I apologize to Duck readers for being such a slacker this past semester. Some things on the home/work front have had me tied down a bit, and the truth is I won't be fully back in the saddle until after this manuscript is done. But. In the words of George R. R. Martin,...
I will freely admit to being a FiveThirtyEight junkie over the past few months. The excellent analysis and projection that they do over there is more than a little reminiscent of my favorite...
[Updated: Thanks to commentator Aldous for pointing out an error in my original predictions--I had Montana for Obama and neglected to include Nevada]I am not, by any stretch, and expert at...
Given the way the campaign has gone lately, this seems to offer a preview of tonight's presidential debate: I never really previously noticed the parallels between Senator McCain and the Penguin.
Speaking of orgiastic consumerism, here's EB Game's order page for the Xbox360:I guess you can't say they didn't warn you (although the duplicative "please read the bottom of the page for important information" suggests they weren't always quite so explicit that ordering an Xbox360 from them for Christmas wouldn't be such a good idea).Of course, my careful investigations reveals that EB Games is a "Happy Holidays" kind of company. That explains everything...Filed as: Xbox360
Another year, another faux controversy about the secular humanists, liberal atheists, and assorted no-goodniks stealing Christmas from the righteous and god-faring. Their methods haven't changed much from last year: preventing municipalities from establishing religious icons on public property without equal time for other religious displays and, most shockingly of all, forcing the employess of megacorporations to say "Happy Holidays!" rather than "Merry Christmas!"I'm actually quite sympathetic to the fundamental argument to keep "Christ in Christmas." The holiday is fun - and, as I...
What would happen to Iraq if America withdrew almost immediately?In other words, what would happen if Representative Murtha's proposal was implemented? Gary Boatwright at Seeing the Forest is taking this question seriously -- as is Nir Rosen in The Atlantic Monthly.The conventional wisdom, is that the violence would worsen as Iraq moves toward civil war. The Iraqi government would be unable to govern and Iraq might become a failed state. That's essentially the worst case scenario according to President Bush -- Iraq ends up replacing Afghanistan as the safe haven host state for international...
[updated on 12.4.05]I know I promised to comment on the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, but to be honest it isn't worth the effort and I don't know if I have the strength. Those who read this blog are intelligent enough to see the Victory Stratey for what it is--a transparent attempt to mollify the administration's critics and reverse the declining trend in public opinion for the war.The 'strategy' is simply a collection of regurgitated, vapid platitudes that offers nothing in the way of original strategy and fails to outline the tactics necessary to achieve each element of the...
President Bush spoke at the US Naval academy today. His theme? Well, Bush wants to close off talk of troop withdrawal from Iraq:These decisions about troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground in Iraq and the good judgment of our commanders -- not by artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington. (Applause.)Some are calling for a deadline for withdrawal. Many advocating an artificial timetable for withdrawing our troops are sincere -- but I believe they're sincerely wrong. Pulling our troops out before they've achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory. As...
I don't have time to comment on the document yet since I just got my hands on it, but I will definitely post my thoughts soon. In the meantime, here is a link to the full-text.Filed as: Iraq, Exit Strategy
An excellent piece by Justin Webb at the BBC on the ongoing war on science by evangelical christians in the US and its impact on politics and the Republican party.Patrick has previously blogged about so-called "intelligent design" and I don't think I can improve on his points, suffice it to say that I am fervent supporter of evolution and rational science. Whether or not there is a higher power is a question beyond my faculties--agnostic is the best way to describe my views (nicely summarized by Bertrand Russell). However, I know enough about evolution to know that it does not purport to...
Why, oh why do people continue to assert that the US is required in any way to defend Taiwan in the case of an attack by mainland China? The latest example of this fallacy comes from an AFP report from Monday. The article recounts Chinese President Hu Jintao's restatement of China's position on Taiwanese independence. At the end of the article we come across this statement:Despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the United States remains Taiwan's biggest arms supplier and is bound by US law to help the island defend itself against any attack.This is wrong....