Tag Archives: politics

“Our prevailing passions are ambition and interest. Wise government should avail itself of those passions, to make them subservient to the public good.” — Alexander Hamilton

Posted on January 11, 2026 by sheila

It’s Alexander Hamilton’s birthday … or thereabouts. The year is in question (he often lied about his age), but January 11 is generally agreed-upon as the day he came into this fallen world. “Give all power to the many, they … Continue reading →

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2025 Books Read

Posted on December 30, 2025 by sheila

I ended last year with a flurry of Oscar Wilde’s short stories, declaring I’d read all the plays in 2025. I mean, there were only five, sadly, due to the homophobic violence of his own society. I know these plays … Continue reading →

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“I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.” — Rebecca West

Posted on December 21, 2025 by sheila

It’s her birthday today. It is hard to talk about her without referencing the generations of writers she inspired, all of whom admit their debt. Robert Kaplan is the most open about it (in Balkan Ghosts, which launched his career, … Continue reading →

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“People who are wise, good, smart, skillful, or hardworking don’t need politics, they have jobs.” — P.J. O’Rourke

Posted on November 14, 2025 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. P.J. O’Rourke’s sentences were masterpieces. Airtight. For example: “Wherever there’s injustice, oppression, and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it’s happening.” Or: “Sloths move at the speed … Continue reading →

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“A mind which really lays hold of a subject is not easily detached from it.” — journalist Ida Tarbell

Posted on November 5, 2025 by sheila

It’s a good day to think about unchecked power. Power needs people out there to check it. It’s a good day to acknowledge that the world – its money and resources – is dominated by a multi-national cadre of fat … Continue reading →

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Today, the Sheila Variations turns 23.

Posted on October 18, 2025 by sheila

I don’t even know what to say. And now I will proceed to say some shit. The above pic of me – taken by Michael – graced the top of my original blog, when I set it up 23 years … Continue reading →

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“Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas. Do it now. Pure Gonzo journalism.” — Hunter S. Thompson

Posted on July 18, 2025 by sheila

One of my favorite writers of all time. It’s his birthday today. Here he is on his favorite meal of the day: “I like to eat breakfast alone, and almost never before noon; anybody with a terminally jangled lifestyle needs … Continue reading →

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“The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.” –Robert Conquest

Posted on July 15, 2025 by sheila

“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading →

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“When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson

Posted on July 9, 2025 by sheila

Dorothy Thompson, 1939: testifying in Congress to repeal the Neutrality Act. “They are holding every Jew in Germany as a hostage. Therefore, we who are not Jews must speak, speak our sorrow and indignation and disgust in so many voices … Continue reading →

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“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell

Posted on June 25, 2025 by sheila

Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens wrote specifically about the quote from Orwell shown in the title above. Very few people can “face unpleasant facts”. Hitchens: A commissar who … Continue reading →

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