Steve Matheson speaks up for us ‘spineless appeasers’: 1. I embrace evolutionary explanations because they have explanatory power. For the same reason, I embrace naturalistic explanations for the development of the human brain, and for the causation of cancer, and for the formation of the Grand Canyon. All of these explanations involve mechanisms that are… Continue reading

One of the nice things when your kids get to reading age is finding out whether all those old books you held on to for years are of any value. One of the first books I loved when I was in the first and second grades was the How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs.… Continue reading

Adam Kirsch looks at the ‘subtleties’ of Pat Buchanan’s historical scholarship: Mr. Buchanan’s total reliance on the work of historians — there is no sign in this book that has opened a scholarly journal or delved into an archive — makes it a bit rich for him to claim that he is out to overturn… Continue reading

I agree with Andrew Sullivan. If Obama wins, he should keep this guy. When the generals decided not to buy vehicles designed to deflect roadside bombs – since they might not be useful in future conflicts – Gates overruled them. In the view of this SecDef, protecting our troops now is more important than fantasies… Continue reading