Adrian Chen has written a stunning piece on Russian social media trolls. Titled “The Agency,” the article is a virtuoso example of investigative journalism. Chen can rest on his laurels forever, as far as I’m concerned. “The Agency” is the gold standard of how to expose wrongdoing. It’s a very long article, but here’s an…
If so, where’s the morality?
May 31, 2023
My sources tell me that the Israeli Military Advocate General (MAG) Corps has reached a decision on the Gaza beach incident of July 16, 2014. That ruling—whether or not members of the IDF are criminally culpable in the deaths of Ismail, Mohammed, Ahed, and Zakaria Bakr—will be announced shortly. I don’t know what the MAG…
The desperate denial of the doomed
May 30, 2023
Since 2003 the world has known about the inconceivable brutality of the organization that now calls itself the Islamic State. It was originally Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Organization of Monotheism and Jihad), the group that wrote the script for jihadist beheading videos. And yet to this day, soldiers and civilians surrender to the Islamic State after…
About these Mohammed cartoon contests…
May 29, 2023
Today a protest called “Freedom of Speech Rally Round II” is being held in Phoenix, Arizona, as I write this post. The protest is taking place in front of the Islamic Community Center. This is where two jihadists worshiped before they were killed by police on May 3, 2015, as they attacked the Muhammad Art…
A prisoner who refused
May 28, 2023
I once saw a World War I postcard that I wished desperately I had in my collection. Today my own original copy arrived. It shows a prisoner of war who refused to play by the rules. Here’s the image. German officers are interrogating French prisoners of war. The uniforms of the Germans show that the…
I love war!
May 27, 2023
Today was a nadir in my ongoing interaction with people who are so stupid that they shouldn’t be allowed outside their houses. One way you can tell that someone knows he or she is wrong is when they frame your disagreement as illegitimate. Because I don’t think that Israel should unilaterally disarm, that means I…
If a Shi’ite cleric ruled the world
May 26, 2023
In about 2008, I saw an interview on YouTube with an Iraqi Shi’ite cleric who was asked if he wanted alcohol and nightclubs banned. “No,” he said. “If all your temptations are removed, then you can’t call yourself a moral person. You must have the opportunity to sin but refuse those opportunities. That’s the definition…
Today I remember Captain Ben Salomon
May 25, 2023
This is Memorial Day. Today we remember our fallen warriors. I’d like to introduce to you Captain Benjamin Lewis Salomon, a dentist with the 105th Infantry Regiment. He’s one of only three dentists and twenty-seven Jews to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Salomon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 1, 1914. He…
Too dizzy for a post tonight
May 24, 2023
Meniere’s disease is incurable, and it causes rotational vertigo attacks. It feels like the world is spinning while a heavy weight is pressing down on you. I haven’t had an all-day attack for years, but today I’m too dizzy to write. Rotational vertigo attacks are triggered by stress. Against my will, I’m beginning to remember…