Current Affairs
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(This is a post I've been wanting to write for a week or two. But as I may have mentioned, I've been working a lot of nights and weekends and haven't had much time for writing. So I'm going to go ahead and just say it briefly, which probably covers it just as well anyway.)…
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I have a silly tendency to expect that actors and actresses who play characters I like will be people I would like as well. I know it makes no sense, but it happens all the time–all right, I admit it's worse when the person is a beautiful woman–and it was the case with Reese Witherspoon…
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In Boston Bombings, Muslims Hold Their Breath. It's not unreasonable to consider it a strong possibility that the bomber is a radical Muslim. It's not only unreasonable, or rather abysmally stupid, but just plain wicked to start howling for Muslim blood. Things like this make you realize what a nightmare a pure and instantaneous democracy…
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I can't pretend that I'm qualified to judge Margaret Thatcher's political career. I've never paid extremely close attention to politics, and almost none to British politics (though I've gotten more interested in recent years). I was aware in the 1980s that she was considered more or less the British Reagan, which I thought was probably…
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Might the British government at long last create a Ministry of Silly Walks? Thought it's still a very long way off, this story certainly raises the hope that the, um, first step has been taken: Speaking earlier this week, the acting deputy general secretary of the [Association of Teachers and Lecturers], Martin Johnson, said: "There's…
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You remember her, right? The author of Against Autonomy: Justifiying Coercive Paternalism? Here she is again, making her case in the New York Times apropos the almost-universally-scoffed-at ban on 64-ounce “sodas” (sorry, the term is still a little foreign to me). I continue to be astounded by her serene confidence that social science and government–armed…
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A pro-gay-marriage comment on a news story: We ARE all equal.That cannot be argued. If you are arguing it, you are inferior, and don’t deserve equality for yourself. and they say conservatives are illogical. I laughed, but it’s not at all funny to consider where this train of thought will carry those who insist on…
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Maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention, or maybe I've forgotten, but I don't remember there being quite so much fuss at Benedict's election. I do remember all the leftists who smeared him as an unrepentant Nazi, and of course the progressive Catholics who had always disliked him (to put it mildly), and the…
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So far almost everything I’ve read about Pope Francis has been very encouraging, and there seems to be very good reason to expect very good things from him. However, there is one small storm cloud on my personal horizon, and that of everyone involved in the Anglican Ordinariate. The Anglican bishop of Argentina claims that…
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A Jesuit who takes the name Francis? "thought to be close to Comunione e Liberazione"? "known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice"? "lives in a small apartment, rather than in the palatial bishop's residence?" (Wikipedia) I don't think I even knew his name before today, but sounds very good.
Light On Dark Water 