August Aphorisms #10
by R. R. RenoThe postmodern vision of peace: If nothing is worth fighting for, then nobody will fight. . . . . Continue Reading »
Book Recommendations for Obama
by Will WilsonOver at the main blog, Joe Carter asks : In all seriousness, though, what books would you recommend the President read during his vacation? Assuming you had to stick to the same 3:1:1 ratio (3 novels, 1 biography, 1 policy-oriented nonfiction) what books would you slip into his travel bag? . . . . Continue Reading »
Homeschooling in the House of Curiosities: High School
by Sally ThomasOver the summer, as you may remember, I posted lists of my household’s reading here and here. Well, now the last sun of summer has set over the gables here at the House of Curiosities. In actual point of fact, the sun set, as it does every day, over the Aspen Street viaduct to the west of us, . . . . Continue Reading »
Dignity Panel
by James PoulosOn Morning Joe a few minutes ago, Pat Buchanan described the fear behind the death panel debate as the fear that old people without anyone around who loves them will be steered in their final years toward elective euthanasia. Surely the steering power of a government authorized to command and . . . . Continue Reading »
The Reading Habits of Our Middlebrow President
by Joe CarterIf Dante were writing the Inferno today he’d probably make room down in hell—somewhere around circle number eight, bolgia six—for people who judge others by the books they read. As a penitent, though unregenerate, book snob you’d find me down there gossiping with the Jovial . . . . Continue Reading »
On the Naivete of Ayn Rand
by Christopher BlosserPaul Zummo ( Crankycon ) has written a good review of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged : The atheism is only a small part of the issue with objectivism. Galt (and thus Rand’s) objection to the concept of original sin is naive, but even absent this aspect of objectivism, it remains a . . . . Continue Reading »
Surrogates: Transhumanism Comes to the Movies
by Wesley J. SmithSurrogates is apparently about a world in which people live their lives virtually through robots, sort of a 3-D Second Life. But then people start to be killed.Hmm. If this movie is any good, it should provoke some interesting conversations about the futility and dangers of the utopian . . . . Continue Reading »
The Jewish Split over Obama
by David P. GoldmanIn case anyone failed to catch my drift last week, permit me to reiterate my distaste for yet another protest from the collected Jewish leadership over a supposed Catholic agenda to convert us. When Jews get together at the moment, do you think they complain about how many of our co-religionists we . . . . Continue Reading »
Creeping Technocracy-Watch
by Will WilsonSecondhand Smoke has the scoop . Watching bioethicists consense is like watching water condense: dull, impersonal, and you know how it’s gonna end. Still, I’m sure there are many who would prefer it to all that nasty , dirty , tumultuous political stuff! . . . . Continue Reading »
Power to the Bioethicists, Right On!
by Wesley J. SmithI have long suspected the bioethics movement wishes to have decisional power over public policy. Now, over at the Hastings Center Website, comes the suggestion that bioethicists should—perhaps (overt advocacy in the field is always couched)—be given more power. From the . . . . Continue Reading »
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