Friday, April 18, 2014

More people should “work like psychiatrist”

This post started out to be about Charles Krauthammer, a name most Americans know (he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1987) , but midway through it my emphasis changed. I do not know whether any subjects of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who happen to be reading this in far-flung regions of the former empire are familiar with Charles or his writing, but we Americans can see him and hear him at least five days a week on Rupert Murdoch’s little station.

This link will take you to Charles’s most recent column from The Washington Post, “Thought Police on Patrol.”

And this one will take you to his next most recent column, “The Myth of Settled Science.”

I predict you will either love him or hate him and what he has to say.

But even if you disagree vehemently with his opinions, he has an impressive life story. Here is the article about him from our old friend Wikipedia.

While putting this post together, I ran across an article about Mr. Krauthammer written by Brian (no surname given) on a website called PEOPLE.FAMOUSWHY (for the inquisitive, there is also a PEOPLE.FAMOUSWHO and a PEOPLE.FAMOUSWHEN) . Although English is obviously not Brian’s first language, I thought he acquitted himself very well. It is what it is, a laudatory piece in simple language. In the process, Robert Burns’s words have come true. Some pow’r Brian has gie'n us the giftie of seeing oursels as ithers see us.

4 comments:

  1. I got this far with him "To what does contraception owe its exalted status? Why should it rank above, say, antibiotics for a sick child, for which that same mother must co-pay?" - before swearing out-loud. Ridiculous. The aim should be for BOTH to be free. All he needed to do if he actually meant that...was to say it.Where does he think the sick children come from? Tsk.
    Climate change is caused partly by nature, and partly by man. People get all upset about it being all of one, or all of the other and the people who get MOST upset are those who make money from man-made emissions. The rich folks.
    I've read some more articles, by him and about him. You'll probably have guessed I'm unlikely to be a fan. *shrugs. I like Brian, though we disagree on who we like.
    Politics and religion. We all have our views, and even the best of folks don't always agree.

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  2. I enjoyed reading both of Mr. Krauthammer's columns. A few passages made me laugh out loud, whether in agreement or disagreement I say not.

    Thanks for the link to PeopleFamousWhy. I found it both curious and interesting.

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  3. Thank you. Not someone I am familiar with - and I don't agree with some of his views - but defend his right to have them.
    Interestingly it is our current right wing Government who is busily bad mouthing/blocking/censoring alternative views and information.
    Our Prime Minister for example famously said 'Climate Change is Crap' and abolished the position of Science Minister from his ministry. I could go on and on and on. But won't.

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  4. In the second world war, English people would often refer to their German enemies as "krauts" - probably derived from "Sauerkraut". A "hammer" is a useful tool for bashing things with - especially plastic tubs of sauerkraut. That is my entire response to anything that Krauthammer has had to say.

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