thoughts in and out of season
A friend telephoned me yesterday to ask “What is the African Aid thing all about?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, it’s all over everything. You wouldn’t know, of course, but even children in infant schools are saying that African debt ought to be cancelled, when they know nothing about it. The mass media … More ...
It is certainly distressing. A friend of mine narrowly missed being caught in one of the blasts.
Nevertheless, it is also very strange. Something about it just doesn’t add up. All the time Mesopotamia was being bombed into submission, not so much as a firecracker went off in London. Surely both strategy and psychology would … More ...
First, Mr. Kalb, I’ve enjoyed reading many of your essays, and found them interesting and educational. Thanks for your writing.
Here’s an idea I had, which I haven’t ever seen suggested (hmmm maybe there’s a reason for that…): an amendment to the Constitution along the lines of “Tradition, morality, religion, and the family (etc) are … More ...
A dark day for Canada; the Liberal government’s “same-sex marriage” legislation [url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/06/28/samesex050628.html?print]passed in the House of Commons[/url], and will doubtless soon be passed in the Senate, and become law…
While I was preparing to give a talk about law, I did a little reading on the philosophy of law. One thing that struck me was what might be called the “external” point of view taken in current thought on the subject.
Here’s a quote from Blackstone:
… More ...This law of nature, being co-eval with mankind
A fascinating story: someone is said to have sprouted a date seed unearthed at Masada, from a date eaten during the siege there almost 2,000 years ago. It appears that 500-year-old seeds had been sprouted in England, and 1200-year old seeds in China, but this would be the first 2,000-year-old seed.
The dates of ancient … More ...
I had run into “moral panic” in British publications, as a term used to debunk traditionalist concerns about various initiatives of the cultural Left, and decided to look it up in Wikipedia:
… More ...A moral panic is a mass movement based on the perception that some individual or group, frequently a minority group or a
My school teaches the poltical spectrum as far left authoritarian, socialist, communist, the far right as fascist & and Capitalist. The middle is democracy.
Well, this seems dumb to me.
I’d say the Left is socialist,goes from Authoritarian to Utilitarian, Vice-oriented, is Dominion-oriented, it ranges from progressive(Communism) to regressive(Nazism) in orientation, it has both elitest … More ...
In an email discussion a Lefty said:
… More ...The religious right believes promiscuity is bad because the Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe doesn’t like it, never has and never will. The left believes it’s good or bad depending on the consequences on this earth, in this lifetime, and those are going to change over
He was an admirable man, but why not leave the judgment of history to the passage of time? Rushing into these things has a bullying quality: Petition Declaring That Pope John Paul II Should By Public Acclamation Be Known Henceforth and Forever As John Paul the Great.