Time Well Wasted…Links Of The Week!

• A few interesting posts about North Korea.  The first is a bit hard to read because of a two-column format that doesn’t quite work.  But it is worth it anyway.  The second is from a former British Ambassador to the country.  The third focuses on propaganda.  I suppose the delegation mentioned in the first article is responsible for this flurry of articles and the spike of interest in North Korea.  Either that, or this propaganda can really get to the best of us.
• Do you have time for a few more words about Stan Musial?  I thought you might.
• What is driving the growth in government spending?  It’s not the military.  There may be very good reason to cut the military budget, but it’s consumption of GDP is not one of them.
• Thomas Nagel has written a book and H. Allen Orr has written a review.  I have for some time believed that even if common ancestry and change over time were true, there still remain issues with what might be called Darwinism or Neo-Darwinism.  Thomas Nagel seems to think so, too.
• Ross Douthat considers whether pro-life advocacy produces more single mothers or whether the abortion culture undermined the responsibility men have to their children.  Ross builds a pretty convincing case for the latter, but even if the former were true abortion would still be an abomination requiring repentance.  God will forgive.  God will restore.  But the people, all of us, must repent.
• G.K. Chesterton had a fair amount of influence in the resurgence of Dickens due to his biography about him.  This essay about Victor Hugo may not have been as influential, but it is still impressive for its insights.  Writing in 1902, he begins his essay by saying,

“The Centenary of Victor Hugo, which has just been celebrated in Paris, arouses some of the deepest thoughts which are possible in the human mind. Hugo represents the culmination of a revolution which almost in our own time shook the foundations of humanity, and already that revolution is old, and Hugo is a vague and remote figure, a doubtful and little discussed author. Yet he was, beyond question, one of the greatest men of letters that Europe has seen, and the day of his return into intellectual triumph is remote indeed, but certain.”

• Take down that cross.  I have mixed feelings about this one.  Of course I sympathize with the service men and women who took comfort in the cross.  Of course, if I had my druthers, it would stay up.  But, given how far away our country is from anything resembling the cross, perhaps it is better that people don’t associate our modern government with Christianity.  Here is an army that has abandoned all notions of chivalry.  Here is an army whose drone policy is very questionable and morally problematic, at minimum.  Here is an army that could not be considered Christian in any significant way.  So it may be best if no one is able to confuse it as such.  The scriptures are filled with men and women living faithful lives pleasing to God despite being in places or scenarios where their faith was not supported by the public institutions around them.  Those accounts will increasingly become a source of encouragement for people in situations just like this one.  The officials may take down the cross.  But the believer is reminded of and encouraged by the old song that says, “Take up thy cross…”
• Brent Bozell writes about one account – a fictional one – of a teenager facing a choice.  Rod Dreher pointed his readers to a true account of such a choice. Make sure you scroll to the picture at the end.  Gotta love NBC.  The more you know, I guess.
• What may have bothered me most about Mizzou moving to the SEC (you know, besides the greed) is that I am left with no good reason to hate the Jayhawks.  But hey, who needs a good reason….
• Well, I suppose this is one way to get a McMansion…
• What was that thing called chivalry?  I can’t remember.  A lot of people seem to be arguing these changes are based on a better understanding of women and equality.  I would argue these changes are a result of a poorer understanding of men.
• Aristocracy has been on the mind of a few lately.  Here are one, two, and three perspectives.  Aristocracy may have some good points, meritocracy may be better, but surely the worst thing to have would be an aristocracy that presents itself as meritocratic, which is what I fear we are producing.  At least a true aristocracy attempts to defend itself on the merits (no pun intended).
• Fluff.  Conor Friedersdorf finds the perfect word for so many of Barack Obama’s public speeches, not least of which was his Second Inaugural Address.
• Speaking of the inaugural, what is not to like about Antonin Scalia?
• Lastly, on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a couple thoughts.  We may not have a platform to argue for life.  We may not have a friend who made a regretful choice and is in need of a good ear to listen, a soft shoulder to cry on, and the mercy and peace of a forgiving God.  We may not have a personal story on the subject.  But we can still ask ourselves if we are doing what little we can, whatever that may be.  Prayer, for starters (and enders, too).  Also, I can’t help but wonder how many of the few hundred thousand at this march were there because in a difficult moment their mother chose life.  Most of all, do not weary, do not rest.