“I’ve got a little room upstairs that’s too small for you to fall down in. I can bounce you around off the walls, that way we won’t be wasting a lot of time while you get up off the floor.” –William Bendix to Alan Ladd, “The Glass Key” Read more

I have a typical Friday-afternoon headache (coffee, my friend, my betrayer…), and so you’ll have to wait until Monday for posts on: short fiction about abortion; slave “redemption” in Sudan and Mauritania; smart Yalies, foolish choices; and whatever else pops into my head. Wednesday, expect contest results!!! (go here to see the contest! Send your entries to eve_tushnet@yahoo.com and win a fabulous lack of prizes!), the new contest, and more on Rock’n’Roll Conservatism. If people have read short stories that... Read more

“Break the conventions. Keep the Commandments.” –G.K. Chesterton Read more

“In this purse, sweet soul!” said I “Twenty pound lies fairly Seek no further one to buy For I’ll take all thy Barley Twenty more shall purchase delight, Thy person I love so dearly, If thou wilt watch my blog all night And gang home in the morning early…” First, I’d like to thank everyone who’s responded to yesterday’s posts. The criticisms have been polite and thoughtful, and the personal notes have been moving and courageous. If I haven’t responded... Read more

“You lay your hands on me again, and I’ll kill you!” “Like that guy you killed in St. Louis?” “You’re gonna hold that over my head for the rest of my life, aren’t ya?” –Bit player and Peggy Cummins, “Gun Crazy” Read more

Have added Frederick Douglass’s autobiography to the Booklog. Read more

AQUINAS CLARIFICATION: A friend emails this very good point (which I knew, but my poor choice of words obscured it): One minor complant, you indirectly (and I assume unintentionally) make it sound like St. Thomas was a pro-abort and that the Church has ever changed her view on the morality of abortion. You make the valid point that the Church’s understanding of abortion has developed, however, it has been constant in its opposition (i.e. Church teaching on abortion is more... Read more

IF ANY OF YOU CAN GIVE BLOOD (I can’t), please read Ted Barlow’s post here. Read more

My mama done tol’ me When I was in knee-pants My mama done told me, “Son A woman will sweet talk And give you the big eye But when that sweet talk is done A woman’s a two faced A worrisome thing who’ll leave you to watch the blogs in the night…” E-Pression: Your usual mix of funny stuff, Life With Husband Moments, anti-union info, and politico pot anecdotes. Good sense, good fun, no permalinks. Charles Murtaugh: Libertarianism linked to... Read more

“CONSERVATISM”: WHY? I use the term “conservative” all over this website. Possibly this makes me sound like a partisan hack-jerk. I don’t do this because there’s some set of “conservative beliefs” out there that I try to conform my own beliefs to. I do it because I want to push my concerns to the center of some political movement or other, and frankly, that’s a lot more likely with conservatism than with any other contemporary movement. This post should give... Read more