Baton Rouge to Minneapolis

Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:41 AM EST

Packing up, left Baton Rouge at 6:15 PM. I move across the bridge, west to Lafayette. I’m passing through Nachitoches, town of Christmas lights. No time to stop and gawk. Low hills, the lights of towns nestled in the little valleys.

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travel, baton-rouge, minneapolis

The Devil We Know: Obama among the Muslims

Thu Jun 4, 2009 12:03 PM EDT

A lanky young President Obama steps off Air Force One into the shimmering heat of Riyadh and is presented with a 21 gun salute.

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egypt, saudi-arabia, obama, world-news

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Singularity U, Platonism and the Failure of Futurism.

Fri Feb 6, 2009 6:58 AM EST

Précis: Singularity University is going up at NASA Ames, holding out the promise of being the new Mecca for future futurists. Raymond Kurzweil may be a genius, but he's not a prophet.

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google, nasa, science, ai, kurzweil, singularity-university

Obama in Camelot: the Idylls of the King

Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:13 AM EST

Precis: Barack Obama's inauguration engenders hope in many hearts, but is hardly the triumph it might seem at first glance.

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scotus, congress, politics, cabinet, supreme-court, obama, inauguration

A Reflection on "Taps"

Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:22 AM EST

The last time I heard "Taps" played was at my uncle's military burial. Civilians hear Taps and think of burials and memorials, for that is the only time they hear it. To a soldier, it's always identified with the end of the day, especially the end of the week.

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army, military, taps

The Ship of Tarshish: A Republican preaches to Obama

Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:12 AM EST

Peter Berkowitz, senior fellow at Hoover Institution presumes to give president-elect Obama advice on how to behave in a bipartisan fashion in the Weekly Standard.

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politics, gates, obama, republican, democrat, political-correctness, berkowitz, weekly-standard, school-choice

Meat Space: a ghost story for Scott Butki

Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:40 PM EDT

Preface: this was written for Scott Buttki's Perspective Piece Assignment: Write From The Point-Of-View Of a Ghost. It did happen to me, I'm the consultant in this story. Meat Space by BlaiseP

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louisville, easter-bunny, ghost-story, ghost-perspective

Being Human: the rigor of belief

Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:53 PM EDT

Nature Magazine is where many of the old SciAm readers have retreated after SciAm's capitulation to less rigorous material. They've begun a new series on Being Human

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religion, islam, buddhism, belief, atheism, christianity, neuroscience, jung, pascal-boyer

Gayle Williams, Foreign aid worker killed in Kabul

Seeded on Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:40 AM EDT (International Herald Tribune)

A foreign aid worker was shot dead in a residential area of Kabul by two gunmen on a motorbike as she walked to work on Monday morning, police officials and residents said.

afghanistan, world-news, kandahar, gayle-williams

Melencolia: a contemplation of an Obama victory

Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:53 PM EDT

When I was 17 years old I did a painting, 4 by 6 meters of the M81 Galaxy for my high school homecoming which would only stand for one night. It wasn't all that hard to do.

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politics, mccain, obama

William Claxton: the Power of Perspective.

Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:19 PM EDT

Ever have musicians uneasily coexisted with the photographer. After the Second World War, jazz relaxed, spread its wings and began to reinvent itself.

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jazz, hollywood, arts, chet-baker, william-claxton

America has Fallen (but it can get up) Contra Fukuyama

Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:26 AM EDT

Francis Fukuyama, that prodigious fraud and dilettante has again risen to his hind legs to declaim the End of Something or Other. It is his specialty. This time it's in Newsweek magazine, in The Fall of America, Inc.

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politics, mccain, neoconservative, newsweek, fukuyama, palin, neoliberal

Summer's End

Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:16 AM EDT

Wishing only to escape from the dreadfulness of our current political strife and the Sturm und Drang of economic collapse, I give you an extemporaneous riff, which began with no idea or direction in mind. It was written to the accompaniment of Metheny Mehldau Quartet.

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geneva, wheaton, elgin, pratts-wayne-woods

Slave of the Dream: Sarah Palin and Peglerology

Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:24 AM EDT

This isn't news, but a backgrounder. In the midst of the Palin Pile-On, a few commentators have said Sarah Palin quoted a noted racist and antisemite. The story is more complex. I give you Westbrook Pegler, the Rush Limbaugh of his era.

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politics, palin, westbrook-pegler

BlaiseP's Notes from the Front: The Rest of the Story

Wed Sep 3, 2008 10:21 PM EDT

Growing weary of the current political mush on offer, I've decided to gin up something vaguely resembling what I'd want to read about the presidential race.

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politics, virginia, azerbaijan, indiana, obama, hillary, bayh, palin

In Defense of Sarah Palin.

Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:43 PM EDT

While everyone else whacks Sarah Palin, I'll write a Devil's Advocate brief for the woman.

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abortion, politics, mccain, obama, republican, sarah-palin

News! The Musical

Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:08 PM EDT

Preface: Complaining about the news is pointless and passé. Such is not the point of this essay. These days, everyone's a reporter, everyone's a pundit. News was, however, always a business. It's show business, more precisely.

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news, world-news, musicals, nixon-in-china

An Elegant Gathering: the lessons of the Ming.

Fri Aug 8, 2008 12:39 PM EDT

0730 EST. The Olympics rumble to life, we are witness to the overture of a new superpower. The Chinese are desperate to exhibit their hospitality. Push a microphone in from of any Chinese child, and you'll hear him proudly root for his country. In English.

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history, olympics, china, ming-dynasty

Solzhenitsyn: a few thoughts from a Cold Warrior

Mon Aug 4, 2008 7:38 AM EDT

I remember reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in a second-hand bookstore. I didn't have much money at the time, but I bought it anyway. The book would change my life forever.

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guantanamo, politics, war-on-terror, ussr, solzhenitsyn

Total Eclipse: the gears of my mind

Fri Aug 1, 2008 7:14 AM EDT

Chatting with K yesterday, asked him for a topic for my next article. "Yourself, of course" he said. "Am I not self-indulgent enough?" I replied.

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iraq, politics, mccain, obama, islam, waffle-house, eclipse

Yankee Go Home: several Iraqi versions

Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:27 AM EDT

There are several different versions of the Yankee Go Home argument afoot in Iraq. Version 1: Get out right away, as fast as you can. We're sick of looking at you, and you looking at our women.

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bush, iraq, politics, obama, maliki

Obama and the World: A reply to RM Gerecht

Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:37 PM EDT

Reuel Marc Gerecht asks in the instant's Campaign Standard

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iraq, afghanistan, russia, china, pakistan, politics, obama, pashtun

Houston to Atlanta: with discursions and reminiscences

Sat Jul 5, 2008 5:17 PM EDT

Finally, I return with a tale of my travels. For those interested in the rest of the pictures, they're up on Flickr. Herein you get to see a bit of my world, with various reminiscences and suchlike. I enjoyed writing it, and hope you find it worth reading.

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travel, atlanta, louisiana, houston

The End of the Road: Hayden and the Terrorists.

Sat May 31, 2008 1:26 PM EDT

WaPo reports CIA director Michael Hayden as saying

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iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, cia, terrorism, politics, hayden, al-qaeda

A Tale of Two Treaties: Part 1: Lebanon

Thu May 22, 2008 3:16 PM EDT

Precis: Yesterday Hizb'allah and the Taliban inked agreements with the governments of Lebanon and Pakistan respectively.

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iraq, afghanistan, lebanon, iran, taliban, syria, world-news, doha, hizbullah, hizballah

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Comments & Feedback

BlaiseP!

So good to see you back...a perfect birthday present for me! :)

I've been admiring your comments in the Palestians column. Though we frequently disagree, I always learn something from you.

Best,
Ellie

http://zubya.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/22/2139412-palestinians-must-commit-to-a-non-violent-civil-rights-movement
— EllieP

In a prior column, you made the following reference:

Yasser Arafat was the nephew of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a wicked anti-Semite. The Grand Mufti was given the honorary rank of General in Hitler's SS, but the British put the Grand Mufti in power, over the objections of the Muslim community, who viewed him as a thug. I make no apology for Arafat, but it is useful to understand Arafat's position was secular, and Fatah had the support of many Arab Christians.

Do you have a reference for the "honorary rank of General in Hitler's SS?"

I am unable to locate such a reference.
— JSB-718237

Enjoy your writing. Thanks.
— angela593

BlaiseP provides well-thought (possibly even over-thought) arguments on a variety of topics, and is willing to examine all sides of an argument critically, even his own. BlaiseP is a credit to Newsvine, and I'm happy to have him around.
— Eco-geek

You called Michael Musto an "odious little turd." Thank you.
— Eric Near

Hey Blaise, I just noticed you had a debate with that Aaron Ross Powell kid. I'm glad you held your line with him because he can be quite the priss as I've seen in my take on his attitudes on local stores versus national stores. Good job.
— PHAT Joe