Well, OK, that's a little harsh, blaming it all on you like that. But apparently the increasing demand for pine nuts here in the US really is doing serious environmental damage. Most of the pine nuts imported into the US (and most pine nuts bought in the US are imported) come from the Korean pine, … Continue reading Your pesto addiction is wrecking an ecosystem

Sorry for the light posting today. I wound up getting called up to do a TV spot, which necessitated an emergency trip to a barber, which necessitated a long wait at the barber, and, well, the whole day didn't allow much time for writing. I did manage to compile a long collection of tweets by … Continue reading Bill Kristol gets a thing wrong

Remember that 14 year old kid, Ahmed Mohamed, who tinkered around with a clock to try to show off his engineering skills in his Texas school, and wound up almost being arrested because he's a Sudanese Muslim and therefore is presumed terrorist (at least when carrying around unfamiliar-looking electronics) here in US America until proven … Continue reading What gives, clock kid?

My newest piece at LobeLog looks at the bleak human rights situation in Iran, a situation that may ultimately be improved by the nuclear deal but that, in the short-term, is clearly being harmed by the nuclear deal, as hardliners seize on judicial cases as a place where they can flex their muscles and deny … Continue reading Human rights in Iran after the nuclear deal, my latest at LobeLog

The US and Russia have apparently reached a "de-confliction" agreement for their dueling coincidental air campaigns over Syria: The Pentagon and Russian military have agreed on a list of rules designed to ensure the two countries' pilots will not mistakenly run into -- or fire upon -- one another as they conduct daily bombing runs … Continue reading At least the possibility of World War III has been slightly lessened

Canada elected a Liberal government yesterday, and the new Prime Minister-elect, Justin Trudeau, actually looks like he's...a pretty doctrinaire centrist (in Canadian politics, the Liberal Party is on the center-left, as opposed to the Liberal Party in Australia, which is center-right, because every place that isn't America is a land of many contrasts). Of course, … Continue reading Everything is always “lurching left”; that’s the point

I mean, you might as well skip right to the main event instead of dithering around about it: If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) wants to impeach her on day one. ..."In my judgement, with respect to Hillary Clinton, she will be a unique president if she is elected by the … Continue reading Well, that WOULD save us a lot of time…

The United States hasn't paid its UNESCO dues (which had made up over a fifth of UNESCO's overall funding) since 2011, when the organization admitted Palestine as a member state and thereby triggered a couple of obscure Foreign Relations Authorization Act provisions (from 1990 and 1994) that require the government to stop sending money to … Continue reading UNESCO and US national security, at LobeLog