a debate that's out of (gun) control (at TFPO)

A topic so big, it took two parts for me to (barely) scratch the surface.

Part 1

In discussing gun rights and gun control, let’s begin with a clarification: While gun bans can be elements of gun control policy, the reverse isn't necessarily true. Gun control is, by definition, a set of policies intended to manage the ownership and use of firearms. Inconveniently, perhaps, for gun rights ideologues, the very idea of gun control begins the moment we...

Part 2

Another understandable, albeit less reasonable, concern on the part of the gun lobby is the worry that arises from requiring universal background checks, an idea that strikes gun rights advocates like the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre as equivalent to a gun registry. If the government knows who has guns, the argument goes, they will know where to go to confiscate those guns. But let’s consider the conceptual difference between a universal background check and a gun registry...

Les Miserables (at TFPO)

I never did get the chance to see the theatrical production of Les Misérables; such are the vagaries of the calendar. Fortunately, there is this magnificent film from the director of the superlative crowd-pleaser, The King’s Speech. The leap from stage to screen is entirely sensible for the sort of big-spectacle theatre. What cinema lacks in the energy of a live performance, it makes up for in a kinetic energy all its own as well as a natural affinity for grandeur. What an epic story Les Misérables is, the human condition writ upon a canvas with bold strokes of revolution, hope and love amidst humanity’s cruel capacity for inhumanity. 

Read the rest at The Front Page Online...