“De gustibus non disputandum est, ” the Romans used to say: Concerning taste, it is not to be argued. But concerning taste—the physical sense, not the aesthetic sentiment—Carolyn Korsmeyer argues that it is not as philosophically inconsequential as once believed : For . . . . Continue Reading »
Taylor Mali —one of the most exciting artists to emerge from the poetry slam movement—produced a brilliant spoken word performance with his “ Totally Like Whatever, You Know? .” Now someone has set it to typography and made it (almost) better. Here is a transcript of the poem . . . . . Continue Reading »
O.k., my fellow law geeks, here is this week’s round up of the blawgosphere’s most interesting posts/articles: Is the Health Insurance Mandate constitutional? Professor Randy Barnett answers this question in the negative , and Professor Jack Balkin answers it in the affirmative . . . . . Continue Reading »
The newest edition of my podcast What It Means to be Human concerns the need to legally protect the consciences of Hippocratic physicians and other health care professionals. As I have stated repeatedly, this is going to be one of the biggest bioethical issues in the coming decade. Here . . . . Continue Reading »
Note: attendance is by invitation. If you would like to attend please send a request to events@firstthings.com Christian and Jewish Song of Songs ExegesisFirst Things is pleased to host a seminar on Christian and Jewish exegesis of the Song of Songs featuring two distinguished scholars:Prof. Shalom . . . . Continue Reading »
I reported a bit ago about the case of Francis Inglis, the mother, who while out on bail for trying to kill her seriously disabled son Tom, went to his hospital room and murdered him. In the UK, as here, such cases often generate “mercy” from the courts. But I predicted she would . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s funny: The more some Obamacare supporters deny that it would lead to health care rationing, the more it is advocated among the bioethics set and in the Medical Intelligentsia. Now, there is an explicit call to deny very early premature babies life-sustaining treatment because of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Joseph Bottum has some interesting thoughts’s about the election in today’s On the Square article. This observation in particular seems to be exactly right: The person who handed Scott Brown his victory? Ted Kennedy. Oh sure, Brown campaigned brilliantly, Martha Coakley campaigned . . . . Continue Reading »
Quick and easy political symbolism is as American as election season itself, so obviously the aspect of Scott Brown’s massively significant win in Massachusetts most in need of dissecting analysis is his truck. The reflex appears to be one of mocking wealthy Republicans for continuing ( . . . . Continue Reading »
What is the deal with Massachusetts electoral returns? If the Boston Globe ’s figures are accurate, last night Coakley won handily in the most populous towns: 62 percent of the vote in the top ten, and 54 percent in the second ten. What’s more, she won in the least populous towns, gaining . . . . Continue Reading »
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