Bush is acting president; Cheney in hospital for battery rechargeBy Nick Dupree CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Satire) — Vice President Cheney transferred the powers of the presidency to George W. Bush on Saturday just before having minor surgery to receive a new battery for an implanted device that monitors his heart rhythms, his spokeswoman said. “The … Continue reading “GWB Will Be Briefly In Charge of the Presidency”
Obama, Richardson, Biden and Kucinich, prior to the CNN / YouTube debate Monday night. The Democratic party has become so rotted out and ineffectual that I watched the CNN / YouTube debate not from a position of sympathy but from the perspective of wanting to see them pinned down and held to account. I want … Continue reading “Nick’s Analysis of the CNN / YouTube Debate”
Does it bother anyone else that the vice president is always rubbing his hands like a supervillain scheming your demise? Every time you see him he’s clasping his hands like an evil genius, like a cartoon villain. Why does no one notice? Nick P.S. Part 4 and 5 of my five-part “Are We Rome?” series … Continue reading “Vice President Cheney Is A Supervillain”
American architecture isn’t even subtle in saying that we’re like Rome. The White House The Temple of Hercules Victor in Rome The Washington Monument in DC (left) and Trajan’s Column in Rome (right) U.S. Supreme Court Building Roman Temple of idolatry, built 19-16 BC. Still standing in Southern France. The Colosseum in Rome Los Angeles … Continue reading “"Are We Rome?" Part III: Architecture”
From David Horsey, the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Read the rest at Empire Rising: A Satirical History, Part V
“Are We Rome?” the book, by Cullen Murphy If you didn’t catch it, this is the video of Stephen Colbert interviewing Cullen Murphy, author of the new book “Are We Rome?” Stephen comes out in full centurion armor, with an American flag cape, which is hilarious, and the interview is fascinating. It is great someone … Continue reading “"Are We Rome?" Part I: Cullen Murphy”
Some Jews are offended by the Ride of the Valkyries, and any music by Wagner, because it was revered by Hitler, and used heavily in Nazi propaganda. I get that… But it’s still a musical masterpiece. For some reason, whenever I hear the Ride of the Valkyries, and those famous (almost Darth Vader Imperial March-esque) … Continue reading “When Zeppelins Attack”
So Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were caught off-mic after the latest debate saying that they want smaller debates, with more “serious candidates” (read the details). “They’re not serious. They’re not serious,” Edwards said.This whole concept of “serious” and “not serious” candidates and ideas really sticks in my craw. The political elite, the media and … Continue reading “Politics: "Serious" Candidates?”
I love maps. Here’s a map of who controlled things in 820 AD: States and Empires in 820 The most powerful nations at this point were the Chinese, who controlled or vassalized everything from the Caspian to the Pacific, and the Abbasid Caliphate, who in 820 invented algebra. This was the Islamic Golden Age. By … Continue reading “Political Map of World, 820 AD”
From Mom’s flickr: Then Jamie (left) and Nick (right). Jamie was approx. 4 and I was about 6.around 1988. Now Jamie (left) and me (right). Nearly 20 years later. Nick
I found this on YouTube. It is testimony from Dahlia Wasfi, a physician with a Jewish mother (who fled the Nazis) and an Iraqi father, and she has done two long visits to Iraq recently to help during the war. This testimony is riveting. She is very angry, screen-melting angry, about America invading her country. … Continue reading “Iraqi Jewish Woman Very Angry At War”
This deserved a post. I’ve been obsessively playing Civilization 4 for nearly two years. I’ve never won a game before; this (and my obsessive, stubborn nature) is why I keep playing. Usually I fall behind in technology, or have an inferior military because I spend time building infrastructure, and get left in the dust on … Continue reading “My First Ever Victory at Civilization 4!”
Blogging History: China’s Islamic Christopher Columbus Decades before Christopher Columbus was even born, 18 years before Europeans began their “Age of Discovery,” an Admiral from the Chinese Empire sailed west, explored unknown lands, visited with strange “barbarian” peoples, and projected Imperial might as far away as Africa, covering more than 50,000 kilometers in his 7 … Continue reading “China’s Age of Discovery: The Voyages of Zheng He”