I’ve alluded elsewhere to the fascinating way in which Obama parlayed his mixed African American (as opposed to African-American) heritage so as to occupy a space in American cultural and political life just ever-so-different from that occupied by black Americans generally and other black . . . . Continue Reading »
Megan , who’s started a dialogue with Ellen Ruppel Shell (author of the new book Cheap ), has some ruminations on the infamous maker of shelves with short shelf lives. Lots to digest, including some deee-lightful ancedotes from the bad old days of furniture so durable you seemed to be stuck . . . . Continue Reading »
Noted Neuro-Buddhist Sam Harris has this to say about the President’s choice to head the NIH: Dr. Collins has written that “science offers no answers to the most pressing questions of human existence” and that “the claims of atheistic materialism must be steadfastly . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s official. Cultural libertarians have jumped the shark. Read this Reason.com article and marvel. That’s right, the author isn’t celebrating the fact that citizens have a right to be vulgar, but rather the fact that citizens are vulgar. James’ article on the ‘Sex . . . . Continue Reading »
Reihan has a nice two-post roundup of relatively sane commentary on the Gates imbroglio. We could have an interesting conversation about race, memory, and HONOR in America (as opposed to mere or simple dignity), roping ole Tocqueville back into it, or not; either way, it does seem right to conclude . . . . Continue Reading »
I don’t normally frequent the anarcho-syndicalist enclaves of the blogosphere, but my curiosity was piqued by the ongoing saga of the “Tarnac 9” , whose penchant for absurdism combined with neo-Benedictinism is at least somewhat endearing. As it happens, the now-released . . . . Continue Reading »
DC-area reader? Care about foreign policy? See me and several actual foreign-policy professionals discuss the fate of NATO and the future of the West , tomorrow in town. Wink from the audience and I’ll reference space wars, though probably not Star Wars. UPDATE: hear the whole thing. . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Tom Wolfe , our space program needs a philosophic justification to get the “godlike” adventure that gave us all that right stuff going again. Here are a few random thoughts in that direction. I’m not saying I agree with them or that I’m volunteering to be a . . . . Continue Reading »
First Things is taking a poll — a “journey through the wild world of college rankings.” Quantify — and qualify! — your experiences here . . . . . Continue Reading »
Peter’s delightful post, “Localism,” takes his work to a new level of literary achievement. This is the stuff of anthologies and “Greatest Works” collections. It is singularly brilliant, it reveals him not as your stereotypical “pointy-headed” philosophy . . . . Continue Reading »
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