Category: Varia
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Copy Editor Makes Me Out to be a Disease
Dear Dr. Varicella: Attached you will find two PDFs: a copyedited version of your manuscript and a version indicating changes to the original file. This is your final opportunity to make any clarifications or stylistic changes to the manuscript. An honest mistake, no doubt, so I won't reveal the names of the editor or…
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Why I Rarely Allow Comments
Because of comments like these, though they are surely not the worst one can find. (I cite them only because my Referral List pointed me to the post to which they are appended.) But they are characteristic. In my experience, to discuss religion with the irreligious and the anti-religious is a sheer waste of time. …
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There’s No Place Like . . .
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Good Reads
Roger Kimball, Racism, Inc. Victor Davis Hanson, The Decline of College; The Late, Great Middle Class Leon Wieseltier, Crimes Against Humanities Edward Feser, Man is Wolff to Man. I was going to write this post, but Ed beat me to it. Ed beats down the superannuated Wolff for boarding the bandwagon of benighted bashers of…
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The Journal of Analytic Theology
I had the pleasure of meeting Trent Dougherty at the Prague conference on Analytic Theology. He informed me that he is an executive editor of a new on-line publication, The Journal of Analytic Theology. The Journal of Analytic Theology is an open access, international journal that twice anually publishes articles, book reviews, and book symposia…
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Blasted Typos!
I am astonished at my poor ability to spot typographical errors despite my assiduous exercise of what is pleonastically referred to as 'due diligence.' I see what I bloody well want to see. I read the following a good dozen times and failed to see the mistake: Astinence is no mark of a rounder which…
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Jim Ryan’s Truths
Jim Ryan posts infrequently but thoughtfully. His latest entry is a list of truths he considers self-evident. I don't consider them all self-evident, but I do consider them all true.
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Another Zimmerman: The Plagiarist Jára Cimrman
You've heard of Robert Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan, and the 'white-Hispanic' George Zimmerman whose nomen has proven to be one bad omen indeed. (Would we have heard about him at all had his name been Jorge Ramirez?) Permit me to introduce you to Jára Cimrman whose Czech surname, if I am not badly mistaken, is…
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Ohne Fleiß Kein Preis
Loosely translated: No pain, no gain. Der Fleiß (Fleiss) is German for diligence. Thus 'Heidi Fleiss' is a near aptronym, diligent as she was in converting concupiscence into currency. Another interesting German word is Sitzfleisch. It too is close in meaning to diligence, staying power. Fleisch is meat and Sitz, seat, is from the verb…
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William Lane Craig to Debate Lawrence Krauss
In Australia, soon, details here. Topic: Why is there something rather than nothing? Poor Krauss is going to get slaughtered, and deservedly so. Debating Craig is like getting into a gun fight with Doc Holliday. I would never debate him on anything, even if I thought debate was philosophically worthwhile. He has been honing his…
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Spencer Case
I was relieved to hear today that Spencer Case, long-time friend of MavPhil, and Middle Eastern correspondent, is once again safely Stateside after a nine month stint in Cairo as a Fulbright fellow researching Islamic philosophy. I say 'relieved' because of the Andrew Pochter case. Spencer tells me that he writes a monthly column for a conservative collegiate…
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On Criticizing Something for Being What It Is
If a person or institution is essentially F, then to criticize it for being F is equivalent to criticizing it for existing. (If x is essentially F, then x cannot exist without being F. If x is F, but not essentially, then x is accidentally F: capable of existing without being F.) Let's test this…
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Time to Fire Up the BBQ
But before I do, I'll wish my American readers a happy and healthy Fourth of July to the strains of Johnny Horton's The Battle of New Orleans.
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July 4th Twilight Zone Marathon
Starts tomorrow, muchachos. Begins at 8 AM Eastern and runs until 6 AM July 5th. Schedule here. My eyes glued to the set, my lovely wife invariably asks, "Haven't you seen that episode before?" She doesn't get it. I've seen 'em all numerous times each. Hell, I've been watching 'em since 1959 when the series…
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Hippo Swallows Man Who Lives to Tell Tale
If a hippopotamus swallows a man, does the man become a part of the hippo's body? Might this be relevant to the Woman's Body Argument?