The Scholar's Stage

Closing Down the Shop

2011-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

This will be my last post for the Scholar's Stage. Or at least, the last post for quite some time. I started this blog more than three years ago. At the time it had a paltry readership, limited to a few close friends I badgered into reading my material. At the present time the Stage receives thousands of hits every month from readers across the world. I believe that the growing readership of

Collapse of America's National Security, or Collapse of the American Family?

2011-01-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week a story dropped into my inbox that was ideally suited for meeting the Stage's stated mission to investigate "intersection of governance, ecology, demographics, culture, history, and security": APNewsBreak: Nearly 1 in 4 Fails Military Exam Christine Armario and Dorie Turner. Associated Press. 21 December 2010.Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the U.S. Army fail

On Survivalism

2010-12-31T19:12:00.000-08:00

I recently read a book by survivalist blogger James Wesley Rawles, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. This reading has prompted a few thoughts on the aims and validity of the survivalist movement that may be of interest to readers of the Stage. The raison d'etre of survivalism is a subject much discussed on this blog: the proper balance between between resilience and efficiency.

The Most Popular Posts of 2010

2010-12-31T16:57:00.000-08:00

According to Google Analytics, this year the ten most popular posts on the Stage were: 1. Naxalism: A Short Introduction to India's Scariest Security Threat 2. Notes on the Dynamics of Human Civilization: The Growth Revolution, Part I 3. America's Greatest Challenge - and Danger 4. Cases in Plutarchy? The U.S. Senate by Graduating Institution 5. Did a North Korean Sub Sink the ROKS Cheonan

Playing Around With Google Ngram

2010-12-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

Google Labs has released a cool new tool: Google Ngram Viewer. CNET News explains how it works: Google's Ngram Viewer: A time machine for wordplay Lancey Whitney. CNET News. 17 December 2010. Courtesy of the folks at Google Labs, Ngram Viewer can work its analysis as a result of Google's sometimes contentious digitization of vast quantities of books--more than 15 million since the project

Notes From All Over (13/12/2010) and Assorted Miscellany

2010-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

I normally devote Notes From All Over posts to off-site material worth reading. This post shall be slightly different. As my computer access is is at the moment limited I shall use this post to relate a few short thoughts on the issues of the day that would have otherwise have been published in separate posts, and shall place a few of the more notable 'Notes' at the end. 1. Wikileaks is the

Out For a Bit

2010-12-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

A rather nasty virus has taken my primary computer out of action. Blogging will be sparse until it is back up and running.

Graphic of the Day: "Reducing" Foreign Aid

2010-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Using data from a recent World Public Opinion survey, Ezra Kleen crafts the following graphic:

Historical Smack-down

2010-12-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

Last month Zenpundit brought to my attention an interesting debate between military historian Lt. Col. Robert Bateman and classicist Victor Davis Hanson. The topic up for debate was Carnage and Culture, the magnum opus of Mr. Hanson's career. For those unfamiliar with the work, the thesis of Carnage and Culture is stated eloquently on its fifth page: "for the past 2,500 years…there has been a

A Dark Cloud Over Europe

2010-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Read this: Ireland's Debt Servitude Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. The Telegraph. 30 November 2010. Having done so, please watch this: My comment: It has become increasingly clear that the fate of the Euro project will be decided in the next few months. Even the Union's strongest defenders (much less its elected and appointed officials!) admit that if the current crisis is not quickly

A Question for the Conservative

2010-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Consider the following: Social norms are customary rules of behavior that coordinate our interactions with others.1.A Culture is ultimately a social phenomena; the phrase “cultural norms” should be regarded as synonymous with “social norms.” Social norms influence all interpersonal decisions an individual may make.2.A. By extension, social norms are the basis of the moral, ethical, or cultural

Crony Capitalism and Stagnation, Connecting the Dots

2010-11-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Ashwin Parameswaran has an excellent piece up over at Macroeconomic Resilience on the intersection of economic innovation and technological progress, crony capitalism, complex system dynamics, and unemployment. To quote from the post's conclusion: The Cause and Impact of Crony Capitalism: the Great Stagnation and the Great RecessionAshwin Parameswaran. Macroeconomic Resilience. 24 November

Straight Talk on the TSA, Paragon of the Creeping Security State

2010-11-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the last week the Transportation Security Administration's new airport security measures have generated a great deal of public outcry and controversy. This bout of public dissatisfaction provides a rare opportunity that should not be wasted. For the first time in nine years Americans are seriously questioning at least one part of the vast security state that has been built up

How to Take Over A Mexican Border Town

2010-11-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Last week I brought to the attention of my readers the alarming tale of Ciudad Mier, the border town whose entire populace fled their homes as refugees. Narco refugees being one of the most disturbing developments in Mexico's war against the cartels, I thought it best to investigate the events leading up to Ciudad Mier's evacuation more thoroughly. The story is not pretty: Ciudad Mier residents

Foreigners Grade Obama's India Trip

2010-11-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

A few links: 1. The foreign affairs bloggers of the Takshashila Institution (formerly "the Indian National Interest") decided "grade" President Obama's recent trip to India. This was the result: 2. This seems to reflect the general opinion of the broader Indian public. I infer this from the shifting statements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India's main opposition party. Shortly after

So Begins the Narco Refugees

2010-11-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

Via security analyst Sylvia Longmire's excellent blog Mexico's Drug War: Border Violence Analysis comes one of the most unsettling news stories of 2010: Ciudad Mier evacuates after Zetas threaten to kill residentsThe Monitor. 9 November 2010. CIUDAD MIER, Tamps. — Hundreds of families have fled this Pueblo Magico amid reported death threats from drug cartel thugs. About 300 people are seeking

Jai Hind

2010-11-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

"Jai Hind!" So said the President of the United States this week in an address to a joint session of the Rajya Sahba and Lok Sahba. It is about time. I have criticized the Obama Administration in the past for episodes of diplomatic ineptitude and cultural insensitivity. President Obama's stay in India does not qualify for either dishonor. To the contrary, the President's trip has (so far) been

Perspective

2010-11-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Kai Krause comes this map and associated information: Africa's True Size Tip of the Hat to Razib Khan at Gene Expression.

Notes From All Over 2/11/2010

2010-11-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit - abridged addition this time around. DEMOGRAPHICS The Wheel of History Turns to The Gods Razib Khan. Gene Expression. 10 October 2010. An extremely important survey of global demographic trends over the next forty years.The post focuses on the difference between the birth rates of religious and secular sections of the world's population

Rare Earth Geopolitics - A Quick Note

2010-10-31T23:36:00.000-07:00