Execupundit.com

Films About Totalitarianism: A Series

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:40:06 +0000

A Hierarchy of Hells

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Writing in Commentary, Irina Velitskaya examines the depravity of Russian aggression in Ukraine and terrorist evil in Gaza. An excerpt:

The point being, of course, that while Russia treats its own soldiers as “cannon meat” and doesn’t particularly care whether they live or die, they don’t deliberately put their own civilians at risk and encourage and facilitate their deaths in hopes of ginning up sympathetic media coverage and wringing tears and donations out of credulous sympathizers in the West.

First Paragraph

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

In May 2025, the internet briefly chose a new, unfortunate main character: Marco Buscaglia, a Chicago-based freelance writer behind a syndicated summer reading list. Though the list was credited to him, he wasn't its principal author. Rather, the list was written by a chatbot.

- From The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence - Before It's Too Late by Cory Doctorow

Films About Totalitarianism: A Series

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Scribbling with Scars

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

[Photo by Nick La Rovere at Unsplash]

I am almost done with the dermatologist diversion [stitches out/freezing to come] and we're having a strange weather condition here in Phoenix known as rain.

In other words, I'm being driven in-doors.

Where the files and the banker's boxes play.

And there's also the issue of writer's sloth.

Yesterday began a detailed review of the draft of my second novel.

Many months ago, I placed it on the shelf in order to complete Pilate's Magician.

My biggest "novel" chore right now involves reacquainting myself with the characters and deciding upon the correct tone.

The first part is easy. The second one is crucial.

And then, unless there is a mega-surprise, the book will go through multiple drafts.

I am more of a re-writer than a writer.

Nicholas Bate has been a major inspiration. The man is truly amazing. If you haven't read any of his novels, I recommend beginning with Pierre Lambert, Detective.

Marco Rubio on Far-Left Terrorism

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 21:58:53 +0000

So Bad It's Good

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

A 1930s Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

If you think that our times are strange, curl up with these books and make some comparisons.

Holy Man/Iranian Gandhi/Man of the Year in 1979

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Giscard d'Estaing admitted years later that President Carter had asked him to take in and protect Ayatollah Khomeini, whom the president described as a "holy man," while the newspaper Le Monde referred to him as the "Iranian Gandhi." Khomeini had been designated Time's "Man of the Year" in 1979, after being able to organize the downfall of his sworn enemy, the Shah of Iran, from his gilded retreat at Neauphle-le-Château. The abandonment of their friend and ally did not bring good fortune to the two Western heads of state.

- From The Suicide of France: The Quiet Revolution That Destroyed a Nation by Éric Zemmour

Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:39:52 +0000

"The first time I walked into a trophy shop, I looked around and thought to myself, 'This guy is good!'"

- Fred Wolf

Films About Totalitarianism: A Series

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:51:23 +0000

An Intellectual Feast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Let's have a Presidential Civic Fitness Program in high schools and expand perspectives.

[Photo by Getty Images for Unsplash+]

Looks Fascinating

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Perspective on The French Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:35:00 +0000

It is ironic that of all countries in Europe, France was the only one that could have had a revolution - not because she groaned under the lash of tyranny, but, on the contrary, because she tolerated and even invited every conceivable dissension and heresy. Restlessness, a passion for novelty and the pursuit of excitement were everywhere in the air. They were the fruits of idleness and leisure, not of poverty.

Paris was a "storm-tossed sea, blown perpetually by contrary winds." When, in 1789, the Revolution finally arrived it was everywhere acclaimed. It was not a single, self-contained or unified uprising, but a succession of revolutions. One after another, various men or parties emerged to seize power. One after another, they were swept away by forces stronger than themselves.

- From Paris in the Terror June 1793 - July 1794 by Stanley Loomis

[Photo by Ty Koh at Unsplash]

The Original Film Version is Best and Don't Forget to Read the Book

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Bastille Day: Go Storm Something

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Modern Question

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:30:00 +0000

"Don't you wish you were free, Lenina?"

"I don't know what you mean. I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody's happy nowadays."

- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Movie or Documentary?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:07:34 +0000

70 Summer Escape Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Get Shorty
Sullivan's Travels
Beverly Hills Cop
Other People's Money
Back to the Beach
His Girl Friday
Moonstruck
Amelie
Galaxy Quest
The Full Monty
The In-Laws (with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk)
My Favorite Year
Napoleon Dynamite
Annie Hall
Some Like It Hot
My Cousin Vinny
Local Hero
Field of Dreams
Clue
A Good Year
Major League
Delicatessen
Topsy-Turvy
The Hospital
Ruthless People
The History Boys
The General (Buster Keaton)
Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton)
Best in Show
It Happened One Night
Network
A Long Way Down
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Young Frankenstein
Pirates of the Caribbean
Dr. Strangelove
Shaun of the Dead
Lost in America
A Hard Day's Night
Tea with Mussolini
Shakespeare in Love
Beetlejuice
Barbershop
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
National Lampoon's Vacation
Love Actually
Tootsie
Trading Places
Cat Ballou
Little Miss Sunshine
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Ghostbusters
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Animal House
Being There
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Rustler's Rhapsody
Airplane!
Office Space
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
A Night at the Opera
Tremors
The Princess Bride
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World
The Ladykillers (with Alec Guinness)
The Naked Gun
The Producers
Groundhog Day
Barcelona (Whit Stillman film)
Caddyshack

[Photo by Ronald Crow at Unsplash]

Being Released in English Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Whoa!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Find Something Beautiful Today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

[The Metropolitan Museum of Art at Unsplash]

Serious Warnings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 01:05:07 +0000

First Paragraph

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 18:56:15 +0000

Snow falling upon water makes a sound so close to silence that no heart exists it cannot calm. It fell across the Chesapeake and in the harbors and inlets and far out to sea, surrendering to the waters with the slightest exhalation and a muffled hiss. Though few are there to see it, in winter this happens often.

- From The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story by Mark Helprin

Teaching Students to Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

I plan on writing about this on Substack but for now will note that in recent years students have appeared to be more apt to level accusations than to argue for a particular side.

The idea that accusation is sufficient is very dangerous. The ability to convince instead of simple intimidation requires the ability to research and reason.

Absent those positive skills, we're at the mercy of smash and grab artists.

Just as a mother and a father are key members of a family, so too is reason a key part of education.

Unfortunately, a great deal of modern education has focused on accusation more than serious analysis.

[Let's call Rudyard Kipling a racist and dismiss anything he ever wrote.]

Healthy debates would be an important way to foster crucial skills.

And here is the simple question that should be frequently asked:

What are the best arguments for the opposing side?