42
A heart-warming but rather self-congratulatory look backward at the people of 1947, few of whom could be said to come up to our high standards
Entry from April 16, 2013
On Magic Words. . . . . . Or words with the power to create their own reality. Take for instance “Women.” A now notorious tweet from Amanda Marcotte about the Gosnell trial reads: “Man, the feeding frenzy over Gosnell is a sobering reminder of how much hatred there is out there towards women.” She means…
Entry from April 11, 2013
Both the celebrations in parts of Britain of Lady Thatcher’s death and the media controversy they have spawned suggest one reason why civility is as endangered as it is these days: namely, that people don’t understand what it is for or what the value of it is. Tribalism is a permanent part of political life…
The Naked and the Famous
How vulgarity, which used to be something to avoid, became something to aspire to — From The New Criterion of March, 2013
Selective Moralism
Of morality in the movies that were nominated for this year’s Academy Awards — From The American Spectator of March, 2013
Beyond the Hills
A beautiful if harrowing film about a clash between medieval and modern in which neither looks much like a winner
Entry from March 25, 2013
Oh, goody! I knew that if I waited long enough it would come and now it has: scientific evidence — scientific evidence, mind you — that not only is fat good for you but so is beer. A bona fide doctor, Dr Kathryn O’Sullivan — says that the “beer belly” is a myth. In fact,…
Identity Thief
An anti-traditional look at the latest in criminality which is saved — at least in terms of box office success — by its politically suspect belly-laughs
The American Way of War Movies
A Lecture at the Hillsdale College Center for Constructive Alternatives, March 6, 2013