For perilous times
I realize that compared to many eras of history – even recent history, such as the 30s and 40s – it may seem like hyperbole to speak of our times right now as perilous. Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s an … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Getting philosophical: life, love, the universe
People are afraid – and rightly so
Ever since I’ve been blogging, I’ve periodically received emails from people in academia about their fear of disagreeing with the herd of leftists. In the past few years it’s gotten even worse in academia, as well as the entertainment world … Continue reading →
Will the truth make itself “known in deeds” – and will it happen in time to prevent disaster?
Roger Scruton wrote the following in 2006, almost a decade and a half ago. The subject matter is immigration, but it’s relevant to a lot more than that particular subject: The destructive effects of liberalism are not usually felt by … Continue reading →
White privilege, white guilt: whites as the new Jews
After I had the idea for the title of this post, I wondered if it had been said before. It has – by Jonah Goldberg back in late 2007 in his book Liberal Fascism. Whatever you think of Goldberg’s stances … Continue reading →
It will be this way from now till the election, and probably beyond
Some time during the Obama administration it occurred to the left that its time had finally come and its patience was about to be fully rewarded. Between the Gramscian march, the “fundamental transformation” Obama was working on, the coming-of-age of … Continue reading →
Steven Pinker tweets something stunningly stupid
I like some of Steven Pinker’s work. His book The Better Angels of Our Nature, for example (which I wrote about here) presents a fascinating thesis that is quite persuasive, although it sounds absurd when you first hear it: that … Continue reading →
Progressives and progress
From commenter “Snow on Pine”: …[The left adheres to] the idea that, as our knowledge and capabilities have grown, our human nature has also changed–evolved–and that over the last 250 or so years our basic human nature has undergone some … Continue reading →
Matt Taibbi is alarmed at the Democrats’ trampling on liberty, but he doesn’t quite get it
Taibbi’s only halfway to getting it. But it’s the second half of the mountain, the part he hasn’t climbed yet, that’s the steepest and most difficult to traverse. Here’s Taibbi [emphasis mine]: One had to search far and wide to … Continue reading →
More on Flynn. And still more.
I know there’s other news today, too, besides the Flynn case. But it’s the Flynn case that’s on my mind. It seems to me it illustrates the fact that, step by slow step over the last couple of decades (maybe … Continue reading →
Memoir: the whole truth and nothing but?
Memoir is a strange genre of writing. It’s not always good, but when it’s good, it’s very very good. Two examples of which I’m very fond are Nabokov’s magnificently written Speak, Memory and Updike’s remarkable Self-Conciousness. They may not be … Continue reading →
Once more, with feeling: Updike on Kundera
[NOTE: This is a repeat (slightly edited) of a previous post. It seems timely, as I think you’ll see as you read it. Maybe it’s always timely.] I’ve quoted the following excerpt before, because it’s one of my very favorites. … Continue reading →
AGW and COVID and plague: observations on models and interventions
Modeling can analyze data about complex systems and make predictions. But the predictive value of modeling is hampered by the fact that models are only as good as the assumptions and statistics behind them. Models have become ubiquitous in government … Continue reading →