Monthly Archives: February 2011

Today’s Captain Renault Moment

London School of Economics faculty: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was such a nice young man, we never knew he would have anything to do with the mass killing of the people of Libya. But we see now that he’s made a … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Politics | 5 Comments

History Swallowed Whole

Last week was a busy time, so I got behind in my blogging. As is often the case, by the time I can get around to finishing a piece, the point I intended to make has been made. As is … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Intellectual Property | 4 Comments

Real and Fake Realism

I think “realism” has to be reclaimed from the people who get called realists. Realists in policy circles flatter themselves relentlessly, saying that only they really know the way the world actually is, only they are prepared to accept and … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

Dear JF

Dear J.F.: I’m really getting frustrated by the constant nit-picking and whining about my undemocratic regime by the United States. Every time I go to an international meeting not only do I have to worry about my security forces staging … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

I Would Have Had My Great Books, Too, If It Weren’t For Those Meddling Hippies

Mark Edmundson complains, again, that the dirty hippies screwed up the world and killed literature in the process. Rather than a dreary point-by-point response to everything objectionable in the essay, I want to focus on one issue in it that … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Books, Cleaning Out the Augean Stables, Popular Culture | 22 Comments