Can Conservatives Reclaim the Culture?

April 15, 2013
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Can Conservatives Reclaim the Culture?

If you happen to be in southern or central Michigan tomorrow, please consider heading to Hillsdale College, where the Liberty21 Institute is hosting a panel discussion at addressing the provocative question: Can Conservatives Reclaim the Culture? Since the last election, many on the right have begun to argue that conservatives have lost the culture and that getting back into the cultural mainstream is essential to any long-term success for conservatives and/or the liberty movement. Culture, they now realize, is far too important to leave to the…

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The Great Pronzini

April 13, 2013
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The Great Pronzini

Today marks Bill Pronzini’s 70th birthday, and I want to join the discussion on the blogosphere with my own tribute to this admirable author of mystery, suspense, Western, and critical works. Pronzini is a well-known and respected author, but he’s something of a rarity on the modern mystery scene: he knows a lot about the genre’s history. His collection of books and pulp magazines is massive, and he has written and contributed to several reference volumes, including three books on “alternative classics” (i.e. books so bad that they…

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It’s Finally 1984!

April 8, 2013
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I think George Orwell might be surprised to find that the dystopian future he envisioned in his classic novel 1984 didn’t come with a totalitarian Soviet boot stamped on a face in 2013. Rather it seems to be coming in the name of equality and tolerance. The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that will not shut up, and now the love that demands universal affirmation, or else.

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Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

April 8, 2013
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Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

Annette Funicello, famous as an early Mousketeer and as the star of a string of 1960s beach movies, died today at the age of 70. I remember her well. I wasn’t one of those who had a crush on her, since her wave crested before I hit adolescence, but I was well aware of her. After working many years with Disney she got cast with Frankie Avalon in a string of silly beach blanket movies. She also had a successful career as a singer. Through…

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Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

April 8, 2013
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Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

We in the United States should take good note of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's accomplishments. Thatcher's life's work is of immense relevance because today's United States has more in common with the Great Britain that Thatcher took over in 1979 than with the United States of 1981 when Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency after the inept Jimmy Carter administration. . . .

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It’s All Relative

April 6, 2013
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It’s All Relative

"It's no use to try to explain it all."

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“Shake or Bake?”

April 4, 2013
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“Shake or Bake?”

"Bacon, Hys Booke. Kepe Out. Thyss Means You!"

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“Kill Your Darlings” Will Please Hard-Boiled Fans

April 2, 2013
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“Kill Your Darlings” Will Please Hard-Boiled Fans

“I’m jealous,” she said, pretending not to be. “You could have had room service with me.” She said that flatly, without stressing the innuendo – but the “nuendo” was in there, all right. “Kill your darlings” is writers’ jargon for one of the hardest lessons of the craft – that the particular passage you worked hardest on and are proudest of is very likely the one you need most to cut. Max Allan Collins’ early novel Kill Your Darlings is another of his Mallory books,…

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Portrait of a Capitalist: PBS Show ‘Mr. Selfridge’

March 31, 2013
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Portrait of a Capitalist: PBS Show ‘Mr. Selfridge’

The new series on 'Masterpiece Classic' on PBS, 'Mr. Selfridge," is a balanced, sympathetic, and wise portrait of a capitalist, a welcome example of thoughtfulness in these politicized and ignorant times. . . .

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Happy Easter, Google!

March 31, 2013
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Happy Easter, Google!

Over at PJ Media, “Google Celebrates Easter in their Own Special Way.” UPDATE: I Came across this piece, ”Why It’s Fitting to Remember Cesar Chavez on Easter Sunday” and thought I’m sure the irony is completely lost on Google.                            

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Some Liberals Get the Importance of Marriage!

March 27, 2013
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Some Liberals Get the Importance of Marriage!

And I don’t mean the oxymoronic kind making the rounds in the Supreme Court. I mean the real kind, the kind that includes the biological possibility of children, the kind of marriage every society in the history of the world knew it to be, until the 21st Century that is, when for some reason in the name of equality it needs to be redefined. But I digress, even before I get started. Ruth Marcus is a Washington Post reliably liberal op-ed columnist. Her latest piece…

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AETV’s ‘Bates Motel’ Worth Checking Into

March 27, 2013
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AETV’s ‘Bates Motel’ Worth Checking Into

A&E's new drama series, 'Bates Motel,' is another entry in the already overpopulated serial-killer genre, but it tries to do a bit more than just invent new ways to show gore and cruelty. In fact, its attempts to place in context the protagonist's eventual murderous behavior suggest an interesting social criticism. . . .

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We’ve Been Here Before: Justifying Government Control of Communications

March 26, 2013
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We’ve Been Here Before: Justifying Government Control of Communications

"... illiterate, excitable, and easily dominated by the spoken and pictured word."

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Nothing to It

March 23, 2013
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Nothing to It

"Science doesn’t need a first cause, religion does."

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Philadelphia Mayor: If You Try to Talk About Race Relations, We’ll Shut You Up!

March 22, 2013
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Philadelphia Mayor: If You Try to Talk About Race Relations, We’ll Shut You Up!

I wrote this week about an article in Philadelphia Magazine by a Robert Huber, who shared with the audience his white perspective on race relations in Philadelphia. As I pointed out, I don’t think Philly is unique, because left-liberal attitudes and policies have poisoned attitudes toward race in America for decades.  But it looks like you better not utter such politically incorrect thoughts in Philadelphia out loud, lest the mayor sic the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission on you. It looks like Mark Steyn’s experience in Canada crossing the…

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