thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb The French are doing our schools’ “zero tolerance” policies one better: French pupils face jail for insulting teachers. Apparently they mean it. The cabinet has already allocated $5 billion for hiring specialized judges and constructing detention centers.
Why can’t something more informal and gentle than the slammer keep young people in order? The old … More ...
It’s interesting that The New York Times gave a reasonably straight account of Michael Rose’s book that blames a decline in religious devotion among American Catholics on the anti-transcendence of recent church architecture. Rose is, of course, the author of Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption Into the Catholic Church, which blames unorthodox, … More ...
What’s going on here? Gang membership spirals among under-16s in England. The Guardian—possibly acting in its role of Platonic guardian, noble lies and all—apparently doesn’t want to tell the whole story. It’s a problem, they say, of big cities, schools, and “gun violence,” which apparently is an active principle like the drug trade. It … More ...
The crypt has opened, and CDAW once more stalks the land! As most VFR readers know, the treaty passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the beginning of the summer and may be voted upon by the full Senate at any time. Since we’ve discussed it before we won’t repeat how bad it … More ...
In a way, there’s nothing surprising about this: Target Yanks ‘Neo-Nazi’ Clothing Off Shelves. If I were a retailer I wouldn’t want to sell things with coded Nazi slogans on them either. Still, the story has some oddities:
The habit of assigning homosexuals to cover “gay issues,” not to mention PC and inclusiveness ideology in general, means this sort of thing doesn’t get covered in the mainstream press: Signature Gatherers for Marriage Continue to be Illegally Harassed. Apparently, “gay rights” groups have been training activists to harass their opponents. In the absence … More ...
Since medicine is just another business, why should the arts be different? Here’s a speech by the director of the Barbican Centre that goes into his various woes and misgivings. It’s not a great speech, and rather long, but it’s worth reading for the picture it gives of the situation in one Western society of … More ...
As a lawyer I know one can always come up with a form of words to justify anything at all. Still, it’s disconcerting to be outdone at our own game by the people responsible for training doctors: Medical School Leadership Urges Race-Based Consideration. Do look at the arguments and ask yourself whether you want … More ...
I suppose as a good citizen I should consider it a triumph that A Record 1 Million Gained U.S. Residency Last Year. Life in America is basically a party, and the more show up the merrier. Also, all those families got reunited, and if those who come leave other relatives behind, well, maybe something … More ...
What do recent declines in crime rates show about prophecies of doom heard on rightwing outlets like VFR? It’s not altogether clear. For reasons to think they don’t show there’s been a real turnaround, see Murder in America, which suggests the declines have been mostly due to underreporting, more efficient private protective services, and … More ...