Quote of the Day

"Student movements have an odd habit of ending up on the right side of history."

From the article "The Big Uneasy" by Nathan Heller in the May 30 issue of The New Yorker.

It is--I think--a pretty thoughtful and fair discussion some of some of the issues and controversies on today's college campuses. One thing I especially like is that Heller's nine-page article deals with the topic in a serious manner without once using the term "politically correct", which has become a term of the utmost banality and uselessness, and a term indicating a lack of rigorous thought.

Profile Change

For those who actually read this blog, you may or may not have noticed that I changed my by-line by removing the reference to "Progressive Island in the WELS". Again, for those who don't know what the WELS is, you can ignore. For those who do know, I sent a request for release of membership yesterday, so I am now outside looking in. The WELS has strayed from its core teaching about the two kingdoms and has become more and more politically active, and in a more and more strident way. Sarah Palin would feel welcome there, but I don't anymore. So sad.

James Comey Again?

For the second time in a few months, FBI Director James Comey has blamed the so-called Ferguson effect for the increase in crime in some areas of the country.  (Here's one column on the conservative blog HotAir.)  Mind you, there is no real evidence to back this up and I think Comey's statement is a little dopey, but let's leave that for a different discussion.

This is what I don't understand:  Let's suppose they are right, that some cops are hesitant to act because they don't want to end up in a video.  If that's a problem then what is the solution?  (I'm a little tired of conservatives criticizing everything from Obama's foreign policy to entitlements to the ACA without ever proposing a solution.)  Here's the way I see it: if I see a cop gunning down an unarmed person, am I not supposed to take a video?  If I do take a video, then I am the one at fault for the increase in crime?  Really?  Is that your solution?  If not, then what?  Or maybe if the unarmed person wasn't killed in the first place, then there would be no video and the cops wouldn't have to worry so much about being on one.

I know which solution I am in favor of....