If your reaction to seeing the film 12 Years a Slave is, "Damn that Gone With the Wind for lying to me all this time about what chattel slavery was really like!" then, maybe, that's the kind of thing you should keep to yourself? I mean, I guess I applaud the "reexamining my beliefs" sentiment, … Continue reading Opening one’s mouth and removing all doubt

Regular readers may know that I'm somewhat bearish about the long-term prospects for America continuing to be the boss of everybody, or whatever it is we think we are. But I'm not nearly as pessimistic as the fine neo-conservative (they'd probably object to that characterization, but when your board includes Henry Kissinger, Marty Peretz, Richard … Continue reading The little superpower that could

...it's the Hugo Chavez apparition! Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said an image of his political idol and predecessor, the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, had appeared miraculously in the wall of an underground construction site. Since his death from cancer earlier this year, Chavez has taken on mythical proportions for supporters, and Mr Maduro has … Continue reading Coming soon to a tree stump or water stain near you…

Armies are a funny thing; any ruler or nation needs at least one, but they're simultaneously a nation's best defense and one of its greatest threats. After all, if a charismatic military commander decides he's had enough of his civilian leadership and he can get the army to go along with him, who's going to … Continue reading When your army is not helping

Remember how, in March, Bassem "The Jon Stewart of Egypt" Youssef was hauled in for questioning by the Egyptian government because he'd made fun of President Morsi? And remember how everybody rightly took that as a sign that the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood government was no longer operating in a democratic manner, and that this was … Continue reading A trip down memory lane

Uzbekistan is one of the former Soviet Central Asian republics but not the good one, which is obviously Turkmenistan (still waiting on that payment, you guys), although Uzbekistan is the birthplace of Timur-i Lang, one of my favorite historical figures. Uzbekistan is ruled by a fellow named Islam Karimov, a sprightly 75-year old who enjoys … Continue reading That sly come hither stare