[blogfocus thursday] strong opinions, mildly expresed

When bloggers are forthright and support their views, the results are usually more than readable.

1 Matt Murrell reviews the battle royal over the Virginia shooter:

Although the motivation of the Virginia shooter remain murky, with the initial reports of a single, emotionally-unbalanced killer, Scot Atram’s presentation on the consequences of group-dynamics (as reported by ‘Atheist Ethicist’) seems relevant to this type of situation.

And finally, Blogpower bloggers 'The Thunderdragon' and 'Lord Nazh' offer conflicting views on the solution to this type of problem. To restrict, or not to restrict.

2 Ian Appleby is the only blogger to notice this and therefore takes the prize:

I doubt I'll be the only blogger to note it's ninety-five years today since the Titanic went down. Although our collective memory has been cheapened by the sentimental manipulation of the Cameron film - tens of millions spent, and yet they couldn't find a few dollars to spend on a decent script - it remains an extraordinarily evocative myth. I don't know, for example, if I would be so fond of the tune "Nearer, My God, to Thee", were it not for the legend that the ship's orchestra played the hymn in the last moments of the stricken vessel.

3 Guthrum reflects on his son's opinion of living in the UK:

Went out for Beer last night with said son - he has decided there is no future in the UK and intends to go abroad to live and work. Feel partly responsible for the mess we expect our children and grand-children to sort out. A good few have decided that they are not going to sort it out, and are voting with their feet. Still he goes abroad with Republican sympathies intact.

4 Paul Linford puts the Lizard King under the microsope:

Over the years, a myth has grown up that if only Portillo had had the balls to challenge Major himself instead of letting John Redwood run as a stalking horse, he would have succeeded in dislodging the Prime Minister in the first ballot and gone on to defeat all-comers in the second.

It's a seductive theory, but it's not how I remember things. I recall a Tory Party that was split moreorless three ways - between those who wanted Michael Portillo to be Prime Minister, those who wanted Michael Heseltine to be, and those who couldn't care less who it was so long as it wasn't either of those two.

5 Shuggy makes some good points on freedom of choice in religion … or not:

Ian McEwan in his novel Saturday referred to the 'accidental nature' of the views we hold. How much more so when it comes to religion, or the lack of it, when people's identities are inextricably bound up with a belief system? The position I take, for example, surely owes no small part to the fact that I was raised by two strongly secular socialists.

This is not to suggest that there is no element of choice but the will is much more likely to be active when a man or a woman breaks from the faith of their parents and their community.

6 Cassandra gets stuck into Marxists in no uncertain fashion:

Education simply belóngs to the Left. In The Netherlands the Ministry of Education is where Socialists spend their hay-days - they go to die at the U.N., the World Bank or some other international forum which has been bribed for the privilege, years in advance.

Subjectivity is therefore a riot in education! Anyone who thinks that children get the grades they deserve, had better think again! There's an awful lot of proportional compensating for unequal difference being done there.

7 Wolfie has an intriguing tale of just how nice [or not] Kate Middleton is:

We bumped into Kate and Wills over dinner way back in 2005, just before their relationship was made public. I was of the opinion that she was a good catch for William but my wife (then my fiancée) disagreed, and to be honest I tend to listen to her on these matters because she has this amazing built-in bitch detector which never seems to fail in its accuracy. Apparently on a trip to the bathroom during the evening there was one of those “women sizing each other up”/”evil eye” moments between Miss Middleton and my somewhat amused wife, which seems quite bizarre considering she was clearly romantically involved with me and seven years her senior.

8 And finally - strong opinions, not by Bonnie herself but by Squirt:

And why do I bring up all this ancient history? Because Hubby thinks that on this blog, Squirt should no longer be called Squirt. He thinks I should refer to our youngest son as “Rock Star” because the boy currently hopes to become an professional rock guitarist.

Of course, “Squirt” is not his REAL name. And I do wish I had picked a name other than “Squirt,” because you should see the odd and somewhat disturbing search terms that bring people to this site.

Hope you enjoyed these. See you Saturday, yes?