Word Watch – April 2002
It is always interesting to see the effect of public events upon our language. The case of Sept. 11 and its aftermath is especially interesting, …
Nightline of the Living Dead
ABC’s attempt to replace its late-night “news” show Nightline with David Letterman’s comedy show pleased me enormously in every possible way. First, it demonstrated how …
Luge the Whales
At the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, the Olympic flag was carried in by people representing the “five” continents of the world and the …
Traitor John
The case of John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, seems to have been designed to bring out the worst arguments in people. 1. The bald-faced …
Springtime for Liberty
Sixty years ago, at this time of the year, Isabel Paterson, one of the exceedingly rare libertarians of her time, wrote in her column in …
Lord of the Epic
At this moment, the most popular film in the world is The Lord of the Rings. This is a remarkable phenomenon – more remarkable, indeed, …
It’s Good, But is it Believable?
It’s good, but is it believable? – Aristotle said that there are certain things you shouldn’t put into a work of imaginative literature, because people …
Oh my God! Osama killed Kenny!
South Park and,l have had an off-and-on relationship. When the cartoon series first came on TV, I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved its …
Don’t Know Much About History
I may be overly sensitive to the things that politicians say. Certainly it’s a morbid tendency to follow political speeches with more attention than the …
Globalization, Little Buddy!
Did any book ever have a better title? And the motive behind the book is almost as good ~ to do some justice, for a …