a good old fashioned Southern anti-Semite, in 1948, at the UN, he voted for the State of Israel, because it was the right thing [...]

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Tweet This is an extraordinary 9+ minute video.  Carve out the time to watch it.  But remember:  it’s not all Obama’s fault.  The American people elected this man.  They share the blame and the responsibility: Hat tip:  Lulu

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Tweet You’ve long suspected it, but now we know it’s true:  objectively speaking, conservative political candidates are indeed better looking: Rightwing candidates are better looking than their leftwing counterparts, something they benefit from during elections, according to a study conducted by Swedish and Finnish economists. The economists who conducted the study figured this out by [...]

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Tweet I love my son dearly and he dearly loves me right back.  He’s bright, exceptionally well-coordinated and, if I do say so myself, he’s very good-looking.  He’s also selfish, hyper-competitive, lazy, ill-mannered and a total slob.  I have been working for years on all those traits and there has definitely been some improvement, but [...]

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Tweet As I read it, the latest insanity from Europe/England is as follows:  woman gets government benefits; woman neglects to use those government benefits to pay rent on government housing; government housing tries to evict woman; the EU declares that eviction violates woman’s rights.  Woman walks away both eating and having cake.  Deadbeats throughout the [...]

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Tweet If you’re a Mikado fan, you know the source of my post title: The song came to mind because of two stories today, both of which left me wondering whether the punishment fit the crime. One story you may already have read:  an Iraqi living in Arizona was convicted of 2nd degree murder for [...]

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Tweet Another in the category of “they don’t write ‘em like the used to”:

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Tweet Andrea Mitchell calls in an interview.  Rumsfeld understands that it’s a savage attack and, with great civility, responds accordingly.  Watch the video and enjoy DrewM’s comment: I love the way he refuses to accept the premise of a number of her questions. It’s a skill I wish more political figures had. Far too often [...]

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Tweet Taranto is always good.  Sometimes, though, he’s great.  That’s the case for his column today, which discusses (a) the difference between public and private sector unions and (b) the difference between Tea Party and union protests.  He’s not saying anything you haven’t heard before or figured out for yourself; it’s just that he says [...]

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Tweet In the old days, medical treatment was more likely to kill than to cure.  For example, one can make a good argument that George Washington died because his physicians bled him to death. It’s scarcely strange, then, that homeopathy was such a hit when it first appeared on the scene.  The principle, as I [...]

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Tweet Roger Simon, among others, has noted that the demonstrations in Madison demonstrate how old-fashioned the modern Left is, something that’s true despite the Left’s attempt to re-brand itself with the name “Progressive.”  It therefore seemed appropriate for me to run again an article I wrote for American Thinker back in September 2007.  My section [...]

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