Carl Scott

This is going to be an odd essay. The argument, in a nut-shell, is that those officially charged with being our youth leaders, whether by religious groups or schools, as well as those who unofficially are youth leaders, simply by being youths themselves that their peers might follow if invited and . . . . Continue Reading »

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 , the English translation of an authoritative history of the “Great Leap Forward” famine by Jisheng Yang, is now out.  An estimated 36 million died in what was probably the worst famine in human history, one that was primarily due not . . . . Continue Reading »

Excepting of course, The Book. I ask this question jumping off of Paul’ comment in the thread below. I’ve always been a doubt-bedeviled Christian, and whereas when I was younger it was the multiple issues raised by predestination and hell that caused me the most concern, the older I get . . . . Continue Reading »

Whit Stillman fans know that his first three films are a loosely connected trilogy of sorts, with THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO being the film that ties them together by means of our meeting key characters from the other two in its Club. How then, does his recent DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, a rather stranger . . . . Continue Reading »

. . . one can change human institutions, but not man; whatever the general effort of a society to render citizens equal and alike, the particular pride of individuals will always seek to escape the [common] level . . . In aristocracies, men are separated from one another by high, immovable . . . . Continue Reading »

I wore black today. Black suit, black tie, and a black shroud over the Romney-Ryan sign in my yard. No, I do not think, contrary to countless heartfelt comments one sees on the conservative blogs today, that the republic died today. But make no mistake: something did die today. Obama voters, you . . . . Continue Reading »

A strange and sullen silence fell over half the population . . . Eye contact on the street became difficult. Analysis! Analysis? Yes, but the talking began, and the spirit . . . drifted . . . . . . . Continue Reading »

Me, our pesky “Petes” got me Nervous Man Nervous . . . . . Continue Reading »

This and the next will be the last songbook posts on pop-music movies for a while. Despite my doing five(!) posts on ALMOST FAMOUS , two on the SCHOOL OF ROCK, and an epic one on THE DOORS, I do think that among my list of pop-music films , THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO is the standout in terms of sheer . . . . Continue Reading »

Exemplified by this local news Colorado interview with President Obama . Real questions, with a bias towards tough questions. And, our president handles them well enough, even if noticeably displeased. Legacy media, would it have been so hard? Four years? Oh, boo-hoo, the White House press . . . . Continue Reading »