united states

Chris Knight's avatar

I always thought that the purpose of the United Nations was for countries which recognize each other to come together for the furtherance of peace. That it was meant to be a platform for raw hate and threats of violence seemed anathema to that purpose.

But this week Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – head of a government which has done more to sponsor terrorism than any other during the past thirty years and which has consistently threatened the safety of the United States – has addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations. And once again Ahmadinnerjacket or whatever the heck his name is, has vowed to wipe the country of Israel off the map.

There are two questions that I can neither find suitable answer to or rid my gray matter of. First: Why the hell are we letting Ahmadinejad/Ahmadinnerjacket into the United States? I don’t buy into ...

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Students at Wright State University who were protesting against Joseph Biden when he visited the campus last week were quarantined a quarter-mile away from the Vice President by the Secret Service. This happened not once, but twice. The rationale given by the Secret Service: they “didn’t want the protesters to be too close to the motorcade.”

Before any Republicans or Romney supporters cry “foul” about this, it would be well to remember that this exact same thing was routine policy during the presidency of George W. Bush! But that fact hasn’t deterred a number of people on “conservative” websites from claiming that the Secret Service is violating the First Amendment, that Obama is violating the Constitution ad nauseum… when Obama’s predecessor, a Republican president, was also insulating himself from public dissent with the very same methods, and on a much more chronic basis. Very many of Bush’s ...

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Warhammer 40,000 Sixth Edition came out over two months ago and I still haven’t gotten to play with the new rules! Just been busy on multiple fronts. Which makes me look positivalutely pathetic compared to what these dedicated players go through…

Slate Magazine has a terrific article about how the futuristic tabletop war game is incredibly popular among the men and women (okay, mostly men) of the United States armed forces, and especially with many who are serving overseas in places like Afghanistan (including players such as Army Sgt. Steffan McBee, pictured). Warhammer 40K’s publisher Games Workshop estimates that perhaps 25 percent of its very large American player base are active-duty personnel: some of whom go to great lengths to have their stockpiles of miniatures shipped safely to their duty posts around the globe.

What’s the appeal of a war game played on tabletops with plastic and metal models? ...

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Civility is a chosen virtue. It cannot be imposed or expected from those who refuse to accept it and its responsibilities.

Time to get out of the Mid-East until “countries” like Egypt and Libya learn to behave. Pull EVERYTHING out, including all those billions of dollars of aid they get from us one way or another.

If they want to return to barbarism that bad enough, who are we to stop them?...

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Since three readers have asked me this afternoon what I think about the Republican National Convention going on right now in Tampa… and about the crazy rules changes that the Romney camp seems to be hellbent on implementing… maybe that means I’m supposed to post something.

So here it is:

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Republican party were to split apart after this election, and maybe even before then.

If so, I can’t see how that would be anything but a good thing.

I’ve seen this coming for a long time. So have a lot of other observers. Those among the Republicans who genuinely desire less government, slashed taxes and cut spending believe – with no small amount of evidence supporting their claim – that they have been incrementally squeezed out of having influence within their own party. The “old boys network” of party elites can’t ...

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As I intimated in my previous post, I arrived way late to witness the tempest surrounding Todd Akin at the apparent zenith of its wrath. But now that friends have caught me up to speed on it…

Let’s ignore for the moment that what Akin said is not an isolated incident. That in fact ridiculous, nonsensical and downright ignorant statements seem to be a chronic malady of those in high office (how Sheila Jackson Lee is still in Congress, I haven’t a clue). It’s not even the worst thing I’ve come across said by a politician about rape: the all-time record holder for that has to be Clayton Williams who once remarked that if rape is “inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.”

Now that I know what the Akin situation is about, what is most on my mind about it is that this is why the popular election of senators ...

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It shouldn’t have to be said, but it looks like it needs to be…

Viral videos do not bring down bad guys.

Charities do not bring down bad guys.

Silly little bracelets do not bring down bad guys.

Celebrities sure as hell do not bring down bad guys.

When push comes to shove, YOU having the will to say “no” brings down bad guys.

YOU defending yourself and your loved ones brings down bad guys.

YOU being vigilant brings down bad guys.

If all else fails, YOU being the one who aims the gun and pulls the trigger, brings down bad guys.

Americans seem too unwilling to care about their own children here when they are being controlled. Why should they care then about children being controlled by someone they’ve never heard of before, in a country that many if not most Americans probably couldn’t find on a map?

I’m ...

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Louisiana College, a private Baptist school, is suing the federal government over the requirement that religious-affiliated hospitals and organizations must fund contraceptives as part of health care, even in spite of strong beliefs against such measures. Louisiana College and other religious organizations are quick to note that Obama’s “healthcare” mandate violates their constitutional rights.

Doug Powers notes that the mainstream media is giving President Obama a “free ride” about the ridiculous price of gasoline, when it blamed George W. Bush for it at every opportunity.

(Longtime readers will know that I have never been a fan of either Obama or Bush. They’re the two worst Presidents in American history, in my book…)

I juxtapose these two seemingly unrelated items before you, good readers, because I remember plenty of times during Bush’s presidency when too many Christians simply “rolled over and took it” when he and his administration violated ...

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One of the most defining moments in my life as a thinker came courtesy of Matt Mittan, waaaay back when I first went to work for him at that newspaper in Asheville. Matt proceeded to draw a diagram on a dry-erase board about how most people think of government and politics as being “left versus right”. But that’s not how it really is at all, he went on. Instead of a horizontal line depicting a tug-of-war between self-proclaimed “liberals” and “conservatives”, the line should actually be vertical: between the individual and the collective masses.

It was like an instant of enlightenment for me. Something I had known, but didn’t know how to express it, suddenly became crystal clear. Matt didn’t have to go any further, I could see it so vividly: the “conflict” between left and right, in reality, always takes away from individual liberty and gives more ...

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