The Tyranny of Cliches

I've been a fan of Jonah Goldberg for a long, long time. I read the first of his three books, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning not long after it was published in 2008. Due to circumstances which I won't go into now, I've only recently downloaded (and read) his book from 2012, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas .

The Tyranny of Cliches is ten years old, so naturally some of what's in the book is dated. In it's overall description of Liberals and Progressives, however, the book is still relevant today.

Of course, there is no mention of Donald Trump, but Goldberg was warning us of the dangers of populism in 2012. Anyone familiar with Jonah Goldberg knows he is no fan of Trump and he's resisted the call to jump on the populist bandwagon that far too many "Conservatives" have climbed aboard in this age of the Donald.

He's one chapter dealing with the question of science. Liberals like to claim that they're the ones who support science while the Conservatives fight against science, tooth and nail. I'll admit that there is a group of Conservatives who believe in a young Earth, with no evolution allowed; with Noah's ark and all the rest. I'm not one of those. As far as Democrats being the party of science, I've addressed that in a blog post - Isn't Biology "Science" Too?. As I wrote in that post:

Far too many folks, who believe themselves to be following the science, seem to ignore the science involving DNA. These people seem to forget "science" when science tells us that the human fetus is, well, a human. A human fetus can only grow to become a fully functioning human. A human fetus cannot magically transform into a dog, or cat, or dolphin or some alien life form. Killing a fetus in the womb is killing a human being. That is an undeniable scientific fact.
The DNA of the fetus also proves that the fetus is a separate and distinct individual and not a body part of the mother. Prematurely removing a fetus from a mother's body, by way of abortion, is not the same as removing an appendix.
While we're on the subject of DNA, examining the DNA shows that human beings come in only one of two genders. An individual's DNA and chromosomal makeup reveals whether the person in question is male or female. No matter how you may feel about whether or not you're in the "right body", your DNA reveals your gender.

Another chapter in Goldberg's book covers another subject which I've written about myself. Liberals and Progressives look down on traditional Christianity, but still looking to be "spiritual", they will claim to be Buddhists or adherents of other Eastern religions. However, in spite of the fact that traditional Buddhism doesn't permit abortion, when the Dalai Lama released his first book in Great Britain, his editors got him to water down his views on abortion so as not to alienate his potential buyers.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather leave the heavy lifting to Jonah Goldberg.It's well worth the read.

The Reading List for September, 2022

September is nearly at an end and the time has come for me to post yet another monthly book list. Frankly, my heart isn't in it.

There are only four books on this month's list - a very disappointing number, to say the least. Unfortunately, my choice of books for September weren't very interesting. Of the four books, I can only recommend one - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Even it has fallen in my ratings - from a five star to a four star. Still, it's a book worth reading, however.

So, for better or worse, here is the list of books read in September.

The Five Red Herrings  Dorothy L. Sayers
Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness  Thubten Chodron
The Deerslayer  James Fenimore Cooper
In This House of Brede  Rumer Godden

VW Beetle - number 73

Note:This will be simultaneously posted to all three of my blogs-
sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken
dumaguetewebsite
robertsimms

Anyone who has followed me for any length of time is aware of my occasional posting of photos of Volkswagen Beetles that I might happen upon while roaming about Dumaguete and Sibulan. This will be the 70th VW post published onto the first blog. Those 70 posts have featured 73 different Beetles - not including the VWs featured in a blog post on VWs in Davao.

As has been my routine for over a year, I went out early this morning on my bicycle. I don't always take the same route; I'm likely to go anywhere within a five or six mile radius of my home. Today, I took a slight detour toward the Negros Oriental Convention Center not far from the Main Campus of Negros Oriental State University.

As I passed an office of the Highway Patrol, I spotted the VW Beetle I'm featuring here.

The Five Red Herrings

The Five Red Herrings is the sixth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers. The eleven novels in the series, as well as a number of short stories, are available for download (as e-books) at a Canadian website, fadedpage.com. I had downloaded the 11 e-books last year when I was on an Agatha Christie binge, but had neglected to read any until after coming upon  a review of her first novel by a Facebook friend.

After reading Whose Body? and clearing up a few books I had already put into the queue, I began reading the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I've read the first six, and for the most part, I've enjoyed what I've read. However, I'm afraid that I didn't care for The Five Red Herrings . I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I found Sayers' usage of a heavy Scottish accent in this particular book distracting. The story was far too complicated and difficult to follow, and the accents made it much worse. From wikipedia:

"The first edition was reviewed in The Spectator of 1931 by MI Cole who found the impregnable alibis of the rather indistinguishable artist suspects, and the elaborate examination of timetables, ticket punches and so on, to be really taxing to the intelligence. He noted that Lord Peter Wimsey and the author's usual pleasant fantasies have retired into the background leaving a 'pure-puzzle' book which is disappointing, dry, and dull. He acknowledged, however, that it has been appreciated immensely by puzzle fanatics who possess 'the type of mind that goes on solving crossword puzzles for ever and ever' ".

After reading The Five Red Herrings, I decided to put the last five books in the series on a temporary hold. I've gone off in a totally new direction with the book I'm currently reading - Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness by Thubten Chodron.