Alcohol and Aboriginal Amerindians

A very interesting summary of the subject.

I was discussing this subject with Girlfriend'', where I supposed that the mesoamerican tribes probably were practically drowning in alcohol (at least relatively speaking) due to their farming practices, and that alcohol consumption pre-Columbus could probably be more or less correlated to farming. This appears essentially correct.

Just because some Muslims are terrorists doesn't mean the group as a whole is violent

That they keep being violent does.

It's interesting that they never say in the article that the rioters are Muslims. Uh, yeah, the "immigrant" riots were sparked by a cop killing a man wielding a machete.

Don't listen to this gal; don't marry

Read this article first.

Laura makes a pretty good point, and a compelling argument. If I may express her point in a metaphor, she's basically saying that the car still runs, and though it has quirks and you could die going over Yungas Road in it, it's worth it to keep it running.

The problem with her argument isn't that cars are bad or that keeping the idea of the car alive isn't noble, it is that the car is on fire.

X? In my Y?

What is this freedom bullshit?

Oh, that.

The great extent of modern cleverness

...Reaches only to idiot housewives, apparently.

A Mouthful of Marbles

I dare you to try it; the next time you're at dinner with folks, and they ask you about your political persuasion, tell them you're a "neoreactionary".

If Mr. Plinkett has to mumble through your neologism, it's probably not a very good one. To simulate this at home, get drunk, shove five marbles in your mouth, and say "neoreactionary".

Do you really want one, all-encompassing term for a collection of racists, pick-up-artists, disillusioned bureaucrats, and angry old men? Do these people even get along at parties?

Compare and Contrast

From Armarium Magnum:

His last point in the quote above is more evidence of his lack of understanding of the period he's working so hard to distort and then condemn.  There certainly were regular condemnations of curiositas amongst monks.  In his ignorance of the period and because of his distorting Whiggish prejudices, Greenblatt has decided this means "intellectual curiosity" and claims this means they may have copied the works he likes so much, but they can't have actually thought about them or discussed them as this was forbidden.  In fact, the word refers to curiosity about others, gossip and idle chatter - something probably common in small enclosed communities of celibate men - and had nothing to do with intellectual curiosity.

vs.

The greatest irony, of course, being that real, honest curiosity about the sacred tenets of the modern church is discouraged.