May 15, 2014

'Soviet Times': the Real Russian Catastrophe

Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest catastrophe of the 20th Century. Western leaders have been quick to brand this as old-fashioned thinking.  Their condescension sounds eerily like Neville Chamberlai...

December 14, 2012

It's the Budget, Stupid

In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the antiheroes are cornered by the Pinkertons on a sheer cliff looming hundreds of feet over a white water river.  Sundance (Robert  Redford) is paralyzed with fear at jumping off, finally admitting "I...

November 30, 2012

Digital Devil's Dictionary

Freed of his campaign obligations, Old Nick himself arrived yesterday to kick back with some old friends.  It turns out he is turning his attention back to his magnum opus, The Devil's Dictionary.  It has been almost a century since the fir...

September 29, 2011

Private Foundations: Benefactors or Malefactors?

The "Super Committee" charged with deficit reduction should take notice of a tax policy that permits the wealthiest Americans to divert a third of their tax obligations away from the Treasury and to causes of their own choosing.  The same system...