Monthly Archives: February 2008

Things I Should Do in Dallas vs. Things I Will Do

Alright – my flight for Dallas leaves early tomorrow morning. I should be on campus at noon Dallas time. What I should do while there: Read Xenophon and write chapters of this dissertation off according to the outline Translate the German article detailing disputed authorship and themes of one work related to the topic Sit …

February 20, 2008 – 2:39 pm | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (1)

Dishonesty

Yet again we get another puff piece by the Chronicle telling us that there’s nothing wrong with academia, nothing at all. Conservatives are more interested in practical things, and liberals are interested in theoretical things. “Empirical research” shows this to be the case, and awwwwwwwww look there’s a married couple with one conservative partner and …

February 19, 2008 – 11:39 am | By ashok | Posted in academia | Comments (2)

The Divine Comedy: Commentary on the Book of Jonah

for Joshua Rocks and Paul Drozdowski 1: 1-4 – Jonah is told by God to go to Nineveh and “cry out against it.” The wickedness of Nineveh has “come up before” the Lord. So Jonah does what anyone would do if told by God to do something. He pays for passage on a boat to …

February 18, 2008 – 8:43 pm | By ashok | Posted in christianity | Tagged | Comments (8)

Links, 2/17

Yet even more on McCain: Josh defends McCain as a fiscal conservative; Jonah Goldberg compares McCain to Bush and finds McCain more conservative. I personally think Josh’s recent post on Anselm compelling reading. Paul displays sketches of a painting by Tiepolo and a portrait of Eakins. He also gives a FAQ regarding things he’s actually …

February 17, 2008 – 2:04 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

Thomas Jefferson On the Nature of News

Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, Letter of June 14, 1807 I thought the above letter had some sections worth sharing, so here goes (words in italics are Jefferson’s): 1. I think there does not exist a good elementary work on the organization of society into civil government: I mean a work which presents in one …

February 15, 2008 – 6:22 am | By ashok | Posted in media, politics | Tagged , | Comments (2)

On the First Paragraph of Federalist 10: From Faction to Freedom to Property

Federalist 9 was discussed earlier in this blog; the complete text of Federalist 10 is here. I am only writing on the first paragraph of Federalist 10, and this may undergo major revision later. I’m not sure about a few of my arguments – 1. On the significance of faction: Madison begins by setting up …

February 14, 2008 – 6:55 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Ah, Academia – That Lovely Place Where No One Can Do a Damn Thing for Anyone Else

The letter below is taken from Willmoore Kendall: Maverick of American Conservatives, by John A. Murley, published by Lexington Books in 2002. Kendall founded the Politics program at the University of Dallas. May 14, 1961 Professor Willmoore Kendall Residenzia Pinar 21 Madrid 6 Spain Dear Willmoore: I have frequently wondered why I did not hear …

February 13, 2008 – 3:07 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, politics | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Going

I’m heading down to Dallas soon to try and write off as much of the dissertation as possible there. It’s gonna cost a good chunk of money to do this, because living elsewhere – no matter how little one attempts to spend – is never cheap.And that’s not the biggest deal even. The big worry …

February 10, 2008 – 11:42 pm | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (5)

Notes on Vitezslav Nezval’s "Defenestration"

for Elizabeth Wolcott Defenestration Vitezslav Nezval (translation Jerome Rothenberg and Milos Sovak) The angelus bells were booming like cannons & the sun that blew out the church’s windows flooded the cathedral on the castle hill where in the midst of hell its altars sizzled & it was only in Saint Wenceslas’ chapel that the dusk’s …

February 7, 2008 – 10:15 pm | By ashok | Posted in poetry | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

What Do You Need To Know About American Political Thought?

This is an attempt at a sneeze page. The idea is to provide context for older articles so new readers can see what this blog is about, at least in part. Some of you have asked me about what basic history you need to know in order to fully comprehend American politics.I think you’re asking …

February 6, 2008 – 8:08 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Comments (1)