I've decided to start a new feature here at the highly-uninfluential wonderments. Irregularly, as with everything else I do, I'd like to find examples of true compassion, courage, and humanity and highlight those stories, while offering a well-deserved cookie to those who have earned them. Our first tale of decency and kindness, appropriately as we … Continue reading you get a cookie, part 1 of ???: cardinal dolan

While we're rushing to arm Syrian insurgents about whom we know next to nothing, it's worth checking in on our would-be Arab clients in Iraq to see how they're doing. Seeing as how America is clearly opposed to the Assad regime's continued existence, not to mention our long-simmering hostilities with Assad's ally, Iran, we can … Continue reading even more unintended consequences for fun and profit!

There is a growing outcry from the National Security Professionals (no, really, they're professionals!) for the United States to Do Something about Syria. Last month it was Leon Panetta and Martin Dempsey, the outgoing (so, like, he doesn't have to deal with this bullshit, you know?) Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs Chairman, respectively, … Continue reading tales from the “what could go wrong?” files, part ??? of infinity

...belongs to a paralyzed, dying vet named Thomas Young: To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From: Tomas Young I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. … Continue reading the best possible commemoration of the 10th anniversary of iraq

So The History Channel, or History, or whatever wholly non-descriptive and completely ironic name they want to be called now, is running a mini-series by reality TV sleazoid Mark Burnett about the Bible, cleverly called "The Bible." Last night they got to Jesus, which means they've chosen to spend almost half the series on the … Continue reading really, the obama-satan thing is the least of the problems with this crap

or, "Why Paul Ryan Should Appear on Kitchen Nightmares" I have a weakness for cooking shows, and I especially like Kitchen Nightmares (the BBC version much more than the over-dramatized, too soapy Fox version). What I like about Kitchen Nightmares is that, each episode, Gordon Ramsay is confronted with the owner and chef (maybe the … Continue reading tell my friends that i don’t care, i shrug my shoulders at the whole affair

I want to thank author and commentator Peggy Noonan for choosing to follow up her fantastic Wall Street Journal column with this second part, here at and that's the way it was. I'm a little concerned that it kind of falls apart at the end, but Ms. Noonan was unreachable after she submitted the piece and so I've … Continue reading Peggy Noonan tries to exercise at the YMCA: another in a series of tales from Barack Obama’s degraded Amercia

Hot column action at Mediaite from resident neo-con Noah C. Rothman. Let's check in... Rand Paul Shatters Democratic Monopoly On Romance And Captures The Hearts Of The Young Voter Wow, that's what you're going with as a headline? Suddenly my title for this piece, "mediate columnist writes about rand paul filibuster," seems so lame. Hang … Continue reading Noah Rothman brutally shreds the meadows of time, fences with the love that dare not speak its name

BBC's "Newsnight" did a special last Tuesday on the Iraq War after 10 years that included an interview with Cabana Boy Tony Blair. It's a remarkable interview for a couple of reasons; give it a watch: The second part of the interview is longer, but also worth watching, and can be found here. First of … Continue reading You’re every breath that I take, you’re every step I make

Of all the good decisions the Rooney family has made over the years as owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they've made many, one of the best has to have been the decision to hire Bill Cowher over Dave Wannstedt to replace the retiring Chuck Noll in 1992. Both were Pittsburgh natives and wound up … Continue reading dave wannstedt is s-m-r-t