Maybe not: It’s commonly said among English writers that a haiku is a syllabic poem with lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. This is not, in fact, true, and thinking through why it is not raises some interesting questions about language and poem forms. . . . . Continue Reading »
I worked my way through law school selling appliances and televisions for JC Penney. I did quite well, to the point that I actually took a small cut in pay when I accepted my first job as a lawyer. During that time, I came to understand that over the long haul, good salesmanship depends on . . . . Continue Reading »
The languid month has run its course, and I’ve pretty much run out of worthwhile aphorisms. Maybe I ran out awhile ago. In any event, I have a final bon mot that Russ Saltzman sent me a couple of weeks ago. Never become so cynical as to believe that things can’t get worse. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Washington Post has been corrected on its political-incorrectness. Here’s a letter to the editor by Genevieve D. Sapir: On behalf of the salvage industry, I object to your use of the term “junkyard” [” Clunker Parts’ Crossroad: Useful Spare or Gritty End ,” . . . . Continue Reading »
Conservative anxieties about embracing and entering culture—by which we mostly mean Hollywood—seem to have subsided in recent years. Emboldened by film successes like The Passion of the Christ, conservatives seem to be waking up to the possibility of a Tinsletown that is more amenable to . . . . Continue Reading »
Charles Kesler has recently provided another of his brilliant and bracing synopses of the American political scene , with a view to summoning conservatives to “another epic struggle, a battle for America’s soul, a battle that will determine whether free government will survive.” I am . . . . Continue Reading »
The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) recently made available an address Fr. Richard John Neuhaus first delivered in 1995 . In reflecting on the role of IRD, Fr. Neuhaus provides some particularly intriguing and provocative thoughts on the role of religion in America: If you go back and . . . . Continue Reading »
Philosopher Roger Scruton laments the reductionism that often accompanies new developments in neuroscience: I read this stuff with mounting scepticism, especially now, when the overblown celebrations of Darwin’s anniversary have begun to stick in the throat. I am reminded of the street . . . . Continue Reading »
My pal and co-author of Power Over Pain, Dr. Eric Chevlen, has a very interesting piece in the On The Square feature here at First Things. Eric is a deep thinker and a man of tremendous integrity, intellectual as well as personal. He writes at length here—there is a reason they . . . . Continue Reading »
We are creating a world of “outsourced ethics” (to quote my pal William Hurlbut), in which the rich West engages in or winks at corrupt or unethical behavior in poor countries toward the end of exploiting human bodies—living and dead—for profit. Examples discussed . . . . Continue Reading »
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