Some 4th of July Humor

by Adam Omelianchuk

How to have the perfect 4th of July . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0

First Links - 07.01.11

by Joe Carter

Zimbabwe’s “Surprising” AIDS Success , The Catholic Thing (Matthew Hanley) Islam Will Find Its Own Way to Freedom , Public Discourse (Mustafa Akyol) Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as Near Collapse , New York Times (Jim Dwyer, William K. Rashbaum, and John Eligon) US Gen David Petraeus . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0

Carl’s Rock Songbook #9, Marilynne Robinson, “I Miss Civilization”

by Carl Scott

Marilynne Robinson is not Rock, and this is not a song. Rather, it is simply a three-word sentence dropped by the acclaimed novelist last fall, when I heard her speak at Skidmore College. But the following was initially provoked by another writer, Bill Kaufmann. Kaufmann is a hard one to . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0

Gay “Marriage,” Civil Rights, Power, and Principle

by Tom Gilson

Even a democracy can undermine freedom and foster the unethical rule of power. America’s founders saw this, and placed in our Constitution a Bill of Rights to preserve civil rights and protect us all from the tyranny of the majority. Gay “marriage” is often regarded as a civil . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0

Super 8: A Family Movie

by Peter Lawler

1. And a movie the Porchers can almost believe in. 2. It’s a movie that’s parts of lots and lots of movies about home, friendship, family, and ETs who just want to go home. It could easily be understood as Abrams’ suck up to Spielberg. But there is, after all, a good side to . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0

Abortion, Mara Hvistendahl, and the Whitman Inconsistency Fallacy

by Joe Carter

In his celebrated poem Leaves of Grass , Walt Whitman considers a potential accusation against himself and shrugs it off with a quip: Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; (I am large—I contain multitudes.) Whitman was a poet rather than a logician so we find it . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jul 2011 0