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The Long View

The Long View 2006-09-01: The Overthrow of Islam

The politicization of religion is a nuisance. Unfortunately, it is often less than clear what counts as politicization when you get started. The Overthrow of Islam "Taking the turban" was the term that American and European mariners called the practice of formally embracing Islam when captured by Muslim

The Long View 2006-08-28: Resentment, Stupidity, Pigeons, & Statistics

The trend John mentions here, that people who see themselves as conservative have more kids than people who see themselves as liberal, has only accelerated. Although, genetic determinist that I am, it is still possible that having kids tends to push you more conservative than you otherwise would be. Resentment,

The Long View 2006-08-24: Automation; Celestial Justice; Darwin Award Stats; The Negligence of the Clerks

This was written six years before Hurricane Sandy inundated the New York and New Jersey shores. As John surmised, the flooded subways weren't nearly as much of a problem as the storm surge damage to houses. Automation; Celestial Justice; Darwin Award Stats; The Negligence of the Clerks Was

The Long View: Tokugawa America

Tokugawa Japan is one of the more remarkable societies that have ever developed. It produced most of the culture that both we Americans and the Japanese find distinctive, and managed to be relatively stable and resistant to the outside world for nearly 250 years. When the outside world finally barged

The Long View 2006-08-18: The Endings of Various Epochs

I learned a lot reading Matti Friedman's Pumpkinflowers, once I finally got around to it [it sat in my to-read pile for two years]. The suicide bombings started shortly after the Lebanese occupation was over, and then the security checkpoints installed to stop the bombers led to missile

The Long View 2006-08-15: Spelling, Genealogy, Lebanon, Tradition, Ham

In the mid 2000s, John Reilly often defended President George W. Bush, for partisan reasons. I have to hold him to account for this. However, I do try to balance it out with things like his assessment of the capacity of Islamic transnational movements to found a state: Transnationalism has

The Long View 2006-08-09: Qinshihuangdi; Republican versus Conservative; Bernard Lewis; Mark Steyn

When I was younger, I was much taken with the wild, Indiana Jones-style tales of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. Alas, they are likely fables, but a young man can dream. Also, the zingers just keep coming. Anyone who has ever had a run-in with an overzealous HOA can