In theory this Thames Flyer thing is pretty appealing. What red-blooded male doesn’t want the “James Bond” experience of going wicked fast up the Thames while sipping elegantly on expensive champagne? But then, in a lame attempt to justify the ridiculous fee of six hundred pounds . . . . Continue Reading »
Today marks the death of Hildegard von Bingen, one of the greatest women of history. Receiving next to no formal education in her youth, she became a polymath and the author of books on herbal medicine, the natural sciences, theology, and music. Hildegard invented her own alphabet. She composed . . . . Continue Reading »
A few years ago, a graduate student in English was trying to explain to me one of the latest fads in literary criticism, the History of the Book. Historians of the Book, he said, study the making and circulation of early manuscripts, including their interplay with . . . . Continue Reading »
I am currently in Worcester, MA for a series of speeches in MA and in CT. My primary sponsor is the Social Role Valorization Implementation Project (SRVIP). From an article about SRV: The basic premise of SRV is that people are much more likely to experience the “good things in life” if . . . . Continue Reading »
This story out of the UK illustrates the ugliness of medical futility. Under the theory, medicine is being devolved from a life-saving enterprise to a life-saving enterprise if we approve of your life’s quality. But if we don’t and you want to live (or your family wishes you to continue . . . . Continue Reading »
Britain’s House of Lords expelled most of its hereditary lords in 1999. This may well have been a very good thing on balance, but as The Economist shows , it did have the regrettable effect of making regions outside of London “more marginalized than ever.” Those old dukes may have . . . . Continue Reading »
A new hymn for the new messiah, courtesy of Mark Shea : I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. All the sick and unemployed, My hand will save. I, the last, best hope on earth, I’ll increase our nation’s worth. I will make our planet heal I promise change . . . Chorus: . . . . Continue Reading »
It is good to be skeptical of Sen. Obama’s promise to lead this country beyond the “old divisions,” as though the fierce partisanship of, say, the Culture Wars were fueled by pure spite. As many commentators have said, this “beyondism” is itself just another partisan . . . . Continue Reading »
Allow me one more post on Down syndrome. Michael Franc, the vice president of government relations for the Heritage Foundation, takes off his policy hat and reflects on his experience as the brother of a sibling with Down syndrome as he writes a letter to Track, Bristol, Willow, and Piper Palin . . . . . Continue Reading »
According to a UK study, the concerted drive to prenatally detect Down syndrome or other anomalies through genetic testing aimed at eugenic abortion is also causing the deaths of babies who have no disabling condition through miscarriage. From the story: Two healthy babies are miscarried for every . . . . Continue Reading »
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