YALE GRAD STUDENTS START LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN RE WHO, TAIWAN, AND SARS. Links about WHO’s anti-Taiwan lameness here and here. Read more

STUFF FROM VERITATIS SPLENDOR that struck me for whatever reason: “Jesus’ conversation with the young man helps us to grasp the conditions for the moral growth of man, who has been called to perfection: the young man, having observed all the commandments, shows that he is incapable of taking the next step by himself alone. To do so requires mature human freedom (‘If you wish to be perfect’) and God’s gift of grace (‘Come, follow me’).” (in this post, all... Read more

AFGHANS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY. Via Oxblog. Read more

We were at the beach Everybody had matching towels Somebody went under a dock And there they saw a blog It wasn’t a blog It was a blog watcher… The Agitator: Big Government vs. the banana. In the same post he describes the conditions under which, pace President Bush, the human being and fish cannot coexist peacefully. I am pretty sure the Agitator does think we can make the pie higher, though. CalPundit: More on Teach for America and Emery... Read more

THE NEW CITY JOURNAL includes this excellent piece from Theodore Dalrymple, on colonialism in Africa. Stanley Kurtz makes the connections to postwar Iraq here (and scroll up for more). Excerpts: “Like most of the people I met in Rhodesia, we tried to treat our staff well, providing extra help for them for the frequent emergencies of African life—for example illness among relatives. In return, they treated us with genuine solicitude. We assuaged our conscience by telling ourselves—what was no doubt... Read more

IF GUNS PREVENT TYRANNY, WHY DID ALL THOSE IRAQIS HAVE GUNS? My Jewish World Review column. Includes stuff about how different rights reinforce one another, and also includes the usual typo (I refer to “two connections” between American gun-rights debates and tyranny, but only had space to mention one connection–the other had to do with police refusal to protect minorities). Original title was “Guns of Baghdad” but the Clash reference seems to have been excised. Read more

OK, HAVING GOTTEN THAT OUT OF MY SYSTEM… work and taxes have been keeping me away from the blog. I have a lot of things I’d like to write about but don’t have the time or mental energy to do it right now. For now I’ll point you in the direction of other cool things. Either Wednesday or Thursday, expect reviews of “Jezebel” and the Shakespeare Theatre’s “Richard III“; lots of quotes from Veritatis Splendor, maybe with my commentary, maybe... Read more

CONFIDENTIAL TO THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT: Bite me. (I am just a teeny, tiny bit bitter, having just filed my taxes. Connecticut is especially hated because 1) I don’t even freakin’ live there anymore, and 2) even though I owed them less money than anyone else, their forms were significantly more confusing. Given that Barbie could teach me math and the one thing that can send me into a frothing, Skeletor-like, mortal-sin-level rage faster than technology problems is bureaucracy, I... Read more

IRAQ FUTURE NOTES: Last night I went to a roundtable on postwar Iraq, put on by the America’s Future Foundation (a.k.a. “Free Food and Beer for the Right!”). John Hulsman of the Heritage Foundation debated Charles Pena of Cato (although in the chunk that I saw, they were mostly agreeing). I missed Pena’s opening presentation, sorry… Here are my notes; make of ’em what you will. Stuff in quotes, they said; stuff not in quotes is generally my paraphrasing of... Read more

“PASS/FAIL“: The story of two college grads who entered Teach for America and were dumped into DC’s dysfunctional school system. One is Josh Kaplowitz, who wrote “How I Joined Teach for America–And Got Sued for $20 Million” for City Journal. Excerpts: “Teachers are forever leaving this place: One says she’ll never teach again; another says this wasn’t teaching, it was guard duty; still another never really knew how rewarding his profession could be until he got out of here and... Read more