It seems like the whole world is reading the blog. Ten minutes after I posted my recent denunciation of bad journalism, I got an invitation to speak to future journalists and discuss why I’m so unhappy with the state of contemporary reporting.

I’m not sure if I will have time to mention the Rolling Stone debacle but it’s a great example that not only the foreign affairs reporting sucks.

This will be fun.

The new plan that is being widely discussed in Russia is delivering a nuclear strike on the Yellowstone National Park.

I just scrolled through literally dozens of articles that are analyzing every facet of the plan and fantasizing about the ease with which this nuclear strike will destroy the US.

Every day there’s some fresh insanity, every day.

Aren’t psychiatrists something special?

Top French psychiatrist Samuel Lepastier said it was highly likely Lubitz was suffering from schizophrenia given the strong medication he was on – notably Olanzapine, whose side effects can include “unusual changes in personality, thoughts or behaviour; hallucinations and suicidal tendencies”.

“It is highly likely he was schizophrenic, given the medication he was taking,” Dr Lepastier, head of research at Paris Diderot university told The Telegraph.

He’s on medication so he must be sick so he must need medication which must mean he’s sick, and so on.

Reminds me of that joke where a Russian man says that his French wife is OK. She’s dirty but otherwise fine.

“What d’you mean, she’s dirty?” his buddy asks.

“Well, she showers every day!” the man explains. 

Also, note the side effects of this “medication.” I wonder what original symptoms can justify inflicting this horror on oneself. It’s like that scary ad for medication for women who experience vaginal dryness during menopause. It promises side effects in the form of stroke, heart attack, paralysis, and a litany of other terrifying things. 

 

The doors of the Czech presidential residence are now closed to US Ambassador in Prague, Andrew Schapiro, after the former Chicago lawyer unduly advised Czech leader Milos Zeman against attending a Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Why are the Czechs so eagerly licking Putin’s anal cavity? Are they expecting a handout? Is life that harsh? Or are they nostalgic for 1968?

Two burly fellows delivered the patio furniture we bought yesterday.

“Where are you from?” one of them asked, looking at my last name in the paperwork.

“I’m from Ukraine,” I said.

“Oh!” the workers exclaimed in unison and exchanged a look. It was clear that this was not going to be one of the usual ‘a friend of a friend had a girlfriend from Ukraine’ moments.

“Which part of Ukraine?” one of the men asked.

“I’m from Kharkiv,” I said.

“Oh!” the workers exchanged another look. “That’s Eastern Ukraine, right? Are you here because of the war?”

“No, no, ” I said. “I’ve been here for a while.”

“Still,” one of the workers said. “We are very, very glad to have you here.”

“Yes,” his colleague confirmed with conviction. “It’s great that you are here!”

The three of us stared at each other with moist, solemn eyes.

From Europe’s Angry Muslims:

Where Muslim identity was most widely tolerated or embraced, in Britain, Muslims felt most alienated! Where Muslim identification was viewed negatively, as in France, there actually was less conflict.

And there’s more:

It would seem that there is actually less conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims in the European country least tolerant of Muslim identification, than in highly tolerant multiculturalist Britain.

Just in case some of you are unaware of BookBub, I’m going to recommend this great service.

BookBub sends you recommendations for e-books in your areas of interest that you can get either for free or at an enormous discount. Many of us don’t have the time to sift through discounted offerings on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. BookBub serves that purpose beautifully.

Here is the link to this great service.

I understand that it’s hard to be profound when tweeting, but does one have to be especially stupid?

After the deluge of articles, posts, comments, etc. that literally ripped Catholicism apart just in this century, I think one should not be making a fool out of oneself by claiming that nobody ever criticizes any faith but Islam.

I seem to remember that Catholics are about to celebrate their Easter (or are celebrating it now), so happy Easter, folks!

Let’s also recognize that the Jews (who are celebrating their Pesach around now) can give Muslims a huge run for their money in any competition of “Who Bellyaches About Their Religion and Its Fundamentalists the Most”. So happy Pesach, folks!

I picked up a recent issue of Times at the newsstand because there was a long article on Cuba. The piece went on and on forever, managing to say absolutely nothing while allowing the author to make some money by exploiting a theme everybody but him is interested in.

The article provided the tired old canard of a stat about Cuba’s 98% literacy rate. It always mystifies me why not a single person who joyously trots out this figure ever stops to think about its provenance. Who provided the figure? The Cuban government? The same Cuban government that is desperate to find some shred of proof that the Revolution was not a giant failure?

I remember how during the perestroika happy Western tourists started descending on the USSR.

“But why do you keep saying there are shortages of food?” they would ask with scary sincerity. “We are being offered really fantastic meals at the hotel.”

The idea that the Soviet government might not be feeding regular citizens in the same way it was catering to the tourists that it wanted to impress never occurred to them.

I’m now seeing the same thing happen in Cuba. Chirpy Westerners stay at expensive hotels, eat and drink just like they do back home, and then post gushy accounts on Facebook of how Cuba’s poverty was all nasty propaganda because there are like, totally luxurious resorts all over the island.

I don’t subscribe to the school of criticism that values authorial intention above all. The way a work of art impacts me is of a greater interest than what the author might have wanted. And this stone pleases me.

Here are also some spring flowers:

Not as patriotic as the stone but still pretty.