If you feel lost when it comes to figuring out what’s happening in the Middle East, don’t feel bad. Although I don’t feel lost, it’s because I’m insane. Wait: Did I write that or just think that? At any rate, most of the experts are worthless. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, here’s an…
New Middle East in one photo. I was 100 percent correct
January 1, 2016
I hate the people who I call “gore crows.” They can’t wait to tell you bad news. It’s a form of sadism. And to be honest, I no longer have patience for those addicted to fear and negativity. The new Middle East arrived in late 2008, and now it’s revealing itself. When I say, “Everything…
Good conspiracy theories should be at least slightly plausible
December 23, 2015
Attention hog Seymour Hersh claims that the United States Department of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff—the highest-ranking bureaucrats in the Pentagon—gave Bashar al-Assad intelligence to help him defeat jihadist terrorists. This isn’t even a good conspiracy theory. Hersh made it all up, as is clear by his claim that his source is a “former senior…
Arab League and Israeli plan for the Middle East goes forward
December 22, 2015
In June of this year, Saudi Arabia announced a seven-point plan for the Middle East. It’s incredibly risky and ambitious. The Saudis must always be taken seriously, so I knew that they’d thought this out. I couldn’t determine how in the world the Arab League would keep the region from going up in flames the…
Adrift no longer. Without even knowing it, I arrived
December 17, 2015
I never knew what to do with my life. In very real ways, I never had a life. Some forms of trauma are impossible to “get over.” The closest I came to having a career was the ten years I spent as a music journalist in Los Angeles. It didn’t pay anything, but my parents…
Russia throws Iran under the bus
October 9, 2015
The phrase “thrown under the bus” likely has its origins in minor-league baseball, according to William Safire. Players were bused to “away games.” In fact, its original meaning could be have been quite literal: be on time for the bus, or you will be thrown underneath it, into the storage bays. He says the metaphor…
Keep calm and prepare to celebrate
October 6, 2015
I earn my living though investing. My brother Tim manages my accounts. Investing isn’t for everybody, because the market is subject to completely irrational panic-selling. The world, in fact, is in love with fear. My message, on the other hand, is to keep calm. Everything will be fine. People are afraid because of articles like…