Monthly Archives: October 2009

Saying Boo To A Ghost

Posted on October 31, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

So far as Hallowe’en is concerned, the Pope, it seems, is all bah, humbug. The Daily Telegraph has the details: The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, Odds & Ends | Tagged | 10 Comments

Catholic Republicans are more liberal than Protestant Republicans

Posted on October 30, 2009 by David Hume

The post below, Why are Catholics Democrats?, has prompted a great deal of discussion. Some of it quite interesting, though I disagree with the general thrust of the commentary. What I disagree with is that there is something fundamental about … Continue reading →

Posted in data | Tagged | 3 Comments

Why are Catholics Democrats?

Posted on October 30, 2009 by David Hume

Norman Podhortez just came out with a book, Why Are Jews Liberals?. It seems that this as intellectually interesting as writing a book, “Why are blacks Democrats?”, would be. You can tick off specific reasons, but in ethnic terms American … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , , | 24 Comments

The ends of liberty

Posted on October 28, 2009 by David Hume

In Reason, Are Property Rights Enough? Should libertarians care about cultural values? A reason debate. If politics are dispositions, then at the end of the day they still have to “point” to the “Good Life.” The norms that one’s ideology … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | 12 Comments

Protestants like Israel; Midwesterners not so much

Posted on October 27, 2009 by David Hume

At The American Scene there’s a post about WASPs and their relationship to Israel. Of course, that begs the question, what do you mean by WASP? WASP = White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, but that is a plain and broad-church definition which … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

About those other public options

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

The newly reinvigorated advocates of a “public option” in health care argue that government, with its limitless deep pockets, with its ability to sustain an economically unviable operation indefinitely through its taxing and borrowing power, provides fair and meaningful “competition” … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Religious freedon in 2009

Posted on October 26, 2009 by David Hume

The US State Department has released International Religious Freedom Report 2009. Here the list of countries where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy.” Afghanistan Azerbaijan Brunei Burma China Cuba Egypt Eritrea Fiji India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Laos Malaysia … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

The shoe on the other foot

Posted on October 25, 2009 by David Hume

Arnold Kling recently mentioned he was reading Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. A little over halfway through the book, I am struck again by the historical contingency of particular foreign & social policy outlooks. For … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 6 Comments

Full-court press

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

The New York Times asks whether Obama’s White House is too male-dominated.  It took the Times weeks to acknowledge the Acorn and Vann Jones stories, but a little delusional grousing about all-male (as opposed to?) basketball games immediately catapults the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Economic hot potato

Posted on October 24, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Barack Obama should stop blaming his Republican predecessor for the problems facing his presidency, writes Peggy Noonan: The president said last week, at a San Francisco fund-raiser, that he’s busy with a “mop,” “cleaning up somebody else’s mess,” and he … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 7 Comments