History as Observation

History is not so much the faithful recording of observed facts as it is an interview by the individual with his own memory.  Everything else is hearsay.  We can only know one’s own history, and even then, it is much more how one felt about that history than it is about what objective things were true.

Liars II

You cannot take an outlier, then call it an unusual pattern. What is unusual is the outlier, and no pattern has been established.  People love to cite a patch of unusual weather, then treat it as though it were going to be the norm from here on out, then concoct seemingly plausible explanations for the unusual-turned-usual.

Total War

North Korea is the latest nominee for total war, ie. instant annihilation, from the sabre-rattlers.  Pepe, the frog, points out that we are letting Kim’s regime collapse of its own weight, just as we mistakenly did with Hitler.