Motives, Laughs and Monty Python: Blasphemy in the Christian World
David Nash, author of ‘Blasphemy in the Christian World’, takes a look at the outrage surrounding Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’.
What’s Next? The Legal Questions: Part Three
Tushnet looks at the 2nd amendment.
East or West…
Anatoly looks at the origins of directionals.
On This Day In History: Belva Lockwood
Belva Lockwood runs for President.
The Gun-Control Position: Part Two
Mark Tushnet looks at gun-control argument.
Bootstrapping
Philip Davis’s final post in his five-part series.
The Second Amendment and the Gun-Rights Argument: Part One
With Constitution Day today, it seems a good time to talk about a constitutional issue that’s likely to get to the Supreme Court’s attention pretty soon: the Second Amendment. Shortly after it opens its term in October the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear an appeal on handgun possession.
God Goes To Harvard
D. Michael Lindsay looks at the changes in faith on campus.
Read Out Loud!
Below Philip Davis, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, combines science with literature to convince us to read out loud more often.
I Was Brodsky’s Minder
Davis remembers Brodsky.
L’Shana Tova 5768
A Vigil at the Wailing Wall: In those days Rabbi Abraham Berukhim was known for performing the Midnight Vigil. He rose at midnight and walked through the streets of Safed, crying out, “Arise, for the Shekhinah is in exile, and our holy house is devoured by fire, and Israel faces great danger.”
How the OED Got Shorter
Ben’s column this week looks at the fascinating history of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. He explains how the OED, quite possibly OUP’s most important book (well, series of books), got trimmed to a manageable two volumes and why this development was important.
God’s Blog
Philip Davis’s second blog.
What the Deuce,
Or, Etymological Devilry
The Devil is in people’s thoughts, and his names are many. One of them is the obscure ‘Old Nick’. The word nicker “water sprite” explained as an old participle “washed one” – is unrelated to it. Then there is ‘nickel’. The term was easy to coin, but copper could not be obtained from the nickel ore.
Oxford World’s Classics Book Club: The Ambassadors
This month’s book club pick is…