Monthly Archives: October 2009

Rethink in Review: October 2009

My apologies that I didn’t blog more on political philosophy this month – I didn’t really read that much offline, just Plato’s Charmides (and a dense commentary on that by Benardete) and a reread of Xenophon’s On Tyranny (finishing up the commentary by Strauss right now). I also think I completed a reread of the …

October 31, 2009 – 7:39 am | By ashok | Posted in blogging, links | Comments (0)

“Ivywall of Sparrows,” Amy King

Ivywall of Sparrows (from MiPOesias) Amy King for Rob Davis I missed you at the coffee shop before sunrise, so I went along with a to-go in hand all the way to Clinton and Jerolemon, where the subway juts up from the earth’s eye socket, & from the corner of my own, I twisted toward …

October 30, 2009 – 9:41 am | By ashok | Posted in poetry | Tagged | Comments (8)

A Sample of What American Political Life Needs Far More of

NRO’s Jim Geraghty reports that the two major candidates for governor in Virginia, McDonnell (R) and Deeds (D), were asked the following by a magazine [original]: Can you name one good reason that someone should vote for your opponent? I’ve put their responses in the blockquote below: DEEDS: [Long pause] You know, I can name …

October 29, 2009 – 10:35 am | By ashok | Posted in links, politics | Comments (3)

Links, 10/28/09

First two links are from aldaily.com. Historians Reassess Battle of Agincourt – The older view, fta: Based on chronicles that he considers to be broadly accurate, Clifford J. Rogers, a professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point, argues that Henry was in fact vastly outnumbered. For the English, there were about …

October 28, 2009 – 9:38 am | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

Soaked

It’s soaked outside: it rained on and off all day yesterday, and that is continuing today. I love the color of the sky, but it is a blank with no sense of texture, nothing for the eye to wander to. However: looking at the soggy ground and the soggy objects all around makes things seem …

October 28, 2009 – 9:03 am | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (2)

Things Everyone Should Read – Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”

Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” The essay is a bit dated; Hofstadter says there’s “something to be said… for the nativist desire to develop in North America a homogeneous civilization” in reference to anti-Catholic conspiracy theory (don’t ask, I don’t want to know what he means). He also seems to imply that …

October 27, 2009 – 10:29 am | By ashok | Posted in links, politics | Comments (3)

Links, 10/26/09

“Carlin Romano’s Wrongheaded Heidegger Assessment,” Stephen Metcalf (h/t Ario) – Everyone should read this; no, I’m not kidding. fta: Heidegger was born on the border of the Black Forest near the turn of the 20th century, and almost everything about his lived reality was pre-capitalist. He did not live in a city; he was surrounded …

October 26, 2009 – 10:52 am | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

Yet Again – Under No Circumstances Should Jon Corzine be Re-elected Governor of NJ

The New York Post can be sensationalistic right-wing trash, but it can also identify the most significant issue and not make excuses for people who don’t deserve it. Here’s an article that’s worth a read – “Corzine, Cash & Corruption:” New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine really has no shame. Just hours after Bergen County’s longtime …

October 25, 2009 – 6:03 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Comments (1)

Jefferson’s Epitaph, Education and the Enlightenment Republic

Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone | Jefferson’s epitaph and tombstone design – original A friend asked about the linkage between American government and education: the United States is an Enlightenment country certainly, and we definitely make claims to be a meritocracy. But as any reader of this blog knows, Enlightenment came at the expense of ancient and …

October 24, 2009 – 4:40 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

Links, 10/23/09

Churches involved in torture, murder of thousands of African children denounced as witches (h/t LGF): There’s a scar above Jane’s shy smile: her mother tried to saw off the top of her skull after a pastor denounced her and repeated exorcisms costing a total of $60 didn’t cure her of witchcraft. Mary, 15, is just …

October 23, 2009 – 10:34 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (1)