or Why Culture11 Sucked So Bad. Bob Barr was eating a chocolate-dipped soft-serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. I was driving him to Raleigh-Durham International Airport after his appearance at the North Carolina Libertarian Party state conference in Burlington. It was April 2008, and Barr’s entry into the LP presidential contest had made the former Republican congressman from Georgia the … [Read More]

Commenting in a new book on Abraham Lincoln, former president Jimmy Carter observed “(Lincoln) ignores the fact that the tragic combat might have been avoided altogether, and that the leaders of both sides, overwhelmingly Christian, were violating a basic premise of their belief as followers of the Prince of Peace.” Neoconservative Ira Stoll, wrote of Carter’s criticism of Lincoln in the … [Read More]

As the Obama administration tries to replicate the surge in Afghanistan and expands actions in Pakistan, U.S. strategic planners would do well to read Andrew Bacevich’s excellent review of yet another work on counterinsurgency. Bacevich isn’t shy in questioning the entire point of the so-called Long War. The effort to impose some modern notion of “stability” onto tribally based societies is … [Read More]

From the invasion of Iraq in 2003 until the economy took a turn for the worse during the election, the “War on Terror” was the defining issue of the Republican Party. Standard conservative priorities like smaller government and fiscal responsibility and even social issues like abortion, gay marriage and gun rights, all took a backseat to support for the war in … [Read More]

“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency,” said Lord Keynes. Ben Bernanke disagrees. A student of the Depression, the Fed chair appears far more fearful of deflation—a vicious cycle of falling prices, debt defaults, home foreclosures and rising unemployment. Deflation is what America underwent in the 1930s. A Fed-created bubble burst, causing margin calls to … [Read More]

The national movement for state sovereignty If there’s one thing worse than urban elites at the New York Times, LA Times or the Washington Post who sneer at the mere hint of grassroots conservatism or populism, it’s Midwestern and Southern “fly over country” journalists who strive to emulate them. In a column entitled “New states’ rights fight emerges,” Brian Hicks of … [Read More]

During dark days I’m convinced that those who set themselves up to rule over us are knaves and poltroons to a man and woman: on the good days I’m willing to admit that there might indeed be those of probity, worthy of honour, amongst them. However, I’m never willing to admit that the end results of the activities of politicians, the … [Read More]

It’s past midway in March and the slopes still don’t have that used-up look which comes by the end of February. No gritty slush, just beautiful pure powder tracked only by furry things such as foxes and deer. While out cross-country skiing, I feel elated by animal tracks next to my own, a great silence enveloping the bowl where I’m skiing, … [Read More]

There is an old adage on Wall Street that no one rings a bell at major market tops or bottoms. That may be true in normal times, but as many have noticed, we are now completely through the looking glass. In this parallel reality, Ben Bernanke has just rung the loudest bell ever heard in the foreign exchange and government debt … [Read More]

As the U.S. financial crisis broadens and deepens, wiping out the wealth and savings of tens of millions, destroying hopes and dreams, it is hard not to see in all of this history’s verdict upon this generation. We have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. For how did this befall us, save through decisions that brushed aside lessons that … [Read More]