[NOTE: An exchange I had with commenter “Cornflour” on the Robert Conquest thread (here and here) reminded me of a previous post from about two years ago, one that I think it appropriate and interesting to revisit with some added … Continue reading →
First, a disclaimer: I have not read T-Nehisi Coates’ new book entitled Between the World and Me. I’ve only read summaries or reviews of it, although I’m familiar with his thought from reading many of his articles for The Atlantic … Continue reading →
Let’s take a look at some beauty. This is a video of company class at one of the best ballet companies in the world, Britain’s Royal Ballet. “Company class” means it’s a class that’s taken by the company members, who … Continue reading →
I’m not a Whitman fan (no, that’s not one of the interesting facts), although I like some of his poems. But looking at his Wiki entry I noticed the following items, which somehow seemed worth mentioning: When Whitman was 6 … Continue reading →
You may think I’ve gone stark raving mad. What could Van Rothbart, the evil magician in the ballet “Swan Lake,” have to do with the Iran deal? Answer: not all that much. But in the wake of the Iran deal … Continue reading →
Aleister at Legal Insurrection reports on a campaign to eliminate the words “husband” and “wife” from federal statutes: More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation that would eliminate the words “husband” and “wife” from federal law. Those “gendered terms” … Continue reading →
I’ve written about the ballet “Etudes” before, but now I want to hone in on one of my very favorite parts of it, the mazurka, in particular one of the male solos. “Etudes” is a ballet choreographed in 1948 by … Continue reading →
For the Fourth of July, courtesy commenter “mezzrow”: I saw that film on TV maybe 30 times when I was a child. Loved it, and in particular loved the idea that James Cagney—whom I already knew as a tough old … Continue reading →
Here’s the latest example of the tedious, ignorant, offensive and yet often-effective mindset of the left. Actor George Takei, a gay man who recently married his longtime partner, and who played Sulu on the original Star Trek, has said some … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Recently I came across an old post of mine on Orwell and decided to repeat it in edited form, because I think it’s still interesting and timely. So here it is.] Commenter “Nick” wrote this about Orwell and Animal … Continue reading →
Several times before I’ve posted excerpts from Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor,” part of the book The Brothers Karamazov. Unfortunately, the passages seem to always bear repeating, now more than ever. So here it is again, a slightly longer quote. The … Continue reading →
A dissent has no power except the power of its words and its logic—that is, it has no legal power. So Scalia’s dissent in King v. Burwell (joined by Alito and Thomas) is satisfying only in the rhetorical and intellectual … Continue reading →