How do you say “Opposite Day” in Russian? — The Russian nee Soviet army has rarely been a truly effective fighting force. It was, arguably, most effective in 1944 when crushing the Nazi war machine (though at a staggering cost) and least effective in 1986 when it became clear the Red Army could not pacify Afghanistan. For past articles…

Don’t vote for candidates who only complain — If there is one thing I’ve learned from the modern Trump party, besides that appeals to racism are shockingly effective with a quarter of Americans, it is that repetition is more important than nuance. With that in mind, I may be repeating myself a bit here in this last missive…

Does that sound stupid? — Yes. It does. But why? Because the Libertarian party isn’t responsible for the temperature of my oatmeal. They haven’t announced any legislation that would regulate how I make my breakfast. Even if they wanted to, to court that coveted cold oatmeal-hating demographic, that wouldn’t make any sense. …

The politics of oil are even worse than the economics — Yes, the old black goo has given us a lot since they first scooped it up in western Pennsylvania in the 1860s and said, “Hey maybe we can sell this stuff”. It lit up our growing cities and gave the whales a break. It greased our gears and then, later…

They say they hate special rules, allowances, and quotas. But they can’t win without them. — If the NFL announced next week that, going forward, the Saint’s touchdowns only counted for one point while every other team would still get six, would everyone nod their heads and say, “I think that’s what the inventor of football would have wanted. If we don’t do this, then New…

The grand unintentional experiment — First off, I’m not a criminologist, social worker, police union rep, or mayor. This is going to be largely anecdotal and local to New Orleans. Qualitative rather than quantitative, if you know what I mean. …

Do they have any idea? — It’s pretty easy to carve out a time of death for the Republican Party’s tombstone. Maybe not down to the minute, but the year is obvious. It was in 2020 when the GOP agreed to cancel their primaries in favor of the Orange Nightmare and adopt no official platform. How…

How basically everyone fails to understand risk and prices — Most of us shuffle around in our microeconomic neighborhoods. We buy gas to get to work, and we notice when it costs fifty dollars when it used to cost twenty-five. We like it when we get a raise or find a good sale, and we don’t like it when something…

The hardest question may be when to fight — In 1863, the Union armies began to penetrate deep into the rebel states. …