30 years ago this week, on November 18th, 1978, roughly a year and three months before I was born, 909 people in total – including infants who would have been among my generation – committed suicide together by drinking the Kool-Aid provided by Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana. This is ...
Read MoreThe FCC needs an upgrade
So says a Los Angeles Times editorial today, and I couldn’t agree more: The FCC [has] showed an alarming willingness to use government power to impose ineffective and discriminatory decency rules on broadcasters in the name of shielding children from profane or violent programming. More relevant to a bygone era’s ...
Read MoreThere’s no-one as Irish as Barack Obama
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Read MoreMake ‘Make Poverty History’ History
I’ve been having a conversation over at W&T that goes to the heart of the debate over how best to help the poor and whether capitalism is good or evil. It was prompted by the news that the Presbyterian Mutual Society is out of cash and can’t honor the withdrawal ...
Read MorePastor Manning: Obama the mack daddy
This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Howard Stern has enjoyed playing these clips of Pastor Manning for some time, but it took a phone call from Manning to the show today to make me interested enough to find it on YouTube. In this clip, Manning ...
Read MoreTop 100 Libertarian Blogs
Check it out: the Web Design Schools Guide came out with a list of the Top 100 Libertarian Blogs. That’s great. But even more interesting is why they would do it. Why would web entrepreneurs have any interest in libertarianism? Well, because many of them are libertarians. That’s right: the ...
Read MoreNorah Vincent sums up my feelings about Obama
I’ve had a difficult time making both the conservatives who hate him and the liberals who love him understand my position on the election of Barack Obama. I’ve said I think he’s a very intelligent man, that his incredible unflappability, control and calm are among the greatest attributes of any ...
Read MoreObama Part II: the reality edition
Yes, he’s smart. Yes, he’s charismatic. Yes, he’s a unifier more than a divider. Yes, this is historic. Yes, this is – so far – very good for America. Yes, we have a renewed sense of optimism and we feel good as a nation. No, he’s not brilliant. No, he ...
Read MoreElection Day Thoughts
Well we’re in the throes of the U.S. general election now, as 50 separate, independent states vote in their own races and appoint their 538 designated electors to vote on their behalf for president of the federation of states. 1) I’ll not surprise you by predicting Obama will win. But ...
Read MoreLA Times supports gay marriage
Gay marriage will not affect straight marriages one iota. Marriage has been redefined many times before and to fail to do so now is to deny the existence of and minimize the importance of recognizing stable, loving same-sex couples. Opposition to gay marriage is by people who believe it’s immoral ...
Read MoreNoel Gallagher makes most sense about Brand
Here: I spoke to Russell, he told me he was going to fall on his sword. Personally, I’m outraged that, yet again, the joyless fuckers who write the columns in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph or The Observer have dictated the tone and are telling people how to behave. I’ve ...
Read MoreA broadcaster’s response to Ross and Brand
There is so much I have to say about this “crisis” at the BBC over the on-air prank calls aired by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. The uproar seems to me so self-serving and utterly ridiculous that it’s almost aimless. And it shows that the BBC’s continuing to sit on ...
Read MoreObama and McCain: for and against
FOR: I like Obama. I really do. He has a great personality, he’s knowledgeable and impressive on the issues, he seems to have a healthy sense of humor, he has conducted probably the greatest presidential campaign of my lifetime, he has a diplomatic ability that could bring America together and ...
Read MoreWhat does your newspaper say about you?
I’m not sure about the original source of this email, but it’s been going around for a long time and contains enough truth to make it worth repeating: 1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. 2. The Washington Post is read by people ...
Read MoreMcCain fails and Obama succeeds: why?
Robert Draper looks back at the McCain campaign as though he were writing an obituary in The Making (and Remaking) of McCain, citing the inconsistent ‘narrative’ of McCain presented by the campaign as a significant reason for the campaign’s sagging poll numbers. And yes, some people are already saying he’s ...
Read MoreIs Obama a natural-born citizen?
And is he consequently eligible to become President of the United States? It’s a question posed by Democrat lawyer Philip J. Berg, who filed a lawsuit a month ago in federal court: [He] alleged that Obama was not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency. Berg claimed that ...
Read MoreAn exchange with a postmodernist
I’ve never really understood postmodernism, and what I do understand of it leaves me unsure whether I really do understand it at all. As a postmodernist would say, that’s the point. You understand that you don’t understand. Isn’t that wonderful? Uh, no, it isn’t. They say postmodern thought is a ...
Read MoreBlog is back!
Well, after some nifty PHP and SQL work, the blog is back up and online, served by a brand new server which has faster load times and feels overall spunkier. I’ll have some new content to add later, but meantime I’m late for a bunch of things I have to ...
Read MoreCh- Ch- Ch- Changes
I apologize for the lack of activity around here (apart from my tweeted updates which continue unabated): it can be explained by a change going on ‘under the hood’ here at John-Wright.Net. I’m changing my hosting provider for a few reasons, including some readers reporting to me that the website ...
Read MoreWho the hell is Joe the plumber?
Last night’s debate was clearly the best of the three as I predicted: McCain was at his most combative and he and Obama went at it quite vigorously over some issues, including a central issue affecting the star of the show, Joe the Plumber. Joe wants to buy the small ...
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