The Four Sins of ‘Thawteffery’

The neologism thawteffery is for “thought F-ery.” F-ery connotes a short-run horizon, such as the election cycle. I pronounce it “thaw-tef-fery.”

Thawteffery is the wicked management of thought, election-to-election, by wicked people for wicked purposes. I speak of the wicked …

The case for polyamory

The world seems to be awash with new ways of being in a relationship — or so a flurry of articles examining polyamory would have us believe. Last month, The New York Times featured a 20-person “polycule”; earlier this year, …

There is no solution to the Gaza War

In assessing Israel’s post-October 7 military campaign in Gaza, it helps to recall Clausewitz’s dictum that war, though horrific, isn’t ultimately about killing and destruction for the sake of it but a means for states to achieve their political goals. …

The lunacy of Child Liberation

Lionel Shriver’s latest novel, Mania, starts from the wild and wacky premise of a world in which “the last civil rights battle” is being fought against discrimination on the grounds of intelligence, and the “s-word” is as taboo there as …

WHO Amendments Revisited

We received a private email from an experienced statistician who, after reading our post and the WHO International Health Regulations draft amendments being discussed now, offered his help and explained why. His message seems to embody the feelings of many …