thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb The New York Times refers to a program in North Korea mostly involving compulsory termination of pregnancy as “prison baby killings”. It’s true some of the infants are killed a few seconds after they would have been candidates for death by intact dilation and evacuation—that is, immediately after birth—but the emphasis in the article … More ...
So what does a traditionalist conservative do when he becomes convinced that public life is proceeding on fundamentally bad principles? The usual resources of the extremist are unavailable to him, because traditionalism is adverse to dogmatism, conspiracy theories and cure-alls. On the other hand, he can no longer participate in what passes for the mainstream. … More ...
It’s coming thick and fast: Maryland state board of education proposes treating homosexuality as “cultural group” in multicultural programs, and Nickelodeon to present “issue” program on homosexuality so 8-13 year-olds, with the aid of Rosie O’Donnell and Linda Ellerbe, “can have some information and make up their own minds.” Even an 8-year-old, it seems, is … More ...
In spite of Scientific American’s confirmation of the obvious, that men and women are quite different, the presumption remains that the government should manange the differences out of existence. Witness these stories: “French Politics Finds Little Room for Women” (some male incumbants won’t stand down to make room for women) and Earnings of British … More ...
I just finished Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer. An interesting book in many ways, although rather miscellaneous, and it’s hard to know when he’s telling the truth. One interesting feature: he emphasizes the effect of immigration, national diversity, freedom, and economic opportunity in producing a common American type: decent, orderly, enterprising, prosperous, politically-minded, … More ...
I wonder if he could get the ACLU to help him? Union orders dues donated to ACLU over objection of employee.
Jack Straw may be loathsome, but I do like his theory that the way to solve problems caused by immigration is to deal with their cause, “the huge imbalance in the quality of life and the standard of living between countries in the EU and those some way to the east,” by enlargement of … More ...
Scientific American bites the bullet: in spite of their generally left-wing orientation, they’re chosen Sex Differences in the Brain as a feature article. The article plays it straight summarizing the findings of recent research, even reporting as a possibility Richard Lynn’s suggestion that female IQs are lower.
I’d prefer other topics too, but mainstreaming homosexuality seems to be what’s happening: children’s book features gay boy. The book has a 10-year-old protagonist, and “[w]hile it contains some sex, it is not graphic and is not a dominant theme.” Like I said, mainstreaming—it’s no big deal. In theory a sequel could include a … More ...
Here’s a discussion in the Catholic context of issues related to the distinction between procedural and substantive conservatism: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Liberals and Conservatives.