tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109107492009-11-06T11:37:25.461-08:00Culture Criticism with a Philosophical and Literary Flair. Diagnosing Moral Malpractice since 1989.RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-80486341158873824732009-11-06T11:31:00.001-08:002009-11-06T11:36:03.629-08:00

Anonymous asks me to justify the use of the word “prominent” in describing David Berlinski’s scholarship. The term “prominent” covers a wide range of meaning from “noticeable” and “widely known” (which Berlinski is by virtue of his writings) to someone who is “favorably known” within a particular discipline (which Berlinski is not by reason of his dissent from regnant Darwinian Orthodoxy). I

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-37495284558236529252009-11-04T12:06:00.000-08:002009-11-04T12:26:22.255-08:00

Here is a succinct (but detailed and precise) summary of the fatal flaws of Darwinian evolution, presented by a prominent scholar and critic of the theory. Berlinski, it should be noted, is a (self-described) secular Jew--not a "religious partisan."http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=1ca11f31ea13123dd125Here is a link to a article published in 1996 in Commentary Magazine and included in the

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-76263077881318107532009-10-29T20:44:00.000-07:002009-10-29T20:47:01.703-07:00

“What are they so upset about? What’s wrong with these folks?” That’s the typical news spin put on the Tea Parties that sprang up across the country this spring—climaxing in the huge September 12, Washington D.C. march that was undercovered and diminished by the mainstream media. The North County Times has provided prominent coverage of specific local events, but the paper’s natural reliance on

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-12217040098080691502009-10-28T19:34:00.000-07:002009-10-28T19:36:23.788-07:00

Molotov Mitchell is billed the Ann Coulter of videos.Judge for yourself:http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=114193

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-37945914576834882682009-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:002009-10-15T12:43:29.540-07:00

Almost two years ago to the day my column in the North County Times asked whether a Montebello schoolteacher named John Monti was being “Nifonged” by then San Diego City Attorney, Mike Aguirre.“Nifonged” is the verb coined to describe the prosecution of an innocent individual for political purposes—as the North Carolina D.A., Mike Nifong, did to three Duke lacrosse players. Nifong’s brazen

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-12823797748531974102009-10-02T10:20:00.000-07:002009-10-02T10:22:54.859-07:00

Plans for President Obama’s nationally televised back-to-school speech had local superintendents and board members scrambling to come up with various opt-out compromises that might satisfy parents who feared the worst.After the speech, however, there’s been a lot of back-pedaling by school officials who found the address innocuous and heavy on personal responsibility. Several Letters to the

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-74497199524857803072009-09-17T08:55:00.000-07:002009-09-17T08:57:02.769-07:00

Walt Whitman described his poetic musings as a “barbaric yawp.” The phrase more accurately describes the character of collective democratic discourse.When three thousand citizens come together to demonstrate their unhappiness—as happened at Oceanside’s amphitheater on Thursday before Labor Day weekend—you can bet that the ideas expressed won’t be nuanced. Detailed arguments don’t fit on a poster.

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-55201149966609605742009-09-16T11:51:00.000-07:002009-09-16T11:59:22.602-07:00

Here is a reasonable statistical/visual analysis of the 9/12 rally in Washington D.C. that puts the number well north of one million.http://www.scribd.com/doc/19743935/The-Real-Number-of-Protesters-Zac-MoilanenMoilanen is from Indiana University.

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-37394096272808718032009-09-08T11:20:00.001-07:002009-09-08T11:21:31.802-07:00

Was it an imbroglio, a kerfuffle, or an assault? And if the latter, who was assaulted? Was the hostess of Francine Busby’s Encinitas rally assaulted by a rogue policeman or was the officer assaulted by a gaggle of Busby supporters who were mightily offended at having standard police procedures applied to their better-than-thou coastal selves?District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis decided that

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-12157675009660212432009-08-21T09:01:00.000-07:002009-08-21T09:02:48.406-07:00

Last month I highlighted a speech by NEA chief counsel Bob Chanin to the union’s national convention in San Diego—an invective-laced stem-winder that could be summarized as follows: What’s good for the union is good for public education.There was no evidence presented that corroborated this self-serving assertion, but the idea obviously had a receptive audience—including officials of the Vista

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-84228558803635940412009-08-07T12:10:00.000-07:002009-08-07T12:17:54.847-07:00

Solutions to California’s budget woes frequently echo the type of wishful thinking displayed by President Obama last month when he responded to a question about what Americans would have to give up for government-managed health care.The President observed that Americans would have to “give up paying for things that don’t make them healthier”—then provided a simplistic example that assumed his

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-6228303712534746632009-07-23T10:50:00.000-07:002009-07-23T10:52:23.435-07:00

It’s not the kind of news AP generally cares to print—and I found no local reportage on the story. I refer to a speech given by the National Education Association’s retiring General Counsel Bob Chanin at the group’s convention in San Diego during the long Fourth of July weekend. The entire presentation is on YouTube. I provide a few salient snippets below:About the NEA’s effectiveness as an

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-60594966460274551282009-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:002009-07-16T18:11:52.874-07:00

“Legoland cancels tribute to Jackson.” That’s a local headline that catches the eye.According to this July 3 North County Times story, the Carlsbad amusement park was planning to install “a 4-inch-tall model of the ‘King of Pop’ in the park’s popular Miniland Southern California attraction” but pulled the pint-sized plug on the project because of “unresolved legal issues.” The article also noted

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-76051283429816356752009-07-06T13:47:00.000-07:002009-07-06T13:50:04.727-07:00

Paul Begala is having a grand time celebrating the infidelities of Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Both Republicans resigned party posts after their extra-marital affairs were exposed, and both know their futures within the party are greatly diminished or nonexistent. Fortunately for Democrats, cheating entails no comparable sanctions on their side of the

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-46898771717698141752009-07-04T11:06:00.000-07:002009-07-04T11:12:41.928-07:00

Here is an IBD article by a Canadian on that nation's much-ballyhooed and little-publicized socialized health care system--a deadly model of rationed and delayed care that even seeks to control the number of babies delivered by hospital!http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=331427651488835

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-19526734390933234122009-06-24T13:52:00.000-07:002009-06-24T13:54:59.060-07:00

Three anecdotes come to mind when I consider the hysteria that greets any cost-cutting proposal for California’s 20-billion-plus budget deficit.The first is a classroom comment made decades ago by a naïve seminary student who’d obviously never paid a water bill in his life. The young man opined that various public services should be provided at no cost—just like water is.The second was an

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-15403751045608428562009-06-10T17:06:00.000-07:002009-06-10T17:07:52.500-07:00

A letter writer to the North County Times recently complained because I noted in a column that “Obama’s minions” are intent on undoing conservative talk radio. The objector, who claimed that no facts supported my assertion, is doubtless dependent on the MSM for his view of things and oblivious to the fact that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well as Senators

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-40170965452417080282009-05-28T09:47:00.000-07:002009-05-28T09:51:07.413-07:00

The sociologist Peter Berger once famously observed that if India is the most religious country in the world and Sweden the least religious, then America is a nation of Indians governed by Swedes.The November vote on Proposition 8 that reaffirmed the definition of marriage as the legal union of a man and a woman illustrated that even in Euro-leaning California, a gap between ruling class and

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-90014843328702270182009-05-24T16:33:00.000-07:002009-05-24T16:38:37.914-07:00

Here is family psychologist John Rosemond's take on the proper education of children--a position that draws on the insight of writer Flannery O'Connor:In her 1963 essay, "Total Effect and the Eighth Grade," Flannery O'Connor's purpose was to argue for requiring children to read the classics that defined Western Civilization. In the course of making her case, she said something that every parent

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-24243629709122779082009-05-14T10:01:00.000-07:002009-05-14T10:04:44.769-07:00

The Donald has declared that Carrie Prejean can keep her Miss California title. Trump’s “you’re not fired” decision ended a chapter in the media frenzy swirling around the Vista High School graduate--but it didn’t close the book.Following Trump’s announcement, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s prime-time hatemonger, launched a six-minute tirade against Prejean that showed the leftist network’s verbal

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-43545546242061789102009-05-05T10:19:00.000-07:002009-05-05T10:21:00.958-07:00

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, 2005 Vista High graduate and student body president, is asked a politically charged question about gay marriage by a gay activist and blogger who calls himself Perez Hilton. She provides an almost apologetic response at the conclusion of which she expresses her belief that marriage should continue to be—as it has been throughout history—between a man and a woman.

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-34246615492969661302009-04-17T13:21:00.000-07:002009-04-17T13:30:57.103-07:00

On April 15th dangerous homegrown terrorist types in hundreds of cities around the country gathered to peacefully protest what they see as an unprecedented expansion of government authority and spending that promises to triple the national debt in eight years.In Oceanside, scores of these Timothy McVeigh wannabes were cleverly disguised as mothers with kids or mature ladies tastefully garbed in

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-69118294533904889422009-04-14T17:03:00.000-07:002009-04-14T17:21:40.905-07:00

The irony of this incident tempts even the skeptical to wonder whether some "invisible hand" was at work in this "accident" that ended the life of the owner of the nation's largest for-profit abortion chain at a Catholic Cemetery where a memorial is dedicated to the unborn victims of abortion.

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-87751039437550359682009-04-09T18:00:00.000-07:002009-04-09T18:02:15.654-07:00

Watermelons: “green” on the outside, “red” on the inside. That popular definition of environmental statists is what Czech President Vaclav Klaus had in mind when he denounced global warming zealots for promoting “a new religion” that “threatens to undermine freedom and the world’s economic and social order.”Klaus would not have been welcome a week ago Saturday when lights were dimmed in San Diego

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10910749.post-54052005310980744822009-03-26T17:16:00.000-07:002009-03-26T17:18:20.036-07:00

Barack Obama: Infanticide Supporter.

RKirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893241965610205006noreply@blogger.com0