More from the neo-curmudgeon. I’ve noticed a recent proliferation of unisex bathrooms. I’m not talking about the understandable kind—in a tiny restaurant, for example, where there’s only room for one bathroom. Or in airplanes. Or in the home, where I’ve … Continue reading →
The reaction of no small number of pundits on the Left to the Polanski case is to recommend that we let bygones be bygones. After all, he’s a famous artist, has lived a long life, the offense occurred ages ago, … Continue reading →
Watch this; it’s spooky-scary. Obama’s fixed smile is described thusly (the nearly-fixed head position, which in my opinon is even more revealing, is not specifically mentioned): Ladies and gentlemen, your President is a robot. Or a wax sculpture. Maybe a … Continue reading →
Our lives can be divided into stages according to our relationship to stuff. In the early years, stuff is temporary, ever-changing. We have clothing, but we can’t keep it for long, because we’re always outgrowing it. Likewise, toys and books. … Continue reading →
This year is an especially poignant year to remember 9/11. Each year I write something about 9/11—or reprint something—on the anniversary of this terrible event. Here’s an excerpt from one of my previous posts, updated to reflect the passage of … Continue reading →
Perhaps many of you have heard of writer Raymond Aron before, but I hadn’t until I picked up a collection of essays by Roger Kimball published in 2002 and entitled Lives of the Mind. Aron was the author of a … Continue reading →
By now you have probably read the remarkable story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, a twenty-nine-year-old woman who was kidnapped eighteen years ago by a couple named Phillip and Nancy Garrido. Jaycee was eleven at the time, and has been held … Continue reading →
There was a discussion in the comments section here a while back about just what type of tyrant Obama might end up being. Commenter “huxley” wrote: Stalin and Hitler were aware of how people approved of them, but no more … Continue reading →
We keep hearing that Sotomayor has a compelling life story. And no doubt she does. I happen to think that most people on earth have compelling life stories. Granted, some are a lot more dramatic than others, and contain elements … Continue reading →
Some time ago I took note of the following offering in a comment thread. It’s a Talmudic saying that goes like this: The truth is a heavy burden; only a few can carry it. Yes, indeed. When I did a … Continue reading →
Mark Sanford is the latest politician confessing to cheating on his wife. You might say it goes with the territory. Politicians tend to be egotistical and aggressive. They also encounter a great deal of opportunity to stray; as Henry Kissinger … Continue reading →
Yesterday I found myself in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the extraordinarily beautiful Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Mt. Auburn is one of the first “garden” cemeteries in the United States. It was begun in 1831 and designed mostly by Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn, … Continue reading →