Author ArchivesJohn

A conversation on another blog got me thinking about my various arguments against the BBC Licence Fee. One of them I recreated in a flow chart, below. Click the category BBC to browse my previous articles on this topic, or click the flow chart for a larger version.

Let’s call it summer recess: the inability of Arizona bloggers to concentrate on matters of importance to political philosophy when it’s so damned hot in the desert. In the meantime, I came across this quote from Rose Wilder Lane: “The pattern is as old as human life. The new rulers ...

Only in the mind of an ideologically impeded, politically delusional moron could America’s missile defense system be construed as as a threat of conflict on par with the cold war. Will the last sane, rational person to leave George Monbiot babbling please switch off the light? (Save energy.) John Wright ...

After spilling tears on the carpet laughing about this and managing to pick myself up off the floor, I couldn’t help but mention the Republican Party of New Hampshire’s new fundraiser. Wait for it….. A MACHINE GUN SHOOT! According to Reuters, “The Manchester Republican Committee is inviting party members and ...

Making politics sexy might just be the only way to get people to the polls. Released only today by the folks over at barelypolitical.com, I predict this will be the hit of the summer: credit ratings

Man, I love this paper. Each and every day I sneak a peek, the columnists at The Guardian amuse and entertain me immensely with the insights they provide into how the British Left see the world. This post is a sequel to one I did a long time ago with ...

I always liked Michelle Malkin, and often found myself impressed with the right-wing blogger’s ability to articulate many of the political values I share. But yesterday she showed herself to be less than capable of rational discussion with her rude attack on Doug Markwith, a nude photographer and e-business owner ...

“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” – P.J. O’Rourke (1993) (O’Rourke makes good copy, but doesn’t necessarily reflect the reality of the situation, which, according to the World Health Organization, ranks the US as #37 in the world ...

It’s interesting when a regular stringer known for a particular political persuasion or field of interest writes something which illustrates how they frame the dynamics of the debate with which they are engaged, or how they see themselves in the context of that debate. George Monbiot, once a mainstay of ...

We’ll soon be treated to another fine example of Michael Moore’s filmmaking when Sicko is released to theaters across America at the end of next month. The movie is about how horrible American healthcare is, and how great universal healthcare (taxpayer funded, free at point-of-use) would be in comparison. When ...

Upon being asked about a scene in the film Love Actually wherein Hugh Grant, playing the UK Prime Minister, calls the United States a ‘bully’ and suggests it is “no longer a friend” of the United Kingdom, Blair responds: “When that bit of the film is played, often the audiences ...

What an exciting day for citizens of France who identify with the values of individualism and the principles of liberty. “Au revoir, Jacques Chirac, and bonjour to a new U.S.-friendly French president who identifies with the American dream and happily affirms that the French like burgers, Madonna and Miami Vice,” ...

In a conversation on the BBC blog Will & Testament, I made the following comments which relate to some of my earlier articles regarding the BBC: ——————- To understand the BBC, you must understand the UK. I would describe Britain as having one foot in America, one foot in Europe. ...

Two weeks ago, the Imus witch hunt was in full swing as the Reverend Al Sharpton among others called for the firing of radio personality Don Imus for calling the women of the Rutgers University basketball team “nappy-headed ho’s”. This, Sharpton alleged, was a racist slur against black women. His ...

Timothy McVeigh used fertiliser. Now Seung-Hui, a 23 year old student, has used firearms to commit a heinous act of mass murder at his university, Virginia Tech. In each case the most pertinent question one can ask is Why?’ rather than How? The ‘why’ is an analysis of the reason ...

My response to the Imus controversy was summed up in two words I uttered on the radio yesterday: “selective outrage”. (My point was that, as a society, we are prone to choosing what to be outraged about, making it fake and dishonest. This was particularly evident in the Imus controversy.) ...

I’m truly disgusted by all the faux ‘outrage’ over what Don Imus said on his syndicated morning show last week. He’s spent every day since then on a tour of apology, from visiting Al Sharpton’s show ‘Keeping It Real’ to appearing on the Today show this morning. It’s nothing but ...

When will the European Union learn that it has no right to interfere in private business decisions? The news today that Europe is launching an antitrust probe against Apple, Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI should come as no surprise to those, like myself, who have been closely watching the ...

Today’s decision of the U.S. Supreme Court permitting the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions relies constitutionally upon subscription to the statement ‘Greenhouse gases are pollutants.’ But are they? Is carbon dioxide an air pollutant? To define carbon dioxide as an air pollutant certainly provides a nice ...

Strange, creepy, and a waste of good chocolate. That’s how I would characterise this sculpture, My Sweet Lord, by artist Cosimo Cavallaro. It wasn’t quite as wasteful as his prior work – spraying 10,000 pounds of cheese over the entire interior of a Wyoming house – but a waste nonetheless. ...