James Poulos

I am super delighted to see Reihan joining me in the use of ‘econopocalypse’ lingo, but super distressed to see that he is choosing to do so because he increasingly believes we are really destined for an economic apocalypse. Fortunately, the apocalypse has already happened. You . . . . Continue Reading »

Oh no! Americans moved less this year than ever-since-1962 , we’re told — and, apparently, this is a sign of tough economic times, an involuntary lowering, or closing in, of our individual and national horizons. Now, as you may know, my vision of the highest is not very closely . . . . Continue Reading »

Of the many reasons why NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine is a bad idea, the worst must surely be that these two states would immediately add intractable instabilities to the alliance’s list of unmanageables. Abkhazia , Transnistria , Crimea — just to list these statelets, . . . . Continue Reading »

For those of you who are new to the blog, greetings. We’re much obliged for our warm welcome at First Things , and we’re pleased to welcome you in turn. Regular visits to Postmodern Conservative are the best means to a good feel for the site, but a little introduction might be in order. . . . . Continue Reading »

(1) NATO’s worryingly inadequate and incredible shrinking performance in Afghanistan (2) NATO’s determination to go ahead with wargames in Georgia Best possible absurd justification: the Georgia exercises are training for Afghan missions! Is anyone else filled with concern by this turn . . . . Continue Reading »

What piques me most about the Twitter phenomenon (not this blog’s new subject, I swear) is precisely what I think is considered most harmless and cool about it: it’s got all the advantages of regular communication, plus all the fun of communicating using only 140 characters! Or, as MoDo . . . . Continue Reading »

For now, go read Philip Zelikow at Foreign Policy ‘s Shadow Government blog , and Conor at The American Scene . For later, further comment from me. I suppose I can mention here that since I’m on record as saying that one dunk at the waterboard is not torture, whereas three dunks is, I . . . . Continue Reading »

John Schwenkler wades into deep waters: Can it be true that the very same movement that gives us the classicism of the New Criterion and George Will’s case against blue jeans is unable to recognize that our meals might also be part of what constitutes our lives as noble or, as the case may be, . . . . Continue Reading »

An admittedly weird vision struck me yesterday. But it’s lingered through to this morning, so consider : The US recession has opened up the biggest gap between male and female unemployment rates since records began in 1948, as men bear the brunt of the economy’s contraction. [ . . . ] . . . . Continue Reading »

Coincidentally, our launch date here was the 150th anniversary of Tocqueville’s death. He passed on April 16, 1859, in Cannes. 150 years and 3 days later, J.G. Ballard, author of creepazoid milennial dystopia Super-Cannes (2000) , died. The first line from Super-Cannes reads as follows: The . . . . Continue Reading »