BEGINNING: Four views of fetal development: excerpts from Lennart Nilsson’s A Child Is Born (here and here); a walk-through starting at conception; and lots of pictures of the Carnegie Stages. I note that if memory serves, I’ve counseled clients at the pregnancy center who were considering abortion anywhere from one week after conception to about here. And that’s not even touching what the law allows. Read more

HELLO, I LIED. So I’ve gotta motor–no posts on history, at least not until I reach England. Keep the contest entries coming–and the end-of-an-era/shark-jump emails. I’m not sure when I’ll next be posting, but I should have lots of goodies for you then. And I’ll be back to regular posting Monday, August 5. In the meantime, you should read The Rat on marriage. I think she’s overemphasizing the insanity of the marriage vow–putting too much emphasis on the suffering and... Read more

THEN WHY DON’T THEY?: “The American economy, our economy, is built on confidence. …That confidence is well-placed. After all, American technology is the most advanced in the world. Our universities attract the talent of the world. Our workers and ranchers and farmers can compete with anybody in the world.” —President George W. Bush, July 9 Read more

MORE ON ROMEO AND JULIET. Fun with torts. (No, really, this is hilarious. Click!) Link via Stuart Buck, I think. And this won’t surprise you if you read this Register expose of Peru’s population-control programs. Read more

A READER WRITES: “I thought the middle ages started with the crowning of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day, 800 AD.” See, this is why the questions below (see post re Dante as the Fonz) are so fascinating. Which event you fix on as the beginning of the Middle Ages says a lot about whether you think they were simply a plunge into darkness, an intermission between the ancient and modern worlds, or whether they... Read more

HISTORY: Looks like today’s gonna be History Day on the blog, since I just finished reading this awesome essay and I have a lot to say about it. While we’re on the subject of history, are you wondering how to get into my archives? Wonder no more! If you click on the one, lone archive link on this page, you’ll be taken to a blank page (why???) with all my real archives linked along the side. Read more

STARRING DANTE ALIGHIERI AS THE FONZ: So this post from Sasha Volokh reminded me of some questions I’d been meaning to pose on my site. Volokh, in a fun and quick survey of movies set in the Middle Ages, gives a hint of the somewhat arbitrary but nevertheless fascinating disputes about when the Middle Ages really ended. He settles on the English Middle Ages ending in 1485, with the death of Richard III (last king of England to die leading... Read more

“Women are all alike!” “For Pete’s sake, what difference does that make? You’ve got to have them, they’re standard equipment.” –Allan Mowbray and Allyn Joslyn, “I Wake Up Screaming” Read more

You can hold me all my life but paradise can take me twice And when I go to my greater reward it’s a blog I’ll watch on my own… (For some reason that song popped into my head recently, after years of neglect. I wonder if it’s the most obscure blogwatch song so far? Points to anyone who recognizes it.) The Agitator: Vouchers galore–a great letter (and reply from Balko) on vouchers vs. tax credits and “how poor POOR really... Read more

DON’T BELIEVE IN MODERN LOVE: Finished Love in the Western World last night. Awesome, awesome book. Discerns the root of the Western cult of passionate love (suffering for its own sake; “in love with love”; love against marriage) in the troubadours and heretics of the 11th-12th centuries. Unpredictable; clearly inspired by personal experience; honest; sharp; attuned to the sublime; free of the special pleading that mars too many books on morals, religion, or history; anticipates and responds to objections really... Read more