Monsieur Jacques d'Nalgar

Under a rock for the next two years.

Monsieur Jacques d’Nalgar is a working curmudgeon with a cat-killing curiosity in politics, religion, history, and other manifestations of irrational human behavior. He resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a semi-autonomous region of the United States (a waning political experiment on the third planet of a minor solar system in a remote corner of the Milky Way galaxy), with his wife and other assorted wildlife. ... Jacques is a son and grandson of Baptist preachers, missionaries and educators. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where his father was a school headmaster for more than 30 years (and before that, a B-17 navigator in the last months of WW2). He grew up in the Middle East during the turbulent 50s, 60s, and 70s, but left just before Lebanon’s 15-year civil war nightmare began in earnest. Most reputable historians do not associate the onset of that tragic conflict with his departure. He returned for a visit in 1978, three years into the conflict. His right eye still occasionally twitches as a result. ... After colleges in Oklahoma and 16 years working for a company now forever identified with war profiteering and the dark lord Darth Cheney, he moved his family to Hot Springs in 1994. Jacques spends most of his time reading, blogging under a barely-disguised snotty “Freedom Fries” pseudonym, and staring at the sun. He works tirelessly for the OAFS (Obsessive Alliteration-Fondness Syndrome) Foundation, as both its only benefactor and sole beneficiary... Jacques’ political pilgrimage has meandered across much of the regressive-to-progressive continuum. Once a staunch conservative, he found himself suddenly adrift in left field when the rest of the country lurched hard-right after 9-11. He is a frequent critic of our national love affair with wars, rampant nationalism in general, and the resurgent, xenophobic frenzy that masquerades as patriotism ... He once defined his religious confession as Zen Baptist, a burgeoning movement (of one) within the Southern Baptist Convention, seeking to reclaim the mantle of Christian orthodoxy from fevered fundamentalists just itching for Armageddon. When evangelicals embraced the tangerine wankmaggot Trump and rejected Jesus, he abandoned the family faith and warily embraced Episcopalians' peculiar cocktail of ancient traditions and progressive inclusion. Monsieur d’Nalgar may be reached by sending him your questions telepathically, or by sending him money. He prefers the latter.

Most commented posts

  1. Bane of fundamentalism — 10 comments
  2. An obituary — 10 comments
  3. What we should be talking about — 9 comments
  4. Climate change in Arkansas — 8 comments
  5. Some powerfully stupid stuff — 7 comments

Author's posts

We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal

  What ISIS Really Wants By Graeme Wood, March 2015   What is the Islamic State? Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/02/22/we-ought-not-to-underrate-its-emotional-appeal/

May we meet again as happy thieves in Paradise

Testament of Dom Christian de Chergé (opened on Pentecost Sunday, May 26, 1996)   Facing a GOODBYE … If it should happen one day — and it could be today — that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf all the foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/02/21/may-we-meet-again-as-happy-thieves-in-paradise/

You may find yourself left behind

  Visitor from space By Donald Cunningham, February 7, 2015   Recently, our planet had a visitor from outer space, and I don’t mean Klaatu. It was what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has labeled “2004 BL86,” a giant asteroid, passing just 745,000 miles from the Earth. That’s about three times the distance we …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/02/07/you-may-find-yourself-left-behind/

Ana bahibak ya jeddi

A Hasidic Prayer at a Palestinian Conference By Yakir Englander, 01/30/2015 5:59 pm EST   I grew up in Israel, born into an Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish family, convinced that all Arabs desired my destruction, and totally unprepared for any genuine encounter with Muslims. So, my decision to participate in the seventh annual conference of AMP …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/01/31/ana-bahibak-ya-jeddi/

The border between satire and insult

Hook-nosed Jew vs. Mohammed cartoons: What’s the difference? By Shoshana Kordova, Jan. 21, 2015 11:50 AM   You won’t be surprised, in these post-Charlie Hebdo days, to hear that there’s a controversial cartoon going around the Internet. I’m not talking about a French cartoon, but a drawing from 2012 by Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff illustrating …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/01/26/the-border-between-satire-and-insult/

Peaceable revolution

America’s Dumbest Congressman says ‘Selma’ shows why we should fight ‘radical Islam’ By Hunter (Daily Kos staff), Fri Jan 23, 2015 at 09:53 AM PST   One of the ways Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) retains his lock on the title of America’s Dumbest Congressman is sheer persistence. Other candidates may pipe up with occasional entries …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/01/23/peaceable-revolution/

Cui bono

Waving in the first Row By Uri Avnery, 17/01/15   THE THREE Islamic terrorists could have been very proud of themselves, if they had lived to see it. By committing two attacks (quite ordinary ones by Israeli standards) they spread panic throughout France, brought millions of people onto the streets, gathered more than 40 heads …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2015/01/19/cui-bono/