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The Idea Comes From the Bible There is a long history of references in popular culture to the idea of not being “in between”. The idea is to take a stand, to dig in, to let the world know what you think is important. The immediate such reference that comes to mind is from Bruce …
We Have Been Here Before (in fact we never left) The culture wars are all the rage. It seems that everywhere you look you can see evidence of people tearing each other apart. One side is a bunch of “deplorables”, clinging to their guns and bibles, while the other side is advancing some radical agenda …
A Common Saying “If Only” is a common enough saying. We all have likely used it from time to time. Someone will make a statement like “man, you got it made”. Then you respond with “If Only”. The point is to respond by denying what was said to you, at least in a somewhat humorous …
Freedom won Freedom lent Freedom gone Freedom spent -Anonymous What’s All This Now? Yes, another essay with a funky word in the title. Desuetude is a word, with its main application in law, that means “a state of disuse”. In law it has an application in that property can become so unused and maintained that …
The Scope of the Question The great edifice known as The National Security State conjures up men in black who operate in the shadows. Perhaps it evokes the memory of Colonel Flagg, the hapless intelligence officer from the television show MASH. Regardless of what image comes to mind there is often an underlying sense that …
Why Journalism is Important As we continue to witness the detention, and ever closer extradition, of Julian Assange, in addition to the Russians detaining a Wall Street Journal reporter, it is important to get back to first principles and remind ourselves why journalism needs to be protected. It sadly needs to be stated again that …
A Shameless Appropriation The title of this essay is a blatant rip-off of a 1983 book by Fox Butterfield called China: Alive in the Bitter Sea. In this remarkable book the author details the lives of ordinary Chinese living under the brutal oppression of the communist regime. He delves into the all-encompassing totalitarian nature of …
A repost of my annual Independence Day essay. The Thing Being Celebrated It’s midsummer already. That means time again for the nationalistic orgy that is the 4th of July. The media is filling up with stores conflating God and country and juxtaposing the Cross and the flag as if they both deserve an equally prominent …
What Exactly is a Reactionary? Many people are charged with being a reactionary. It is taken for granted that being labeled as a reactionary is a negative thing. However, the label is tossed around without much consideration given to the meaning, either by the one leveling the charge, or the one receiving the opprobrium. The …
The Erosion of Toleration There is an obvious, dispiriting, and ultimately dangerous erosion of toleration spreading in both the United States, and the wider western world. We see this in increasing calls for the restriction of free speech rights from people in positions of authority. The FDA wants to restrict your speech. The so-called Twitter …
Rebuilding a Tolerant Society (and How One Arose) Read More »