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In Europe they believe that everything can be administered, but even so some bugs have to be worked out. The abolition of the family is proceeding nicely, with parental authority giving way to that of the state (no spanking!) and marriage becoming equivalent to a temporary partnership between any two persons for whatever … More ...

More career news: I know very little about the new dean of the U Cal medical School, David Kessler, but this account of his career is persuasive enough to be worth some thought. The account presents a man who has made a career out of pose-striking, political grandstanding, and general self-promotion. As FDA Commissioner he … More ...

How to make a career: find a market that isn’t being served, put together a product line that might meet the demand, and roll out the offering as dramatically as possible. That’s what Tony Campolo seems to be doing. Campolo, an evangelical, sociologist and liberal, is best known publicly as one of the clerical props … More ...

The suicide of Europe gathers speed: the Convention on the Future of Europe has reached agreement yesterday on a written constitution for the EU. The proposed text provides for

• EU competence in “all areas of foreign policy, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy.”
• Pre-emption of national legislation in agriculture, justice, energy,

Liberalism proposes to make social life rational and equal. To that end, everything habitual, irregular, particular and opaque to liberal reason must be done away with as bigoted and oppressive. The things to be abolished include family life in any traditional sense, with its associated habits, attitudes and institutions, and ethnic distinctions, with the particular … More ...

A friend suggests similarities between Jaysongate at the New York Times and the pederasty scandals in the Catholic Church:

The Times first simply ignored the offenses of a journalist that touched the core of his profession. When the senior executives were forced to confront the situation, they believed Blair had been cured and then merely

Why is “McCarthyism” such a dirty word, when no-one seems to know exactly why, and there really were commies under every bed? Communist influence was real and dangerous, and a “witch hunt” may not be so bad when there are real witches. So one moral of the story is that it’s always good … More ...

Notes from the religion beat of the newspapers of the New York Times Company:

• The Southern Baptists have traditionally emphasized congregational autonomy, and so oppose credal formulas. They recently decided for the first time to require all overseas workers to sign a lengthy statement of faith. A few of the 5,500 workers didn’t want

The British government wants to give a man who shot a burglar a longer stay in jail because he poses a threat to the public—that part of the public that happens to be engaged in burglary. Government lawyers say burglars ‘need protection’. So as to the government, a burglar is someone who can be … More ...

Opponents of the new transnational order have taken heart from its inevitable gross corruption. The UN, the EU, the Clinton White House and similar institutions reject all reliable principles of human loyalty. As a result, officials don’t have any reason to sacrifice their own interests to the public good, and projects of social reconstruction suffer—or … More ...