The actor Vince Vaughn has given an interview to British GQ in which he’s expressed a lot of deeply conservative viewpoints. And like the little wind-up toys that they are, many of those who disagree with him are insulting him. This is actually a very stupid thing to write, because Weinberg is claiming that he…
The desperate denial of the doomed
May 30, 2015
Since 2003 the world has known about the inconceivable brutality of the organization that now calls itself the Islamic State. It was originally Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Organization of Monotheism and Jihad), the group that wrote the script for jihadist beheading videos. And yet to this day, soldiers and civilians surrender to the Islamic State after…
A prisoner who refused
May 28, 2015
I once saw a World War I postcard that I wished desperately I had in my collection. Today my own original copy arrived. It shows a prisoner of war who refused to play by the rules. Here’s the image. German officers are interrogating French prisoners of war. The uniforms of the Germans show that the…
If a Shi’ite cleric ruled the world
May 26, 2015
In about 2008, I saw an interview on YouTube with an Iraqi Shi’ite cleric who was asked if he wanted alcohol and nightclubs banned. “No,” he said. “If all your temptations are removed, then you can’t call yourself a moral person. You must have the opportunity to sin but refuse those opportunities. That’s the definition…
Today I remember Captain Ben Salomon
May 25, 2015
This is Memorial Day. Today we remember our fallen warriors. I’d like to introduce to you Captain Benjamin Lewis Salomon, a dentist with the 105th Infantry Regiment. He’s one of only three dentists and twenty-seven Jews to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Salomon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 1, 1914. He…
The first step is the hardest
May 20, 2015
Today is a milestone. I took the first step in my recovery from the past two years. Finally I went on a long walk. A physical-exercise walk, up steep hills. I’ll do this six days a week, the way I did before January 16, 2013, the day my parents told me that they had cancer….
What if YOU were the murder victim?
May 15, 2015
Today Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings of April 15, 2013. People on Twitter told me that they oppose the death penalty because it’s immoral. Opposition to the death penalty is perfectly legitimate for a variety of reasons, but if you think capital punishment is immoral, then…
Memento mori
May 10, 2015
A memento mori is a work of art that reminds the viewer that we all die. Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about death, most likely because of the threats I get. The level of physical danger I face isn’t clear, but I live as though every second could be my…