Monthly Archives: May 2025

Al Foster, 1943-2025

May 31, 2025 – 6:09 pm

I am saddened to hear of the death of jazz drummer Al Foster, who died on May 28th at the age of 82. He was one of the all-time greats. I only did a few sessions with Al, so I can’t say I really knew him well, but my impression of him was that he […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (0)

Harrison Tyler, 1928-2025

May 28, 2025 – 5:51 pm

Here’s something worth noting: Harrison Ruffin Tyler, who was the grandson of America’s 10th president, John Tyler, has died in Virginia at the age of 98. Harrison’s grandfather John was born in 1790, and ascended to the presidency in 1841 upon the death, after only 31 days in office, of William Henry Harrison (who, I […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Curiosities | Comments (3)

Hard Questions About AI

May 23, 2025 – 7:55 pm

Over at Maverick Philosopher, Bill Vallicella has posted an essay examining some of the most difficult questions we are about to face as artificial intelligence advances, in particular the question of whether the AI systems we develop (or which, as may happen in the very near future, develop themselves) will qualify for moral and legal […]

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (4)

Hard Times

May 21, 2025 – 6:22 pm

Here’s a brief item about college English majors trying to read and comprehend Dickens. (Spoiler: they can’t.) Here’s an example of what they were trying to read: LONDON. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets, as if the waters had […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture | Comments (7)

De Morientibus Nil Nisi Bonum?

May 19, 2025 – 7:15 pm

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Latin expression “de mortuis nil nisi bonum”, which exhorts us not to speak ill of the dead. Given the news we’ve just had about Joe Biden (carefully timed, of course, to pre-empt both the forthcoming book by the astonishingly hypocritical Jake Tapper and the damning release of the […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Politics, Rubbish | Comments (3)

What’s In A Name?

May 12, 2025 – 9:57 pm

I’ve been reading a lot of Chesterton lately. Here’s a treat for you, from chapter 3 of his book Heretics: I remember a long time ago a sensible sub-editor coming up to me with a book in his hand, called “Mr. Smith,” or “The Smith Family,” or some such thing. He said, “Well, you won’t […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Books | Comments (2)

Weekend Warriors

May 12, 2025 – 6:04 pm

This weekend, the Trump administration produced: an American hostage released by Hamas; a provisional trade agreement with China that sent the Dow soaring over 1,000 points today; renewed negotiations between Russian and Ukraine; a cease-fire agreement between India and Pakistan; and an executive order that promises to reduce prescription-drug prices. Today, Mr. Trump fielded questions […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Politics | Comments (0)

Madness In Maine

May 6, 2025 – 12:33 pm

Here’s a story to keep an eye on: Those of you who follow current events (and I can hardly blame you if you don’t) will know that President Trump has been leaning on state governments to stop allowing men to compete in women’s sports. The state of Maine has been particularly recalcitrant: the governor, Janet […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Politics | Comments (5)

Watershed

May 4, 2025 – 6:29 pm

Over at The Orthosphere, Kristor has been putting Grok through its paces, most recently by asking it to write an essay in Kristor’s own style. The result is impressive — really quite extraordinarily so, especially for a technology that is still in its infancy, and accelerating exponentially. Kristor is “spooked”. I think we all should […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Technology, Ruminations | Comments (8)