On the Nature of Things | Forum

...but knew it was nonsense! Alan Levinovitz, "Chairman Mao Invented Traditional Chinese Medicine" Slate | Oct 22, 2013 In case you missed it, Oct. 7–13 was designated Naturopathic Medicine Week, according to a Senate resolution sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski and passed by the Senate w...

Patrick Deneen, "Health, Education—and Welfare?" The American Conservative | Oct 23, 2013 Often discussed in different sections of the newspaper or the blogosphere, the twin crises of health care and higher education are extraordinary in their similarities. Both are regarded as necessary g...

Torchwoood,

Excellent, thanks.

For further reading:

Ron Unz, "Race, IQ, and Wealth"
The American Conservative | July 18, 2012

And ensuing debate: http://www.ronunz.org/2012/10/10/unz-on ... nd-debate/

Quote from John Derbyshire, who describes himself as “something of an authority on China punditry—an Old “Old China Hand” Hand, as it were”: A quick lesson I learned is that any expat who refers to themselves as a "China hand" is full of $hit. Speaking of John Derbyshire, I usually descri...

I hope this is not too off topic- I believe it not to be but: How many of us who post here have been to China, or are really familiar enough with it to make heads or tails about what it going on? The reason I ask is because, for me, all this info; however interesting, can only be looked at as gobbl...

Hope a bit of levity will not be out of place here: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=7820#more-7820 ...The city wishes to refurbish its image as a dynamic, forward-looking, productive place. To that end, the Fukushima Industries Corporation (a leading manufacturer of commercial freezer refrig...

"Scoring the Syria Deal" Putin, Assad, and Iran gain; Obama, Turkey, and Israel lose ground. by Daniel Pipes | National Review Online | September 17, 2013 ...We end with two ironies: The U.S.-Russian agreement does not solve the crisis, but delays and deepens it. Obama's almost nonchalant...

"Scoring the Syria Deal" Putin, Assad, and Iran gain; Obama, Turkey, and Israel lose ground. by Daniel Pipes | National Review Online | September 17, 2013 ...We end with two ironies: The U.S.-Russian agreement does not solve the crisis, but delays and deepens it. Obama's almost nonchalant...

So the idea is that Assad is going to give up his weapons under Russian supervision. "Fox guarding the henhouse" comes close. He's already putting terms and conditions on it. He's been handed a long, drawn out, political process. We said we'd get out of CWs under Nixon. We still have seve...

Interesting, thanks.

That guy doesn't know what he's talking about. The embassy closing was a response to a direct and immediate threat that has since been droned out of existence. Do you know for a fact that there was such a threat? What was it exactly? Regardless, Daniel Pipes (I assume that's who you mean by "t...

The claim that you have presented facts here is one of the persist falsehoods you keep repeating. I don't need to explain away facts because you haven't produced any. The facts are quite clearly stated in the article quoted in JN's opening post: For example, virtually all psychologists believe ther...

Thank you, Torchwood. I tend to agree. Occam's Razor. Incredibly, the decision appears to have been based on an intercepted, unencrypted conference call in which the plot was allegedly revealed: The specific warning of large-scale coordinated terror came from no less than a conference call between a...

Nonc Hilaire, Your dislike of Juan Cole, as well as (confusingly in this context) John Bolton, is noted. I'm not sure what to make of the second sentence of your reply. My point about Daniel Pipes was simply that all of the opprobrium you heaped on him amounts to the fact that you disagree with his ...

Nonc Hilaire, Daniel Pipes is a commentator, analyst and activist. His job is to tell you what he thinks, not promote "balance" or present both sides of an issue neutrally. "Extreme" is an empty and meaningless word that is used to silence opposition and shut down thought. Every ...

I'm puzzled by the derisive comments about Daniel Pipes. 1) It's a complete non-sequitur. The topic of this thread is the closing of the embassies; either Pipes is right that it's a wimpy act, or he's not. 2) When attacking someone, it's always a good idea to provide some examples or evidence. 3) I ...

"On Closed Embassies, the Worldwide Travel Alert, and Wimpitude" by Daniel Pipes | August 3, 2013 | Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner In April, the city of Boston was effectively under military curfew because two terrorists were on the loose. Now, fears of al-Qaeda atta...

Pathetic. One would also think that hard-working parents would appreciate the chance to get their kids out of their hair for a while. Scrutinizing photos every night for actionable evidence of disgruntlement or insect bites would seem to defeat that purpose.

While we're on that topic: "Race and Crime in America" By Ron Unz | RonUnz.org | Posted on July 20, 2013 These charts demonstrate that over the last twenty-five years the weighted correlations for each of the crime categories [homicide, robbery, and violent crime overall] against the perce...

As a white person, I have absolutely no problem with the sentiments expresed in the above article.

From Obama's post-verdict remarks: But beyond protests or vigils, the question is, are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? I know that Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there, but I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, the...

Demon of Undoing wrote:I wonder what possible bit of history might have occurred that would make black folks ready to suspect injustice even where it doesn't exist. I wonder why they do that.

I understand and have empathy for this point of view, but I don't see how it excuses lies or racial double standards.

"The Slow, Sad Death of Detroit" Peter Hitchens | Mail on Sunday | 19 July 2013 Two years ago I visited the great American city of Detroit, which today declared itself bankrupt. The article I reproduce below was criticised by some Detroit residents for concentrating on the bad things - a ...

"What if Trayvon Had Been White, and the Shooter Black?" By Michael Filozof | American Thinker | March 24, 2012 What would happen if a black man armed with a handgun confronted "suspicious persons" in his neighborhood? What would happen if the "suspicious persons" were...

You can't provide services that violate constitutional rights or basic human rights. I can't open a "no homos" adoption agency and more than I can open a "no dogs or Irishmen" restaurant. This is where Ron Paul style libertarians disagree, and I understand that, but private prop...