Bookworm Room

I read a lot of things that intrigued me this morning, so I’ll just including them here, with frequent updates. To begin with, Jonah Goldberg certainly nailed one of the reasons I find Newt appealing right now. If you read on in the Goldberg article, you’ll also see him identify the concerns Newt’s tactic raises: [...]

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One of the things we frequently bemoan here is the fact that American foreign policy tends to be naive.  Perhaps because our culture is a fluid melting pot in which citizens, until quite recently, willingly changed themselves to assimilate into the broader culture, we’re very poor at understanding that other cultures not only have different [...]

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Your long wait is over.  Here are the winners from last week’s Watcher’s Council vote.  Please notice, if you will, JoshuaPundit’s extraordinary blow-out victory, which I think is the most spectacular win in Council history.  If you haven’t read his post, you should: Council Winners *First place with 6 1/3 votes! Joshuapundit–-War Drums On Iran? [...]

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Really good.  Freddy Mercury would have been pleased. (Or see here.)

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I got the funniest email today, and I just had to share it with you.  The “re” line was as follows: “Gibbering baboons more sensible than you, wingnut degenerate.” I was intrigued. The rest of the email consisted of a link to a post, along with the full text of the post in which the [...]

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I always love it when I read a post that has me not only nodding in agreement with every paragraph, but delving into my own history and values to expand upon the points the post makes.  Mike McDaniel, who blogs at State McDaniel Manor, has written one of those posts.  (Full disclosure:  Mike very kindly [...]

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This video is getting a lot of attention because Obama at some point said “Here in Asia.”  Since he was speaking at a summit with the word “Asia” in the title, I guess it’s a forgivable slip — although it wouldn’t have been had a Bush or Reagan said it. What strikes me about the [...]

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I never thought there’d come a day when I’d agree with Andrew Sullivan, but I just saw a pig fly by outside my window, so this must be the day.  He and Megan McArdle have differing views about the appropriate response when you see your boss raping a child.  Here’s Sullivan’s response to someone’s suggestion [...]

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I’m about to show my age here, but what can you do.  Up until this morning, I had no idea who Justin Timberlake was.  I mean, sure I’d heard his name, but I just vaguely thought “Singer?  Actor?  Whatever.”  I’ve pretty much checked out of pop culture lately, finding it too antithetical to my politics, [...]

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Hold onto your hats, folks, because this is a BIG ONE.  I mean, this is the kind of thing that can make or break elections.  Are you ready? NEWT IS AN ABBA FAN (although he loses points for liking it as presented in the movie, which is lousy, rather than appreciating it as sung by [...]

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What happened today was entirely not my fault.  I’m only retelling it here because (a) it’s funny and (b) it’s a good reminder that no matter how well prepared we think we are, things happen.  To appreciate this story, you need to know a few things:  we have a home alarm; my wonderful cleaning ladies [...]

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Those in the know are saying that tonight will be bye-bye to someone big in Congress.  This could be interesting.

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In the wake of the horrific child abuse scandal roiling Penn State, many have been trying to understand how Sandusky’s predatory behavior could have continued unchecked for so long.  The focal point of this “how could this happen” question is the fact that Mike McQueary actually witnessed an assault.  Rather than rearranging Sandusky’s face, McQueary [...]

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Last weekend was a freezing cold Saturday morning swimming meet open thread. Today it’s a chilly Saturday tennis match open thread. Have at it!

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When my son was very little, he always asked me, “Are lions bad?”  What he really meant to ask is “Are lions evil?”  I always explained to him that lions aren’t bad, because they don’t make moral decisions.  They are animals, acting according to instinct.  Evil means understanding right or wrong. I’m beginning to think [...]

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I can’t decide if Rich Lowry is praising Newt with faint damns or damning him with faint praise, but it’s still an excellent précis of the candidate that is Newt: In many ways, Gingrich would be better-suited as an intellectual ombudsman of the GOP race than as a candidate himself; he has more baggage than [...]

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Here are this week’s submissions, which I’m carefully reading as I prepare to cast my vote.  (This is very good practice for being a thoughtful voter next November.) Council Submissions The Noisy Room – Democratic Socialists of America Goes National For Occupy Wall Street Joshuapundit- War Drums On Iran? GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Deadly Dynamics [...]

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The lovely Gloria DeHaven entertaining the boys in Two Girls and a Sailor:

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With the holidays nearing, this is a lovely charity to make sure that our troops far from home (and that’s true whether they’re stationed half a world away from home or on the other side of our own country), can talk to their family and friends. (Thank you, MNK, for the link.)

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For those of you who have things you want to say about the goings-on at Penn State (the sexual abuse, the cover-up, the firings, and the riots), have at it. My take is that it’s worth contrasting this appalling sexual abuse with the claims against Cain. I know that a greater wrong doesn’t cancel a [...]

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A few days ago, I jumped the gun.  Today, however, really is the Marine Corps’ birthday.  Happy Birthday, Marines!!

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This is what passes for humor on the Left: Get a “celebrity” who’s been in prison for rape, has bitten off people’s ears, kicked strangers in the groin, is a high school drop-out and — oh, yes — happens to be black, and have him pretend to be Herman Cain in a parody that calls [...]

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Dorothy Rabinowitz thinks that Newt’s slow but steady race, one that focuses on beautifully articulated ideas, will win the day.  She points to this speech as evidence of Gingrich’s intellectual strength: (Or view it here.) What do you think?  As for me, the more I see of the others, the more I like Newt, and [...]

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This is as pithy a summary as any I’ve seen about the antisemitism permeating Occupy Wall Street, and binding together the Left, the Islamists, and the White Supremacists: (If the video isn’t showing up, watch here.) By the way, why is no one commenting on the fact that the so-called 99% are not a monolithic [...]

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Bruce Kesler spoke with Jonathan Spyer, who wrote Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.  Despite the current upheaval in the Middle East, and its attendant rise in antisemitism (which is impressive, considering its previous high level), Spyer is sanguine, and even optimistic.  Check out Bruce’s post and see what you think.

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