Delight Springs

Monday, April 22, 2013

My temporary hot-spot’s shaky (cable guy’s coming later), so to cut promptly to the chase: the Bioethics topic today is eugenics.


It means simply “well born,” and while that sounds aspirationally modest and reasonable we know it’s had a chilling history. “Three generations of imbeciles are enough,” said Justice Holmes in one of the more shocking expressions of judicial imperialism on record. Hitler hadn’t yet given it a bad name in 1935 LA, coerced sterilization was still going on in some U.S. states in the ’70s, incentivized “voluntary” eugenics is going on in places like Singapore today, and “free market” eugenicists call for its revival. James Watson thinks it might be cure the “disease” of stupidity (though the market does seem to bear quite a lot of that).


Michael Sandel brings us back to the central issue as I see it: unconditional parental love, and reciprocal filial gratitude, will both be at severe risk if we turn childbirth into a bazaar. By all means, let’s continue to improve our “stock” if we can. The way to do that is by encouraging our kids to seek their own bliss, not validate ours.


Selling and buying eggs for 50K is not the way.


Happy Earth Day!




Saturday, April 20, 2013

Still no wifi, but it’s not the end of the world. I feel fine. Awoke humming “Sweet Caroline” (not chanting “U-S-A”… morons!) & looking forward to having a catch w/girls (YD’s back from DC) to break in my 1st new glove in decades. Life is sweet this a.m. But I still hate thumbing. Pen & paper most reliable word-proc’ing tech’y.




Friday, April 19, 2013

All thumbs, this a.m.– our internet service is out, so I’m posting this via the wordpress mobile app while monitoring the latest alarming reports from Boston. Strange days. I hear they’ve found hospitable worlds just 1200 lt yrs away. Where can I book a flight?




Friday, April 5, 2013

Execrable, inexorable, indefeasible rules

Presented at the 18th Annual Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro TN-