Category Archives: Civilization

Obama As Millennialist Aspiration

Posted on May 25, 2008 by Rich Horton

We live in an age of Millennial aspirations.  Everywhere you look you can see signs of widely disparate groups of people who believe they are living in an age where established norms will be destroyed by this or that newly arisen force.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, History, Politics | 9 Comments

Wasteful Stupidity At The United Nations

Posted on April 13, 2008 by Gaius

In a move that has outraged a lot of people, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) destroyed about 100,000 books rather than move them. While UNESCO contends that a large percentage of those now-pulped books were obsolete, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, World news | 4 Comments

Back To The Stone Age

Posted on March 10, 2008 by Gaius

The Washington Post reports on some new studies that call for a reduction of carbon emissions by industrialized countries to zero. Avoid the rush, stop breathing now. The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Environment | 43 Comments

The Downside Of Serfdom

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Gaius

I posted about the human hamster wheels being touted as a carbon offset scheme by Western companies back in September of last year. The company involved in that scheme was shipping "treadle pumps" to India and touting it as human … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Energy, Environment | 2 Comments

SoylentVOLT Green Is People

Posted on January 8, 2008 by Gaius

Local governments in Britain are planning to burn human bodies for electricity. No, really, they are. Heat created by burning the dead at crematoria could be used to keep mourners warm under plans to make funerals more environmentally-friendly. Instead of … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Energy, Environment | 10 Comments

The Authoritarian Left In Oz

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Gaius

The brand new labor government in Australia has wasted no time in setting forth their authoritarian agenda. First up: internet censorship. Civil liberty groups in Oz are going bonkers over this one, the Rudd government, however, is pushing forward. Communications … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, World news | 2 Comments

Even Bono Is Sick Of Bono

Posted on December 31, 2007 by Gaius

Daniel Drezner, writing in the Los Angeles Times, takes a look at celebrity activists, the good, the bad and the ugly of the phenomenon, as it were. He asks whether celebrities should be the ones setting the global agenda. Celebrity … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, World news | Comments Off

“…To Steer Clear Of Permanent Alliances…”

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Gaius

Karl Inderfurth,  currently a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, writes an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor excoriating what he calls "Washington's phobia of global treaties." Inderfurth, who served in the Clinton administration … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, World news | 2 Comments

Even They Can’t Cover Up The Fraud

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Gaius

How ragingly bad must the fraud be if even the United Nations can't hide it from an internal investigation? A UN group has determined that there is widespread, pervasive fraud in the UN's peacekeeping operations. The fraud they admit to … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Crime, Economy, Energy, Environment, World news | 2 Comments

Serf’s Up, Dude

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Gaius

serf (sûrf)  n.   1. A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights. 2. An agricultural laborer under various similar systems, especially in … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Energy, Environment, Left Wing | 9 Comments

For Unto You A No Child Is Born

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Gaius

Mark Steyn muses on a Christmas – and a world – with no children. It is a dark picture and it is suddenly all the rage among the true believers of the new church of global warming. As I say, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Environment, World news | 5 Comments

The Price Of Greatness

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Gaius

Robert Gates delivered a long address yesterday as part of the Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues at Kansas State University. It is a rather longish speech but well worth taking the time to read. Gates details the history of … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, War | 3 Comments

Older Than All Of Them Combined

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Gaius

Maybe it just takes someone who came from outside this nation to point some things out. Maybe being born here blinds one to some of the things that we take for granted. Maybe some of the things we take for … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization | 1 Comment

Criminal Madness

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Gaius

Some anti-war extremists have been protesting the unloading of returning equipment from Iraq at the Port of Olympia in Washington state. The protests have triggered the arrests of quite a few of the protesters. But what is more troublesome is … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, War | 5 Comments

Blinded By The Hate

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Gaius

Peter Berkowitz, writing in the Opinion Journal, points out that blind hatred of George Bush is not a good plan for going through life. Berkowitz, a fellow at the Hoover Institute and a professor at George Mason University School of Law, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization, Politics | 13 Comments