That is not a snarky rhetorical question, but an honest inquiry when I see things like this (via Kim-Loi Mergenthaler). When people say “Stop the genocide!” I can only assume they mean actual armed intervention, since I somehow doubt strongly worded petitions are going to deter the Janjaweed from carrying out their bloody work. Indeed,…

http://purposedrivendrinking.blogspot.com Also see this. Genius.

Stuff on the ethics of war, mostly. I recently finished Robert L. Holmes’ On War and Morality. Also, various articles: “War, Peace, & the State” by Murray Rothbard “Killing, Letting Die and the Alleged Necessity of Military Intervention” and “Violence and Hypocrisy” by Laurie Calhoun “Strategies of Annihilation: Total War in US History” by Joseph…

Interesting interview with disability-rights activist Mary Johnson on Million Dollar Baby, Hunter S. Thompson and the “right” to die.

Well, what I think Ralph Luker means is to defend the concept of heresy – i.e. that there are some opinions that are beyond the pale. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mean “In Defense of Arianism” or “In Defense of Monophysitism” or what have you. Anyway, good stuff here: I’m not defending heresy here. I’m…

Continuing the trend of blogging about books I haven’t read (and probably won’t read), I’ve recently read two interesting reviews of Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas? For those not in the know, Frank’s thesis is that culturally conservative red-state voters have been duped by the GOP’s ostensible (and, according to Frank, largely fake)…

I hate to pick on Pat Buchanan since, whatever his other flaws, he’s been an early and consistent opponent of the Iraq war and the broader “maximalist” view of the “war on terror.” Still, there seems to be a persistent confusion running through his recent writings that bears on the present troubles. In his latest…

There’s been a minor brouhaha over Thomas Woods’ Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (n.b. I haven’t read the book). Woods, a paleoconservative and frequent contributor to LewRockwell.com and The American Conservative, apparently takes a dim view of the North’s part in the Civil War (a.k.a. “The War Between the States,” a.k.a. “The War of…

Surprisingly good article from Newsweek on the Pope’s suffering as a testament to the gospel of life he has consistently proclaimed.

I found it interesting to read this next to this.