Oh Tony, you're not going to give us facts are you? How intellectually arrogant of you...

heh ;)

Again, anecdotes aside,

Oh Tony, you're not going to give us facts are you? How intellectually arrogant of you...

Tony, this may be of interest to you..but then I'm guessing that you knew large parts of this already.

Hey thanks Simon, I hadn't seen that. It's a good collection of refutations for some of the pro-drilling claims that we hear parroted more and more stridently lately.

Massive development in Alaska, less than 16% unimpacted? Is that a joke? Have you ever been to Alaska? It is so huge its hard to describe. Do you include "impacted" as having been flown over by a plane at least once within the last 50 years.

Again, anecdotes aside,…

1 dead American ≈ 2 dead Europeans ≈ 5 dead Asians ≈ 50 dead Arabs ≈ 1000 dead Africans, and so forth.

Stuff.co.nz world section today :

Hundreds flee as Grand Canyon floods

Three die in NSW snowfields

Five dead in UK light aircraft collision

Baghdad suicide…

And you guys could cut your demand by that much by not being so gluttonous. Try walking down to the Crusty Burger store to get your Chicken fried steak burger with double cheese and fries instead of taking the Hummer. Compulsory liposuction could supply enough energy to run…

Massive development in Alaska, less than 16% unimpacted? Is that a joke? Have you ever been to Alaska? It is so huge its hard to describe.…

Less than 10% of annual US oil consumption as far as I can tell.

Should be:

Less than 10% of US oil consumption every year as far as I can tell.

That is ANWR could provide 10% per annum of the US oil requirements.

As for the environmental aspect, follow this link to get an idea of the BS spread about ANWAR

Please. Nine photos do not an environmental study make. ANWR is a wildlife refuge. It's very purpose is to provide wilderness without development. It is not there to provide pretty photographs for…

Russia has been an empire for centuries. The last 15 years or so were not the new reality, but simply an aberration that would be rectified. And now it is being rectified.

Sure but I don't think at any time soon you'll see the Russians roll into any of the…

The Russians knew the United States would denounce their attack. This actually plays into Russian hands. The more vocal senior leaders are, the greater the contrast with their inaction, and the Russians wanted to drive home the idea that American guarantees are empty…

Poor darling, did I upset your delicate senses? How sad. Don't take life so seriosuly, its tedious.
BTW we are in agreement on the Ukraine. Very strange, but there it is.

Don't talk such twaddle again James. Narrow cartoonish and quite racist barry obambi and vlads type comments do nobody…

As for the American love affair with the car, no it wont go away any time soon, and why the hell would it?

I never said "car", I said "SUV". I understand that public transport isn't always an option (helloooo, I live in Auckland!). That doesn't mean my alternative needs…

But if you are upset about increasing oil consumption right now, get pissed off at the Chinese and Indians, not the Yanks.

But on the other hand I can see why our getting pissed off with the Chinese and the Indians might seem a little illogical to them (and to…

Not that the demise of Chrysler, GM and Ford would be any great loss to the world.

yes but any rush towards a new cold war is going to benefit these guys rather well.

Just borrow a few billion more from Japan and China and everyone in those Detroit boardrooms…

According to this site, the current US consumption is around 20 million barrels of oil per day. By my math that means that the total US oil reserves could only ever provide around 3 years worth of oil if fully exploited.

It seems to me that a more prudent policy…

Ignoring the folly of talking yourself into another cold war for no good reason of course.

Lotsa good reasons

a) it's good for the military and their industry, especially as Iraq looks like it might have an enforced withdrawal date.
b) it keeps the populace frightened and supportive
c) it…

And bang, before you know it, you are sitting in Sarajevo, on 28 June, 1914.

Yes and the Russians certainly know this as well, preventing them and the USA from taking further action.

I'm sorry Angus but that is completely nuts.

Except the alternative seems to be sitting in Teplitz…

Bush is a grownup kid who likes doing to humans what he did to frogs. He also almost certainly has extensive drug/alcohol based brain damage. Putin is a sophisticated, intelligent man with an excellent education who actually understood what he learned and who plays…

South Ossetia was first. But it may well not be last. If I were Ukraine, I'd let those ships back into Sevastopol, because odds are Russia is…

If you want to prevent a war supply defensive firepower to the weaker state and state alliances.

And bang, before you know it, you are sitting in Sarajevo, on 28 June, 1914. I'm sorry Angus but that is completely nuts.

A few stinger missiles are hardly going to prevent Russia…

...the Georgian government opted to start a war with an unannounced, unprovoked attack on a peacekeeping force.

The fact that the weaker state is also the aggressor does not change the fact that it is the weaker state. If you want to prevent a war supply defensive firepower to the…

Or it can bleed, but not be close enough to secure air-conditioned hotel rooms or feature properly photogenic victims.

A close relative of the Missing Pretty Girl Syndrome. Jon Stewart parodied the whole thing with a mathematical formula in America: The Book.

I'm sure someone's done a formula of…

And by technically illiterate, I dont mean that in practice he can't read.

That's functional illiteracy, so you were fine without the clarification :)

Your evidence so far is that a Republican who worked for the Bush administration on a sub-committee to Wolfowitz, lobbied for Georgia and now works for the McCain campaign. And another Republican has offered a Republican perspective in his capacity as a Republican adviser to the McCain campaign.

He was…

I am beginning to think that it would be possible to have a worse president than Dubya. McCain.

The fact that he cannot use a computer at all puts Bush's 'Teh Google' gaffs in perspective.
Even Ted 'series of tubes' Stevens knows something about the internet.
Imagine the technology policy…

Yeah, brilliant scheme. You don't think they might sell them on at all, e.g. to anybody who feels like shooting down airliners?

Arming the weak state of Georgia to prevent its invasion and forcible regime change by Russia

You mean, "Arming the weak state of Georgia, which decided to break a 15-year peacekeeping deal in a contested region by shooting peacekeepers and civilians." Unless you've got more reliable information than is appearing…

Here's another McCain foreign policy adviser, Max Boot, urging that the US start directly arming Georgia with new Stinger missiles so that, presumably, it can fulfill its destiny as the American proxy on Russia's border.

The Stinger is anti-air, it is a defensive weapon system with short range. It is…

The fact remains that travel out of Fiji is now extremely difficult for everyone who was involved in the coup. That is pressure.

And by all accounts, it is realy pissing them off.

Still, couldn't Bainamarama chartered his own plane, or taken a boat, or something? Niue is, after all,…

He made repeated references not only to the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan in the 1970s, but also to…

That might just say nothing more than "if it don't bleed, it don't lead".

Or it can bleed, but not be close enough to secure air-conditioned hotel rooms or feature properly photogenic victims.

In the last decade 5.4 million have died of preventable (by African standards) ailments as a result…

The world is ... a Marvel Comic.....Barry Obambi

Ahh...I wake up and see James is back

Condi Rice has been very firmly in charge of US foreign policy these last four years and her actions, or inactions on many occasions, have hardly smacked of neocon impulses.

Or competence for that…

Boot, rather notoriously, prescribes the use of "American might to promote American ideals" anywhere in…

I just found it rather ironic opening the Herald (which is supposedly the paper of record in these parts) and finding that lifting sanctions against a man who was at the center of a military coup in our own backyard wasn't actually considered particularly newsworthy.

I'm slightly out of the…

Well, you've managed to misdirect that one nicely Craig, although I'm with Tony in seriously struggling to see the equivalence. I can't really see your point.

Guys, ignore it. But I just find it rather ironic that the policy of our own government isn't worth a fraction of the energy…

Hard to [know] how a Kerry administration would have been much different in this regard (except handing Iraq to Al Qaeda and Iran’s Shia militias).

Yes, of course. And the Handover Ceremony would have probably look something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaCaPibdCCw

Well, it depends on whether you think travel bans are credible or effective when they're not applied consistently, or are no more than cosmetic window dressing in the first place.

I guess that I think that there is enough at stake that we shouldn't pick one strategy at the exclusion…

Well, it depends on whether you think travel bans are credible or effective when they're not applied consistently, or are no more than cosmetic window dressing in the first place.

Well, you've managed to misdirect that one nicely Craig, although I'm with Tony in seriously struggling to see the equivalence.…

Tony,
So it is unclear to you whether the regimes of North Korea, Burma or Zimbabwe deserve to be overthrown or not? ...

Well, I guess that is moral relativism for you. An inability to see the blindingly obvious. A sad place to be.

What a lot of nonsense, James.…

I'm looking for hypocrisy there, but I'm having trouble finding it. Perhaps I'm missing something?

Well, it depends on whether you think travel bans are credible or effective when they're not applied consistently, or are no more than cosmetic window dressing in the first place.

Well, I guess that is moral relativism for you. An inability to see the blindingly obvious. A sad place to be.

Fuck your moral relativism. The world isn't black and white.

If you're gonna be the judge of who should get to stay in power and who shouldn't James, is…

You…

The "American kind of freedom" that I referred to James is the particularly American view that war is necessary to preserve freedom

sorry, I should have said

The "American kind of freedom" that I referred to James is the particularly American view that war is only acceptable to preserve freedom

Well, Tony, heavens forfend we actually ask if our own Government's rhetoric is a comfortable fit with its actions. Please, resume normal service.

I'm sorry Craig, forgive me if I seem dense, but I really don't get where you are going with this one.

So, as I see it, the…

As for the "American kind of freedom", what exactly does that mean? The freedom I enjoy in the US is pretty much the same as the freedom I enjoyed growing up in NZ and people enjoy in any country around the world typically described as "free".

The "American kind of…

Actually, it gets worse. The WaPo has discovered that Scheunemann is still billing the Georgians, via his two-man company, even as he takes McCain's dollar for "advice". Astonishing, but by recent standards, sadly not surprising.

Has anyone suggested in commentary anywhere that a major driver for US "encouragement" for the…

I don't get your obsession with Scheunemann, who appears to be a very minor bit part player at best. Advises McCain, so what? Apart from making a few statements on the subject as…

Thing I didn't know: most South Ossetians already carry Russian passports ...

i seem to remember that many people from the former soviet republics do?

much like former british colonies i guess.

could be wrong on that one, but remember speaking with a latvian who was able to use both…

What? So Bainimarama is granted permission to pass through NZ on his way to Niue for the South Pacific Leaders' Forum, and this is in some way comparable to American imperialism by expansion as developed practically through the use of military force over the last 300 years?

Well, Tony, heavens…

Scheunemann, neocon or not, is hardly driving the train is he? He is an advisor to a presidential candidate who is odds on to lose right now.

As for the "American kind of freedom", what exactly does that mean? The freedom I enjoy in the US is pretty much…

Ummm, James? First paragraph of the blog entry that this discussion is attached to:

Actually, it gets worse. The WaPo has discovered that Scheunemann is still billing the Georgians, via his two-man company, even as he takes McCain's dollar for "advice". Astonishing, but by recent standards, sadly not surprising.

Meanwhile,…

Well, Tony, am I the only person who thinks New Zealand's tough talk to folks who overthrow democratically elected governments much closer to home is looking a wee bit hollow right about now?

What? So Bainimarama is granted permission to pass through NZ on his way to Niue for…

I'll pass over the two errors of grammar...

Thanks Trevor for the grammar lesson. I'll always be grateful to you. But it's important to focus on the argument rather than trying to belittle an opponent. Note Russell's reply. Done in the spirit of healthy argument. What was your point anyway?

that you mean the particularly American kind of freedom where it is the USA who invade a country and overthrow the government and not any body else?

Well, Tony, am I the only person who thinks New Zealand's tough talk to folks who overthrow democratically elected governments much closer to…

What has happened in Georgia is a balls up of spectacular proportions, but it is hard to see that it has much to do with neocons, for the reason that there are almost none in the administration anymore, and haven't been for a while.

Ummm, James? First paragraph of the…

What has happened in Georgia is a balls up of spectacular proportions, but it is hard to see that it has much…

I'd love to learn what guides these virtual flash mobs.

In Russia, the internet browses you.

Hush, Sam. Don't you know China is just misunderstood by big Western racists?

It's such a burden advancing these savages, especially when they don't know they need it.

The funny thing is, of course, that this applies to both sides...

Weirdly, over at The Hive, which normally doesn't get many comments there are lively discussions by people who seem to have a stake in all this. Even comments in what I assume to be Russian?

The same thing happened to the first Crooked Timber thread on the conflict. All of…

Which gives us a rough estimate of how many people you need to squish to raise one to super-wealth. Which makes you wonder what Naional's backers think they'd get out of such policies, since only one of them wil get to be the oligarch...

Or maybe one fifth of a…

He seized the opportunity created by this catastrophe to impoverish 72 million Russians and create 17 new Russian billionaires.

Which gives us a rough estimate of how many people you need to squish to raise one to super-wealth. Which makes you wonder what Naional's backers think they'd get out of…

Including, famously, demanding that the barbarian upstart Victoria send them some tribute right quick when the first major English embassy showed up.

I think you have your monarchs mixed up, Lord Macartney answered to George III, if that's who you refer to. By Victoria's time China had reason to understand…

Aren't the Russians being neocons too in their own way? Seeking to achieve your desired economic / security situation by military bullying would be my definition of a neocon foreign policy.

According to Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine, the Russian's were 'shocked' into neo-con economics when Yeltsin consulted Milton…

This Confucian enlightenment was so marvellously humanitarian that China generally only expected tribute payments rather than military surrender from its neighbours, except of course when obeisance wasn't forthcoming (cue numerous invasions of Vietnam and Korea over the centuries).

Including, famously, demanding that the barbarian upstart Victoria send them some tribute…

And lets not forget, that while Iraq was a mistake originally, it hasn't turned out all that bad. The silence now from the left-wing media on Iraq says it all...

Oh, some people are still keeping count. A quick scan of Iraq Today indicates nearly 50 people have been killed…

And lets not forget, that while Iraq was a mistake originally, it hasn't turned out all that bad. The silence now from the left-wing media on Iraq says it all...

I'll pass over the two errors of grammar...

nothing much remains to criticise.

...and focus on the two superfluous words.…

And lets not forget, that while Iraq was a mistake originally, it hasn't turned out all that bad. The silence now from the left-wing media on Iraq says it all...nothing much remains to criticise.

the ends hardly justify the means

Although I think a genuine neoconservative has to really believe it's for foreigners' own good, not just cynically claim it.

Yes, hence partly the problem why it is difficult to credit neoconservatism as a driving force within the Republican Party. Most people are hard put to ascribe "genuine belief" and…

The most recent historical parallel I can think of is the British Empire, which as we know only existed to bring englightenment and the benefits of civilisation to those who desperately needed it.

Just in case everyone hasn't heard about China enough lately, the official imperial discourse out of Beijing…

otherwise none of us would be here today

Well, some of us would, some of us wouldn't. There would likely still have been a European colonisation, most likely French, which could have been better or worse. After all, the French didn't throw their colonies overboard with nary so much as…

And, additionally: Surrender or Else.

I have to say, that while demanding Georgia "...abjure all use…

Whilst no one for a minute would…

'At least Mussolini got the trains to run on time'

Don't be hating on Mussolini. He invaded Abyssinia to get rid of slavery.

Just like China in Tibet!

The French Empire had much the same set of rationales,

As did the Soviets spreading the joys of communism.

The most recent historical parallel I can think of is the British Empire, which as we know only existed to bring englightenment and the benefits of civilisation to those who desperately needed it

The French Empire had much the same set of rationales,

Iraq hasn't turned out all that bad.

We should file that one with 'At least Mussolini got the trains to run on time' and 'Hitler liked dogs'

"Bush pressed the other NATO powers to place Georgia's application for membership on the fast track. The Europeans rejected the idea, understanding the geo-strategic implications of pushing NATO's boundaries right up to Russia's border. If the Europeans had let Bush…

Aren't the Russians being neocons too in their own way? Seeking to achieve your desired economic / security situation by military bullying would be my definition of a neocon foreign policy.

I would have said more nationalist or national conservative than neo, but yeah.

Aren't the Russians being neocons too in their own way? Seeking to achieve your desired economic / security situation by military bullying would be my definition of a neocon foreign policy.

Not seeking to claim that military bullying isn't part of a neocon position, but any definition of neocon foreign…

I find it disturbing when nationalists wave flags anywhere. Hell, I find it creepy when people have flags on their houses.

The fans mingle at rugby games in Europe as well. At least, they do at Twickenham. It's only soccer where the girly goings on on the field force the spectators to overcompensate.

Make that the Georgia flag sorry.

Your wife will be asking who Georgina is when you get home.
:)

I live in hope.

And when you see it being waved around en masse by pationate nationalists it provokes an image...

Reminds me of English football hooligans.

Presumably because they make big budget movies about the English ones? In reality the organised mass hooligan element has largely died out in English football culture and you're far more likely to find the proper stuff in Turkey, Italy or Eastern European countries like…

I think the silence from people in general is because they've run out of adjectives to…

This is a country where opposing supporters sit shoulder-to-shoulder in the stands — half of them have probably come to the match together. Try that in most of Europe and see what happens..

Well, I'd suggest in most cases nothing happens — but that's not news worthy is it? Neither…

And lets not forget, that while Iraq was a mistake originally, it hasn't turned out all that bad.

Ummmm.... Okay.

And lets not…

It was more an observation about the similarities in flags between two nations at the opposite extremities of Europe.

The same could be said about most sport mad nations... South American countries come to mind.

Oh Jesus... do you think this is really the time to be getting too snidely bitchy about sport-based jingoism? You know — the country where it's time for a mass wrist-slitting when the All Black LOSE A FUCKING FOOTBALL MATCH?

Oh, bollocks. If you think New Zealanders get unusually upset…

And I’m far more bitchy about All Black fans over-reactions to World Cup defeats than that…

I've been fascinated by the suggestion that Russia has launched a internet attack on Georgian websites.

It is the obvious new front for conflict in the 21st century. China is playing the game also.
A coutry could be severely hobbled by a web attack with communications and more importantly public…

Suggestions are that computers based in Russia have been overloading websites for Georgian government departments and the the main newspaper. Estonia has sent over security experts as they believe Russia did the same thing…

Oh Jesus... do you think this is really the time to be getting too snidely bitchy about sport-based jingoism? You know — the country where it's time for a mass wrist-slitting when the All Black LOSE A FUCKING FOOTBALL MATCH?

Touché

There’s something oddly disturbing about those shots of a crowd of Georgian nationalists waving their flag.

Reminds me of English football hooligans.

Oh Jesus... do you think this is really the time to be getting too snidely bitchy about sport-based jingoism? You know — the country where it's time for…

well certainly in the decade after the wall came down, Russia was reeling in many ways, China was only just starting to find it's feet.

Sure, but in retrospect America's economic and political dominance in the 90's seems so... inevitably transitory.

Maybe I just forget what it was like before…

BREAKING NEWS: White powder found in PM's mail

The Kiwiblog right strike again...

Mr Pot, let me introduce you to Miss Kettle. You've got so much in common...

Was that ever true? Or merely wishful thinking, with the idea becoming widely entrenched via a certain level of media dominance.

well certainly in the decade after the wall came down, Russia was reeling in many ways, China was only just starting to find it's feet.

But that article I…

Was that ever true? Or merely wishful thinking, with the idea becoming widely entrenched via a certain level of media dominance.

I'd say the Ottoman invasions helped prolong the "Christendom" attitude to some extent

You would think that, in fact so did I, but not according to my history lectures. Could explain why I failed first year history. lol
They reckoned that the birth of the idea of Europe was a…

The Kiwiblog right strike again...

Russia, China, the US and the EU. Four quickly equalising pillars with different philosophies and politics.
A situation caused largely by America's foreign policy decisions.

Don't forget India, either. They're not quite as militaristic as the others, but they'll get there. They have nukes, too, and having a nine-figure population…

__Anyway, Russia is back, and it looks more like the Russia of the Tsars, with the sort of expansionist foreign policy that was constantly being checked by the British Empire, than…

A situation caused largely by America's foreign policy decisions.

Indeed and the litany of disastrous foreign policy missteps seem likely to be continued by any McCain administration, and, on current form, perhaps only slightly watered down by Obama as he reels from having to deal with the frankly cartoonishness of…

There’s something oddly disturbing about those shots of a crowd of Georgian nationalists waving their flag.

Reminds me of English football hooligans.

The sort of stupid nationalism which started this thing is simply football hooliganism writ large.

Any situation where you start the shooting and then find yourself begging for a ceasefire within 48 hours is a major blunder.

I think the latter part is redundant. Any situation where you start shooting is a blunder. As the fat man said, jaw-jaw is always better than war-war.

To…

What astounds me, 17 years after the wall came down was how quickly the much touted single hyper-power era came to a close.

Yeah... Its a totally different layout from a few years ago.
Russia, China, the US and the EU. Four quickly equalising pillars with different philosophies and politics.…

The bear has definately escaped the cage. The question now is how hungry it is.

What astounds me, 17 years after the wall came down was how quickly the much touted single hyper-power era came to a close.

Anyway, Russia is back, and it looks more like the Russia of the Tsars, with the sort of expansionist foreign policy that was constantly being checked by the British Empire, than the fear-driven policy of the Soviets.

Yes, agreed, and much emboldened by the US failures in Iraq and stalemate…

As such it the analysis of the Belgravia Dispatch that the war is an isolated incidence entirely generated for the benefit of the Republican candidate John McCain by neoconservative conspritators?

Thanks for the background Angus, but I really didn't get that from The Belgravia Dispatch story at all. In fact…

Reminds me of English football hooligans.

Meanwhile, the Dom Post online's top story is... a man pissing on a parking meter.

And not even a single mention of Georgia on the stuff.co.nz home page this morning... Wow.

Let me know when he's found pissing on a 'journalist'. (assuming its not a watersports story – I'm not interested in that kind of reporting either)

Just listen to Sunday's Mediawatch – it speaks…

The world is not a Marvel Comic

If only...Then it'd just be Omega Red vs Captain America, and would be all over in 10-15 pages tops...

The whole thing has necon teh stoopid written all over it.

The following is an brief description of a "Neocon plot" that is the fault of John McCain according to the "unbiased" analysis of the Belgravia Dispatch:

Georgians and Ossetians are two neighbouring tribes in the Caucacus Mountains. The Georgians…

Weirdly, over at The Hive, which normally doesn't get many comments there are lively discussions by people who seem to have a stake in all this. Even comments in what I assume to be Russian?

Freaky!

John McCain, who yesterday declared "we are all Georgians"...

Another embarrassment to the human race! Where do they find them!

Pity about Obama. Even if he's not standing for President of the World (a position…

Asked and answered. Despite his recent Berlin speech, Obama is running for POTUS not POTW.

Yep, but wouldn't it be a pleasant change just for once for whoever is POTUS not to have to find ogres to placate some US national desire to have enemies everywhere.

The world is not…

The Washington response leaves one wondering if this is a case of smart (provoke Russia, gain new perpetual war, retire to lobbying for military contracts, profit!), or really dumb (We're #1! Russia won't dare oppose…

Asked and answered. Despite his recent Berlin speech, Obama is running for POTUS not POTW.

Completely agree – but if you ARE going to comment on a significant international situation, I'd prefer you do with it with thought and understanding.

Sometimes I just wonder if it's not just a case of "Shit, the price of oil has stabilized again, where can…

Putin has his own band of hitler youth. They're carrying the flag with a red back ground and white diagonal cross.

It was actually when the Ottoman's went to town and invaded europe. Something that McCain should known, since they were the reason Columbus went west liking for a route to China.

I'd say the Ottoman invasions helped prolong the "Christendom" attitude to some extent; it was when they became allies…

I thought that was the reason that the USA arms Israel?
Does this mean that Georgia is arming someone else?
And so on?

I guess my rather poorly articulated point is that this is next to Europe, not South America or the Middle East. Europe, where they have enjoyed two…

Something seems to have gone horribly wrong here. Did Saakashvili think contributing 2000 troops to the Iraq project meant he'd get military backing if he made a move?

The whole thing has necon teh stoopid written all over it.

Stoopid? Stupid like a Fox! I think the Iraq debacle has shown…

He notes , among other things, that McCain called for an emergency Security Council resolution — after Russia had unsuccessfully called for exactly the same thing. The Russian bid was blocked by the US and Britain over…

Someone should tell McCain that the concept of Christendom as a defensive unit died out around, oh, the High Middle Ages, with the end of the major crusading period.

It was actually when the Ottoman's went to town and invaded europe. Something that McCain should known, since they were the…

I have had some sympathy for Georgia because they view the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as a domestic issue.

For sure. And as we have seen in China, keeping separatist regions in the fold is a messy business. But South Ossetia has been effectively self-governing for about…

That there is sucspicion of Israel and USA arming Georgia reeks of – lets fight a war in somone leses back yard.

I'm not saying the Washington K Street culture isn't the kind of…

He reminds me a little of Jason Schwartzman in the Wes Anderson films Rushmore...

It should be noted the Max Fischer, while charismatic, is also deeply deluded and... kind of officious and nutty. This does not bode well.

God I love that movie. :)

I read her site with great interest – I imagine we'll see a lot of her in…

To John Campbell's credit, last night he showed the contrasting way the conflict is being reported in the US versus the UK,…

He reminds me a little of Jason Schwartzman in the Wes Anderson films Rushmore and the Darjeeling Ltd.

That's probably gonna be McCain's next rationale for giving him military support.

Oh, wait. He probably thinks this is a crusade.

I have had some sympathy for Georgia because they view the separatist regions of Abkhazia and…