A life in words

  • Point

    I reproduce here an email I received in response to my previous post, “How to Tell Constructive Writing from Diatribe.” Dear Josh, After coming across your comments about our blog on yours, we thought you’d be interested in an update on the situation, namely that the author of Russia Blog has admitted that his post…

  • How to Tell Constructive Writing from Diatribe

    Alright friends, I’m going to ask you to compare two blog posts. After that we’€™ll discuss the differences, just like you used to do in school! The first one is at Russia Blog: “Slander” — The Wall Street Journal Misinforms on Extremism Legislation. The second is at La Russophobe (a name which, by the way,…

  • BYU Dating Reform: Part 1

    So over at Date Club Prophecies you’€™ll find a pseudo-serious but still thought provoking (in some ways) discussion of dating. Honestly, dating in its present form at Brigham Young University and in the United States in general seems inadequate as a match-making institution and perhaps needs some reenvigorating. Here are some of my thoughts. The…

Of a commonwealth, whose subjects are but hindered by terror from taking arms, it should rather be said, that it is free from war, than that it has peace. For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character….Baruch Spinoza, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus V.4, 1670, trans. A. H. Gosset 1883