External Locus of Danger -- Dipsomania as Policy

We Chipsters have never liked “Winnie” Churchill.  Not that it matters but we have always considered him to be nothing but a belligerent drunk; .....   [continue reading]

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The Erlkonig

During the day, California’s capital was an exercise, like California itself, in ersatz eclecticism.  There was something unreal,  ....   [continue reading]

The Fomes of Inequality

We recently came across a photograph that gave us a soupier pour temps perdus.   A time when travel was a festive occasion rather than a demeaning experience in prison security.   ....  [continue reading]

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Infections of the Times

The New York Times has published a slop-ed piece by Thomas Friedman entitled I.S.=Invasive Species.   ....  [ continue reading ]

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In Praise of Chicken Feed

Economist and Obama-critic, Paul Krugman, has come out with an article in praise of the president’s performance.    Although himself a frequent critic of Obama, Krugman argues .... [ continue reading ]

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Gullible's Travels

In the run-up to the New Crusade, there were numerous and graphic reports of atrocities alleged to have been committed by I.S.I.S (or I.S.L, as it is variously called).    ....   Woodchips  analyzes the video and photographic evidence to see if it trustworthy or whether it qualifies as mere atrocity propaganda. ....   [ continue reading ]

Dispersit Superbos

Interviewing on Sixty Minutes, this past Sunday, President Urbama I admitted that the United States had "underestimated" the emergence of ISIS in Syria  .....    [ continue reading ]

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0 and 1

It was reported earlier in the week, in a tittering sort of way, that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, sometimes wondered if God were really there.   . . .   [continue reading]

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To Invoke & Pervert

Needless to say, Obama’s peroration before the General Assembly  was all that we expected it to be.  Predictably enough, after acknowledging the slight imperfections in our inherent goodness, he launched forward with Babies to the Fire,  . . .   [continue reading]

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The Globalization of Homeland Security

President Obama has announced that he will urge the U.N. security council to pass a sweeping new resolution that would impose global travel bans on fighters intent on enlisting in overseas wars.... [continue reading]

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Islamic State of Photoshop?

While you can  download execution-clips from Bonnie & Clyde on You Tube, the media has been less than forthcoming with posting videos of ISIS atrocities, which are alleged to be too graphic for sensitive and civilised eyes.   But at least some of the photos appear to us to be faked....   [ see & read]

Auld Lang Syne

One might very well begin a comment in the FRENCH manner, by observing, indirectly and tangentially that the article, wonderfully, begins . . .  [continue reading]

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