Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
You can consider The Power of the Dog an arthouse western with a star in the lead role and recognizable actors in the supporting cast. It’s a character study more than an epic. Unforgiven, on the other hand, is a blockbuster western with a rich, dark underbelly. Later this month, Jane Campion’s disturbing The Power… Continue reading The Power of the Dog is all the rage, but Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven remains the undisputed anti-western masterpiece
The world has no shortage of horrors, once you expand your lens beyond Western Europe. Horrors and humanitarian crises caused by repressive, authoritarian regimes are the norm in fact, not the exception. We should do what we can, but we can’t save everyone. Europe is supposed to be different. These things don’t happen in the… Continue reading Ukraine: Don’t let Eurocentrism or even outright racism dictate our response
It’s an intentionally provocative question, but one that should be asked in a world when there are no good or guaranteed options to prevent bad actors like Vladimir Putin from invading neighboring countries, committing war crimes, causing untold bloodshed, and disrupting the entire globe. If we could go back in time, what would you do… Continue reading Is it time to reconsider the US ban on assassinations?
We are hesitant to target Russia’s oil industry or to eject all Russian banks from international transactions for fear of negative global impacts, and yet we’re implementing policies and considering others that could result in downing Russian planes and starting a war directly with Russia, which would be the worst global impact imaginable. On Tuesday,… Continue reading To fly or not to fly, that is the ridiculously dangerous question the world is asking when it comes to Russia
It took close to 350 years for mathematics and philosophy to catch up with the ideas about the human mind explored in Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. From computer science to the study of language, the opacity of other minds remains at the forefront of our understanding of each other and at the center of Iago’s scheming… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Othello, the Turing Test for Artificial Intelligence, and the indeterminacy of radical translation
The announcement that there will be elves, dwarves, and other species of color prompts Tolkien purists to claim Amazon Studios is destroying the franchise, which of course prompts accusations of racism and bigotry from the usual suspects. Of course, few bother to consider that elves and dwarves aren’t real and aren’t human at all… Last… Continue reading Amazon’s woke take on Tolkien provokes another racial controversy
Europe hasn’t seen a war like this in over 80 years, but so far the response from the United States and the rest of the world has lacked any coherent strategy as we impose sanctions for the sake of sanctions and search for a “free lunch” approach that both maximizes and minimizes economic pain. In… Continue reading Ukraine: Our response to the Russian invasion is incoherent and confused, but the bravery of the Ukrainian people themselves could be the deciding factor
Check out our recent independent horror short available on YouTube. A Work of Art is a surreal, experimental ghost story about haunted men and their hard-partying alter egos that qualified as a Finalist in the 2021 version of the 100 Hour Film Race contest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIWO9ktQdak A Work of Art is a surreal, experimental ghost story… Continue reading A Work of Art (Indy Horror Short)
The scientific establishment positions itself as an objective authority that demands our trust, but their actions over the course of the past two decades certainly don’t suggest they are worthy of it. From an old scandal in climate science to a new one concerning the pandemic, they hide the data that doesn’t support their conclusions… Continue reading From “hide the decline” to hide the coronavirus data
The establishment is obsessed with meaningless words and “constructive dialogue,” but all Vladimir Putin cares about is power. We’ve wasted decades talking about containing Russian aggression while increasing Russian power by granting them access to European energy markets. Words will not change this dynamic, only the application of power in the form of US energy… Continue reading Ukraine reveals the sad impotency of the international establishment
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 