Author Archives: Bradlaugh

The Wrong Lesson

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Here’s a curious little sequence of video clips from BBC News. They show us how education goes in Finland. Then we get a clip of schooling in South Korea. And then the BBC’s Matt Frei interviews Arne Duncan, our federal … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | 10 Comments

Liberalism Claims the Transcendent

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Of the great mid-2000s tranche of “celebrity atheists,” each has his own distinctive style: the professorial Dennett, the street-fighter Hitchens, the smartypants Dawkins, and so on. For me at least, Sam Harris is the least distinctive of the crowd, the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, philosophy, Science & Faith | 29 Comments

Non Angli sed angeli

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Andrew: I am willing to extend a modicum of tolerance to angels out of respect for William Blake, who, by his own account, regularly conversed with them. The Angel I dreamt a dream! What can it mean? And that I … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | 1 Comment

No Extremists Here!

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Bradlaugh

So … American Renaissance can’t get a Red Roof Inn conference room but Louis Farrakhan and his gang of creepy white-hating leg-breakers get a whole stadium. But then, of course, Farrakhan is mainstream, while AR is … what’s the cant word here? … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | 12 Comments

Thought for the Day

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Bradlaugh

One begins to suspect that the true American tradition is less that of our Fourth of July orations and our constitutional law textbooks, with their cluck-clucking over the so-called preferred freedoms, than, quite simply, that of riding somebody out of … Continue reading →

Posted in law, Odds & Ends | 2 Comments

How Liberty Dies

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Outrage of the week last week was the shutting down of the American Renaissance conference by anti-racist activists. It impacted my schedule. I was planning to attend the conference (which was scheduled for Feb. 19 to Feb. 21). It would … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, culture | 83 Comments

Natalist Fundamentalism

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Bradlaugh

I have just learned that my paternal granny was one of at least 11 children, born in England 1860-1880.  My mother was one of 13, born 1896-1917.  How they did breed! Learning that fact a couple of hours after reading Richard … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | 22 Comments

Re: Needing to Know History

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Indeed, Mr Hume, the past is another country.  They do things differently there. Brooke Allen wrote a good book about the Founders’ religion.  At any rate I recall thinking it was well researched & written.  Now, looking it up on … Continue reading →

Posted in history | 14 Comments

Second Chance

Posted on January 31, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Andrew: Death the end? Ah no, my friend, only a turning of the wheel. Don’t you remember the beer ad from Kentucky Fried Movie? “You’re only reincarnated six or seven times in life …”

Posted in politics | 2 Comments

Differential Earthquake Mortality

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Bradlaugh

From the Yahoo News report on the Haiti earthquake: Even relatively wealthy neighborhoods were devastated. That is an odd thing to say. It was a commonplace in the ancient world that earthquakes differentially afflicted the rich. Those who lived in … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | 10 Comments