I have been working on a book review to be published in an actual magazine and so have been distracted and unable to post much of substance. I did want to offer some disjointed thoughts on an earlier issue however. A few posts down I discussed a 2 Blowhards post on the question of “light [...]
Want any easy example of why blogs exist and develop traffic? Take a look at today’s New York Times editorial page. Two columns reveal the lameness which regularly shows up in such places. To be fair I will be balanced, noting one on the left and one on the right. On the right, at least [...]
When I was teaching at a community college I always warned my students against relying on the Internet for source material. It seems silly to have to say it but just because something is on the web doesn’t mean it is true or reliable. This is something you have to teach students but surely not [...]
Well folks, the final four is upon us and I have failed miserably in my predictions. There was a reason I labeled them Wild Guesses, take a look at my bracket. One measly pick in the final four! What is interesting, however, is how off my picks turned out by region. I missed only one [...]
Interesting post over at 2 Blowhards on “Light Entertainment.” Michael wonders whether we under value so called light entertainment. The first issue is of course where to draw the line: If, say, Noel Coward is light entertainment, then why not Oscar Wilde? If Wilde, then why not “Lucky Jim”? If “Lucky Jim,” then why not [...]
Yet, in their eagerness to expand individual liberty, the libertarians unwittingly prepare the way for a totalist state. The atomistic individualism they espouse undermines the mediating institutions (family, local associations, churches, etc.) that play a vital role as barriers against the encroachment of state power. Abolish “the traditional concept of community and substitute a doctrinaire [...]
The fruits of learning never come easily or pleasantly, but must be striven for. The strenuous self-discipline and self-denial necessary to master a difficult or complicated body of knowledge at least initially involves pain. to teach that things which bring lasting happiness to the individual can be acquired effortlessly and enjoyably is to ill-prepare one [...]
Michelle Cottle in The New Republic Online discusses a new idea to keep kids away from online smut. In the article she offers this great paragraph (warning: adult subject): I agree that the concept of a congressional mandate to stop online porn has a certain appeal. Talk of voluntary rules or restrictions sounds a bit [...]
This hasn’t been a great week for deep thinking but since I promised let me take a crack at this conservative literature question noted below. The short answer is yes and no. Literature can have a strong conservative viewpoint and therefore bolster that worldview but great literature transcends worldviews. The tricky part is defining conservatism [...]