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Lengthening the Greek Workweek

Since meeting Edward and Robert Skidelsky in Florence at a conference sponsored by the Witherspoon Institute, I’ve been a fan of their work, particularly their defense of leisure against those who seek to redescribe Adam’s curse, the labor of man, as a blessing. That said, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Egypt’s New Constitution

Via The Arabist , I found this primer on the new Egyptian constitution, by one Zaid Al-Ali at Open Democracy . Very thorough, and plausibly seeking to lay out the good news and the bad, from a broadly liberal perspective. The summation: Altogether, in comparison with Egypt’s constitutional . . . . Continue Reading »

I Don’t Have Any Constructive Suggestions,

but does anybody see a Republican endgame in the fiscal cliff negotiations that isn’t about intra-Republican positioning and careerism? John Boehner looks like he is just trying to muddle through and get the best deal from Obama under conditions where Obama is more popular, more trusted and . . . . Continue Reading »

Esoteric Elite Morality

Over the years I’ve come to realize that “relativism” is the wrong way to describe the way in which secular elite culture approaches moral questions. It’s obvious that all things are not permitted, which is why Pope Benedict coined the term “dictatorship of . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

Wesley J. Smith on how Mark O’Brien’s triumph had nothing to do with sex : Mark’s true yearning was not for regular access to sexual release but for full inclusion in a society too often indifferent to the common humanity of its disabled members. Indeed, his personal   calling . . . . Continue Reading »

The Establishment Writer’s Dual Condition

“Only the middle class could act this way toward the middle class, and deem this pandering somehow a forthright and noble condition for an ongoing discussion of justice,” writes the Canadian novelist David Adams Richards in an article on the literary establishment . (My thanks to Tony . . . . Continue Reading »

Grammar Lesson of the Day: Voice

My students have been taught that a verb is in the  passive voice  whenever a form of the verb  to be  appears. They have also been taught that it is never to be used. They are wrong on both counts. I’ll speak about the use of the passive voice later. For . . . . Continue Reading »

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