(The scene opens with a shot of an American suburban kitchen. AMANDA is seen standing at a counter with a cardboard box in her hand. Her daughter HEATHER enters and observes what she’s doing.)
HEATHER: Mom, what are you doing with that rat poison?
AMANDA: I’m going to put some out, honey. I saw a rat in the pantry, and I can’t stand rats.
HEATHER (putting her hands on her hips): Mom! You can’t do that!
What would you say if a student told you they were analyzing “episodes of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and listening to Eminem” for a Rhetoric class? Perhaps suggest one of the Great Books.
It’s late in the day, but to all you veterans, thank you for your service. Slackers like me owe you big.
The Second Saladin, it appears to me, marks a milepost on author Stephen Hunter’s journey toward finding his niche as a novelist. Some of the elements that will make his Bob/Earl Swagger books so compelling are already there, but he hasn’t yet shaken off a tendency to demonstrate his realism through grim pessimism.
Nevertheless, I found it a compelling book. Though published in 1982 and set in that same time period, the centrality of Kurdistan to the plot makes the whole business remarkably relevant more than two decades later. Continue reading The Second Saladin, by Stephen Hunter→
Thomas Sowell writes, “Intellectuals, according to Mr. Kristof, are people who are ‘interested in ideas and comfortable with complexity,’ people who “read the classics.’
When I returned home on Thursday, frustrated by the voting behavior of my fellow Americans, I found my daughter watching the John Adams series created by HBO.
I concede my daughter, a mere 12 years old, may not be representative of the typical child of her age. I must also admit it makes me proud to be able to say she chose to watch John Adams rather than turn on some ridiculous cable program. While not all pre-teenagers would choose to watch a series chronicling centuries-old events, she gives me hope.
If my 12 year old can appreciate the lessons found in the history of John Adams and the other Founding Fathers than so can other 12 year olds. Read on . . .
I’ve always thought Brit Hume was a cut above the rest in the national press. Today, I learn he is moving on to other things. The news is a little old, but I just read it. In Reuters interview with Hume, he says, “I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time. When my son died (by suicide in 1998), I came to Christ in a way that was very meaningful to me. If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the implications of what you say you believe, it’s a pretty big thing. If you do it part time, you’re not really living it.”
In 2009 this country will inaugurate as president a man whose election represents a major alteration in our society.
This president will be a representative of a minority group which has too long been banished to the periphery of society, subjected to ridicule and discrimination, and denied equal rights under the law.
I’ve known for a while that certain people credit Gorbachev with the fall of the Soviet Union, instead of Reagan, so I suppose the sting of that lie has worn off for me. But I was shocked to hear that history textbooks accuse Truman of droping the bomb on Japan in order to thump his chest at the Soviet Union. They call it “atomic diplomancy.” And they say FDR knew Pearl Harbor would be attacked but hushed it up in order to have a reason to go to war. Insanity. These are many more lies are discussed in Larry Schwelkart’s new book, 48 Liberal Lies About American History. Book TV has a video of Mr. Schwelkart’s presentation.
Andrew Klavan has a first-hand account of his visit to Afghanistan in City Journal. He contrasts what he found there with current Hollywood movies, and imagines the movie he’d make.
The vast editorial staff at Brandywine Books noticed the Christmas holidays coming up (Yes, we all noticed at the same time. We are of one mind. Yes, we do usually dress as sheep for Halloween, thank you for asking) and thought to remind our affluent readership (the best-looking readership in the entire blogosphere we are convinced) of the gift you may be seeking for that special, irritating, but loved someone who already has everything he needs (clean underwear).
The only thing to get this person is this knife, a penknife to be precise.
That’s 85 tools in one knife, which means when he’s in the thick of a job, he’ll have every tool he could want–except the one he needs.
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