Asymmetric, Hybrid, and By Proxy
One longs for politicians with the wisdom and foresight of Ben Franklin, the raw intelligence of Jefferson, or the sheer tenacity of John Adams. These were careful, competent, and extremely brave men, willing to risk everything they had and whose calculations were underwritten by the determination to live and to defeat tyranny at any price. … Read More
The Outside Circle: A Movie of the Modern West
There is, I suppose, a Heraclitian aspect to our film because nothing is fixed in the outback. The petroglyphs weather and the granite grows its rinds of colorful lichen, the courses of creeks and rivers change in drought or in flood, wildfire scorches the sage and forests alike. The horses and cattle most certainly change, and so too do the … Read More
If At First You Don’t Secede
A couple of weeks ago, the newspaper I work for published a very sad letter to the editor. The writer was mourning the death of his oldest friend, his loss made the more painful because they had become estranged. Over politics. We’re seeing more and more of this. Friendships and families fractured, celebrations tainted, days darkened by political obsessions. What … Read More
Dammit Dan Jones!
Look, I’m NOT a medievalist. Sure, I’ve posted a thing or two here and on Frontier Partisans about medieval plagues and warfare and misrule and such — as one does. Actually, my most recent post was on the Ottoman Empire and the Taking of Constantinople, wasn’t it? And I did kind of go on a Yorkist binge last winter… Oh, … Read More
Tentmakers & Turks — The Long Shadow Of The Ottoman Empire
Synchronicity has been chiming, as it does. The Ottoman Empire looms on my historical horizon. It started with a tent… Next weekend, our hometown hosts the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. My newspaper created the program for the event, producing about a dozen features on particular artists and events. The Show’s fundraising event is a virtual presentation on The Tentmakers of … Read More
Hung Up On The Horns Of Hattin
President Biden’s announcement that some 9,000 Afghans who served the United States during our long war in their country will be evacuated and protected is most welcome. From the New York Times: President Biden said on Thursday (June 24) that his administration would begin relocating thousands of Afghan interpreters, drivers and others who worked with American forces outside the country … Read More
Teach Your Children Well
Race, racism, and how to teach our children about it has roiled school districts across the country. Here in Central Oregon, the Bend-LaPine School Board election school board election became a scrum over the purported threat of the infiltration of Critical Race Theory into local curriculum. The issue has been raised, albeit in muted form, in our local district in … Read More
The Robots Attack
“This is probably the first time a robot has autonomously attacked and killed human beings.” — Ed Nash’s Military Matters Anybody who is familiar with the historical fiction science fiction Terminator series knows that the shit hit the fan when the AI network Skynet became self-aware. Humans tried to shut it down; Skynet fought back and… welcome to the apocalypse. … Read More
Far And Farther Flings The Wire
A person here in my town asked me the other day what my beliefs are regarding climate change. Note that phrasing. It was a political and ideological question. Isn’t everything these days? The question was asked sincerely and in good will, and I answered honestly. That means my thoughts won’t fit on a bumper sticker, and, to an activist, probably … Read More
The River and the Birds
Yesterday, due to the on-going calamity of representational government known as the State of Oregon, I was forced to drive six hours – round trip – to renew my driver’s license. This was because only about half of the very expensive government apparatus of this state is actually working in their offices at any one time, and also because the … Read More
