Last night I walked through downtown San Francisco with a Ron Paul pin stuck to my jacket. The yuppy couples pushed strollers that cost more than your average used car. They leered at me. They didn’t know I was joking. They didn’t know that Dr. Paul’s even more committed to consolidating equity than Hillary is. […]

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“Hang your chemistry and electricity!  If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each other’s throats with greater facility.”
-Sir Hiriam Stevens Maxim, inventor of the machine gun.

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If President Norman Bates attacks Iran, the GOP can kiss the White House goodbye for at least thirty years. If Killary attacks Pakistan after she gets elected and bleeds fed coffers still further, then a genuine populist wins in 2012. Happy New Year! My ball dropped already. It dropped years ago. Pints ago.

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Sharif is fine. He’s a tolerable replacement in the “power-sharing” deal (seriously, who does that?) with Musharraf. Do not let the American Enterprise Institute frighten you with their constant drumbeat of his “Islamic ties.” If the man was truly a hardline jihadist itching to drop nukes on Israel and the U.S. (not even remotely possible, […]

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The men who killed Bhutto don’t understand economic imperatives. If more people did, convoys would travel in peace. If more people did, we wouldn’t have government convoys–only fifty-foot saints on Good Friday.

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I take umbrage when Huckabee and Edwards suck on the mega-church narcotic in the name of “populism.” Since when did being a “populist” mean being a moron? The populace simply can’t be that stupid.
Happy New Year! 

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The framers of the Constitution never worked a day in their lives. Merry Christmas.

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Contemporary American poets don’t understand literary history. Niether do I. But we’re not talking about me in this post. We’re talking about contemporary American poets, and they don’t understand literary history. But in spite of this blindspot, their work is generally more interesting than the output of the Romantics, who knew everything about literary history. […]

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Nineteen-year-old kids card me at Campus Wines and Liquors off Wickenden St. They assume I’m a rich WASP living the good life, and they jump at the chance to inconvenience me for even a split second, figuring I’ve got it coming. What they don’t know is I’m local, a middle-class WASP up to my eyes […]

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If you visit MF Doom’s myspace page (link it through our blog-roll and keep us rooted firmly in your subconscious) you’ll read a truly surprising interview where he mentions his wife and children. Look, he’s a gifted artist. But if that guy has a wife and kids, then the GOP is blowing smoke when they tell […]

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Talking with my pop yesterday, I mentioned a news account I’d read of an enormous Christmas tree that just went up in Bethlehem. He asked, “Why would the hell would the Palestinians put up a Chirstmas tree?” I explained that Palestinian Christians practied their faith freely in the West Bank. I explained that many of […]

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A clue into the Rhode Island temperament: on the Providence Journal website, if you want to post a comment, you’ll first see the disclaimer, “Please be civil.”

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A Serb film has come this afternoon from my Netflix account. I don’t remember adding it to my queue. I didn’t even think Serbs made films. I figured they spent all their time shooting children, not scenes. Liberate Kosovo. Close the book.

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Rilke told the aspiring poet to “beware of irony.” Fine. But in 2008, irony could be the only thing that keeps you from voting for a war criminal. In other news, I bought twenty Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards for co-workers today. My boss sent me out with her debit card. I had to forge her […]

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Dude, my mom’s got this habit of sending back Netflix selections before I get a chance to watch them. You never hear about that during the commercials. I can handle an outright lie (”our service will make you handsome” or “sign up with us and you’ll get your record expunged”) but I can’t handle a […]

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