Miscellaneous

The Libertarian Political Philosophy in a Nutshell "Society, it should be kept in mind, is a group of people who cooperate with one another in order that they may severally and individually improve their circumstances, and the techniques by which Society achieves its purpose are production and exchange. There

Quick Reference: "The idea that A could at the same time be non-A or that to prefer A to B could at the same time be to prefer B to A is simply inconceivable and absurd to a human mind." Ludwig von Mises. Surely a few people recognize

Pornography and Idiocy (from 2004) Writing about pornography is kinda like making pornography: what are you going to say (do) that hasn't been said (done) before? The director of a pornographic movie tries to think of something that hasn't been done before ("Three guys with

“All fear arises from the love of something.” St. Thomas Aquinas

Studies like this don't really impress me: Women Who Lost Virginity Early More Likely To Divorce [http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/06/21/women-who-lost-virginity-early-more-likely-to-divorce/] . It's nice to see empirical support for the idea that poor upbringing results in poor results, but I don'

Catholic Arts and Letters Weekly On the centennial of his birth, the influence of Catholicism on Marshall McLuhan's Catholicism gets a fair and good hearing. Perhaps the best essay of the year so far. . . . more>> [http://www.walrusmagazine.com/print/2011.07-media-divine-inspiration/] Simone Weil. Huge intellect,

The Angel and the Idiots What do Lady Gaga and Mother Teresa have in common? A lot, according to this vapid piece at The Economist: The Angel and the Monster [http://www.economist.com/node/18772204]. The piece isn't sacrilegious (though it does recount some of Hitchens'

Catholic Arts and Letters Weekly My colleague: The baddest lawyer in New Jersey. No witness means no conviction. He's facing life in prison. . . . more>> [http://nymag.com/news/features/paul-bergrin-2011-6/] Comic books were hot. Smokin' hot. And then the bottom fell out. The Great Comic

Frugal Youth I've noticed something new among teens: frugality. For their prom dinner, for instance, the girls were excited that a parent agreed to host the dinner. Every family pitched in a dish for six couples, and the kids had a great dinner without spending $100 per couple

Bullets The Seven Sisters [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_Protestant#Denominations]? It rings a bell, but I'm not sure I've heard of the mainline Protestant churches referred to that way. The Sisters are: American Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Congregationalists / United Church of Christ, Episcopalians, Lutherans,