I’m working my way up to writing a long piece on James Thurber, a writer who was a constant companion of my childhood. I recently tracked down one of his more obscure works, The Beast in Me and Other Animals, discovering as I did so that it includes a handful of “Talk of the Town”…
The Wall Street Journal sends up a flair
In the course of an article about political protest in North Carolina, Wall Street Journal editorial board member and senior economics writer Stephen Moore takes on Rev. William Barber II, “a loquacious, likable and politically shrewd preacher and leader of the North Carolina NAACP.” Moore describes Barber’s reaction to proposed changes to North Carolina’s election…
Bemsha Swing
Al McLean – Tenor Saxophone, Jaleel Shaw – Alto Saxophone, Bryn Roberts – Piano, Jason Davis – Bass. Posted by Randy Cole.
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Sure, we can wait until after dinner. But it will have to be a really nice dinner.” “Relax. The SEC doesn’t know this place exists.” “You’re so handsome you’re shy? Hey, we’re still drinking tap water here, you know.” “It’s just that, well, when we get to my place, you’d better look…
The Mysterious, Disappearing Chinese Aircraft Carrier Resurfaces
An aircraft carrier that can disappear? Apparently, the Chinese have perfected such a craft. Back in the day, I used to riff almost monthly on the good ship Varyag, a rusting Soviet hull that the Chinese recently bought and relabeled the good ship Liaoning. The Liaoning had just about disappeared, but resurfaced recently in the…
This Town boring as this town
This Town, New York Timesman Mark Leibovich’s shocking piss-and-tell, chattering class takedown of the chattering class is, in fact, causing a lot of chatter amidst the chattering class. Old DC hand Lois Romano goes full chattering class in this exercise in suppressed hysteria, accusing “Leibo” of undermining the networks of “dinner parties and receptions [where]…
The Silence of the FBI
Remember Ibragim Todashev? Well, maybe you don’t, but he was another unarmed man, shot and killed, this time by an FBI agent, back in May of this year, part of the aftermath of the Boston bombing. Ibragim appears to have been an acquaintance of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, both also shot by law enforcement agents,…
Ads at the Weekly Standard
I just did something I rarely do, read Bill Kristol, who’s whining, as usual, this time about evil anti-military Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. It’s funny, of course, because Bill is always funny, but (perhaps) even funnier are the ads that accompany Bill’s whine. One of them shows a seriously beefcaky dude relaxing under…
An Embarrassment of Libertarians
Over at the Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf wonders, politely, why the fuck the libertarians get all the weirdos, riffing on Rand Paul’s aide and co-author, Jack Hunter, in a piece titled “Rand Paul’s Aide: A Dunce on the Confederacy.” Full-bore libertarian Matt Welch expresses similar thoughts at Reason, under the snappy title “Rand Paul Co-Author Jack…
Monk Inc: “Boo-Boo’s Birthday”
The tune Monk wrote for his daughter. Check out Monk Inc here. I don’t know if they’re still together, but they sound good. Posted by tmrn21