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Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

Remembering The Fallen

Our good friend too many steves forwards this story of two heroes, both, alas, casualties of war, but both of whose stories are guaranteed to raise a tear and a lump in the throat.
We forget, too often, to honor our dead. Take moment to read about two of them…

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

Molly Ivins, RIP

Molly Ivins was not my type: forgetting our huge political differences, I never enjoyed that Texas ‘cornpone’ populism so popular with Ivin and Jim Hightower. Nevertheless, she had a long history with progressive Texas politics, and I find myself quite saddened to learn that she has succumbed to cancer after a fierce battle.
Ivins was only […]

No Comments » - Posted in NY Times/Media Watch, In Praise Of by Mark

Monday, January 15th, 2007

MLK In Pictures

If you haven’t noticed, I’m taking a bit of a day off from both work and the blog in observance of MLK day and just because everyone needs a day off now and then. Here’s another quickie, though: a very interesting photo essay on Dr. King at TIME…

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Saturday, January 6th, 2007

What A World We Live In!

Hey, let’s face it, college guys go weeks without washing their underwear already - but now they can admit it!…
These are the days of miracle and wonder…

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, January 4th, 2007

A Great Big Welcome Back Cheer…

…to one of my favorite bloggers and professional ‘New Media’ politico types, Patrick Ruffini. He deserves a bookmark, trust me…good to see the (redesigned) blog back in business…

No Comments » - Posted in Elephants, In Praise Of by Mark

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

Kudos - And Good Luck - To Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin takes a lot of heat from the left, who like to use her as a punching bag and standard-bearer for ‘right-wing extremism’, but Malkin is no Jane Hamsher, nor is she Ann Coulter. Her beliefs may be seen by some as right-wing (and probably by her, as well), but ‘extremism’ is in the […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Iraq, NY Times/Media Watch, In Praise Of by Mark

Monday, January 1st, 2007

Congratulations To Jon Henke

Those of you who read my piece lamenting the bungled George Allen campaign may recall I singled out the hiring of Jon Henke as a notable exception. Apparently I’m not the only one who feels that way, as Jon has just been named the New Media Director for the Republican Communications Office in the Senate.
Congratulations […]

No Comments » - Posted in Elephants, In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

A Demonstration Of Why I’m In The Second Tier

Wretchard of the Belmont Club puts the pretenders like me to shame with this long, definitive, learned, epochal post on the blogosphere at war. Comment from me would be superfluous…

4 Comments » - Posted in Navel-Gazing, In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

Some Good News, For A Change

Some of you may be surprised (though it’s mentioned in the comments of a thread elsewhere, from the Israel/Hezbollah war this summer) that I count among my good friends a quite liberal anti-Zionist (but not anti-Semitic: I concede there is a difference) Palestinian.
You shouldn’t be: political agreement is not a necessary precondition for friendship. Indeed, […]

No Comments » - Posted in Israel, Foreign Affairs, In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

Congratulations To Sometimes Sparring Partner Glenn Greenwald…

…on what is undeniably a pretty huge deal: a new book, from a big publishing house (Crown, in fact). I came across it on Amazon, and it’s titled A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency, and due for release in mid-June (I’m not even sure the title and release […]

4 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, In Praise Of by Mark

Friday, December 8th, 2006

RIP, Jeane Kirkpatrick

Goodbye to another great one:
Former U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, a one-time Democrat who switched to the Republican Party and warmly embraced Reagan-era conservatism, has died. She was 80.
Kirkpatrick’s death was announced Friday at the senior staff meeting of the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said spokesman Richard Grenell, who said that Ambassador John […]

1 Comment » - Posted in In Praise Of, UN/Oil-For-Food by Mark

Friday, November 17th, 2006

Paying Tribute To Milton Friedman

From today’s Wall Street Journal:
In awarding its Nobel in 1976, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited his “achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy.” The citation covers a huge swath of economic thinking, and suggests both the range and the […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

Milton Friedman, RIP

Many a young conservative cut his teeth on Free To Choose, and I’m one of them. A huge loss…he was a giant, and a true spokesman for capitalism…again, no link yet…
UPDATE 12:36 p.m.: The Wall Street Journal has tons of coverage, but it’s subscription only (note to self: pick up tomorrow’s copy); however, I did […]

2 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Saturday, November 11th, 2006

Don’t Forget…

…on this Veterans Day, to say a prayer of safety and gratitude for the brave men and women of the United States military and its allies. Words can’t express the debt we owe them. Should any of our soldiers, past or present, read this, God bless you, each and every one, and if you’re still […]

3 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Friday, November 10th, 2006

Tonight, For The Fourth Time…

…I watched Louis Malle’s tragic, brilliant, moving masterpiece Au Revoir Les Enfants (but for the first time on the Criterion Collection’s newly remastered DVD). I’ve written about the movie before (twice, in fact), but the third time’s the charm.
I simply can’t recommend this movie enough. It’s the story of a friendship that develops between […]

5 Comments » - Posted in The Decision '08 Review, In Praise Of by Mark

Friday, November 10th, 2006

Two More Casualties Of The Tuesday Blowout

One thing is clear: John Bolton WILL NOT be confirmed as UN Ambassador (remember, he was a recess appointment - if he couldn’t through under better circumstances, he won’t get through now).
We also are saying goodbye to a good man who did a LOT for the Republican Party. Ken Mehlman was widely rumored to be […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Election 2006, In Praise Of, UN/Oil-For-Food by Mark

Monday, September 11th, 2006

Todd C. Weaver: A September 11th Remembrance

Please note: this post is part of an extraordinary day of blogging, as 2,900+ bloggers each remember one of the fallen of September 11th, 2001. This post will remain up top all day; for details on this effort, please see here.
One thing is clear: Todd Christopher Weaver was an adventurous man. This was not a […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, September 7th, 2006

In A Shallow Culture Where “Artist” Is Thrown Around Far Too Lightly…

…it’s great to see a real one in action, and getting the kudos he so richly deserves:
Bob Dylan has topped the US album charts for the first time in 30 years with his latest release, Modern Times.
Dylan, 65, is now the oldest living person to go straight into the chart at number one.
Already hailed by […]

3 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006

A Most Worthy Cause

You see that new addition on the left? The one that says I remember Todd C. Weaver? Well, with the hat tip to A.J., here’s a wonderful idea - 2,996 blogs (well, roughly - a few have multiple tributes assigned) are going to pay tribute, on September 11, 2006, to the 2,996 fallen of that […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, In Praise Of by Mark

Saturday, August 19th, 2006

Buy This Book!

I usually have to wait until AFTER I’ve read a book to know it’s worth your while, but I picked up a copy of Debunking 9/11 Myths at Barnes & Noble yesterday, and I’m only into John McCain’s forward, yet I still know this is a keeper. How? Because I read the Popular Mechanics article […]