Category: The Dish

She, more than anyone else, revived London as an international city of finance and commerce. The reason? Light regulation, loose immigration laws, liberal labor laws … and human nature. It’s amazing what government can do when it chooses to do little. And, of course, Thatcher’s legacy is a London mayor who still thinks of himself as a socialist, a swinging nightlife scene, thriving arts and commerce and vibrant multiculturalism. Not quite what she had in mind. But freedom often surprises.

McCain just got more desperate.

A writer laments:

Attention solipsistic young scribes: all the bad boyfriends, clueless parents and junior years abroad are no match for the child soldier. Better go back to whatever you were doing before you started writing about yourself. Just don’t go to Starbucks, because Beah’s book is being sold there, and you’ll just feel worse.

If you believe, you’re less likely to catch it:

"HIV-positive people who say religion is an important part of their lives are likely to have fewer sexual partners and engage in high-risk sexual behavior less frequently than other people with the virus that causes AIDS, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation. As a result, people with HIV who have stronger religious ties are less likely to spread the virus…"

Maybe if the churches didn’t stigmatize and alienate many of those at risk from the virus, they could be more of a part of the solution and less a part of the problem. More from the blog-post:

"This study suggests that there’s a role for religious institutions to play in the fight against the spread of HIV," Galvan said. "They have these core belief systems that do have a positive impact on the lives of people who are HIV-positive and who are sexually active. Religiosity is an untapped resource in the whole struggle against HIV and AIDs, and should be looked at more thoroughly."

We have an audio!

Rod Dreher finds an Orthodox akathist (chanted litany) composed and written by a Russian monk while in the Soviet gulag where he eventually died. If a man can see God in nature in such a place at such a time, there’s always hope. From Rod’s blog:

Glory to Thee Who from the dark depths of the earth
bringeth forth so many colors and scents.
Glory to Thee for the beauty of nature.
Glory to Thee Who hast surrounded us
with thousands of Thy creatures.
Glory to Thee for the depth of thy wisdom
whose seal is borne by all creation.
Glory to Thee for the tender feeling
with which I kiss the trace of Thine invisible foot.
Glory to Thee Who hast from the beginning
lit the glowing light of eternal life.
Glory to Thee for the hope in perfect and eternal beauty.
Glory to Thee, O God, in ages!

The same conscience-free rubber stamp now as he has always been.

Here’s an interesting essay by Matthew Sinclair, who posits a viable future for the Anglo-American right, and helps explain its current rifts:

Differences over social policy are real and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. However, libertarians should reflect that one of the main objectives of a conservative social policy is to avoid dependency on the state. Equally, conservatives should acknowledge that changes in social attitudes are making the libertarian position more popular on a growing number of non-economic issues. If all this is accepted then the compromise might become less galling.

Alone the libertarian and conservative movements are chronically vulnerable to the paradoxes that can undermine their success. By accepting the compromises that come with working together, the alliance can achieve so much more.

I still believe that conservatism is a better long-term ally for libertarianism than liberalism. That’s why I called my book, "The Conservative Soul." Sinclair also sees how this might be easier in Britain, where the Christianist movement barely exists:

Kieron O’Hara’s book "After Blair" was recently published in a second edition thanks to the election of David Cameron and the adoption of nearly all the first edition’s recommendations by the Conservative Party. His book sets Cameron’s politics in perspective as part of a long conservative philosophical tradition of sceptical moderation handed down from old thinkers like Montaigne and Burke (Oakeshottian conservatism is probably the closest approximation of O’Hara’s position in the American debate).

Montaigne, Burke, Oakeshott: the key triad.

A rare post-resignation sit-down.

The movie 300 finally has a sound-track worthy of its subject matter: