"Do not be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a ... Continue reading
Deadly ambition
March 2, 2022 By Leave a Comment
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they ... Continue reading
Should we have children?
October 20, 2021 By 3 Comments
“The decision to have children has always struck me as an essentially selfish one: You choose, out of a desire for fulfillment or self-betterment or curiosity or boredom or baby-mania or peer pressure, to bring a new human into this world. And it has never seemed more selfish than today. From a ... Continue reading
Syria and isolationism
September 5, 2013 By 1 Comment
"At town hall meetings in their districts, the congressman reports, House Republicans are hearing 'an isolationist message.' It's not America's war. The evidence that the Assad regime used chemical weapons is ambiguous, maybe cooked. There isn't a compelling national interest to intervene. 'Let ... Continue reading
Courage of our convictions
July 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Elmer Charles Bigelow had the courage of his convictions. The 25-year-old from Hebron, Illinois, enlisted in the US Navy at the beginning of WWII, and after training was assigned to the USS Fletcher, a destroyer that was part of the US Pacific fleet. During fighting in the Philippines, the Fletcher ... Continue reading
Against the tide
March 23, 2013 By 1 Comment
A new survey by Pew Research shows that more American adults now favor than oppose same-sex marriage, by a margin of 49% to 43%. In 2003 the same survey showed the opposite: 58% opposed vs. 33% in favor. Pew attributes the shift primarily to the coming of age of the Millennial generation — those ... Continue reading
Second chances
November 9, 2012 By
People make bad choices. It happens to individuals, it happens to nations. For some reason, Americans have given a failed President a second term. Those who elected him, and Mr. Obama himself, are convinced that all of his past and present troubles should rightly be laid at the feet of former ... Continue reading
Another ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ Moment?
November 5, 2012 By
In the months leading up to the 1948 US presidential elections, incumbent Harry S Truman was routinely predicted as having no chance of defeating his challenger, Thomas Dewey. On the night before election day, every single one of the political reporters who had been with Truman as he campaigned back ... Continue reading
