Unexpectedly! As megablogger Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has noted with amusement, the word “unexpectedly” or variants thereon keep cropping up in mainstream media stories about the economy. “New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed,” reported cnbc.com May 25. “Personal consumption fell,” Business Insider reported the same day, “when it was expected to rise.” “Durable … Read more
Nicholas Kristof doesn’t appreciate the Bible being used to support conservative moral positions with which he disagrees, so it must have been an exciting moment when he unwrapped Jennifer Wright Knust’s new book, Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire. Knust, an ordained Baptist minister and assistant professor of religion at … Read more
When you spend US$1.8 million to identify the causes of a crisis, you expect more for your money than, “well, you know, it’s really, really complicated.” But this is the message of a five-year investigation into the sexual abuse crisis in the US Catholic Church. “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by … Read more
Golf historians trace the invention of the great game’s basic concept to the mid-15th century, to the day when some self-flagellatory Scot, strolling the featureless wastes between pastures and the sea, came upon the deceptively simple idea of hitting a ball with a stick until it fell in a hole. On the second day … Read more
A new biography on Mahatma Ghandi by Joseph Lelyveld called Great Soul depicts the famous Indian leader of independence as a “sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddist.” Reviewing the book in the Wall Street Journal, Andrew Roberts says Lelyveld gives credit where it’s due, but concludes that Ghandi was an “archetypal … Read more
Happy Feast of the Annunciation! I hope you’re all taking advantage of the solemnity to have some bacon with your breakfast. And now for a few links: The four New York Times reporters who went missing in Libya tell the story of their capture by Qaddafi’s forces, and their ultimate release. “Annulment Nation”: Jeff Ziegler … Read more
The New York Times gives readers a glimpse of what lies in store for the 50 anonymous men who have stayed behind at the Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan to help contain the damage from the reactor shutdowns: They crawl through labyrinths of equipment in utter darkness pierced only by their flashlights, listening for … Read more
Happy Friday morning! Just a few links to get the day started: “The Man Who Loved Women Too Much“: A profile of pro-life lawyer Harold Cassidy… in Mother Jones. The author clearly isn’t too keen on his position, but he seems to have at least a grudging respect for the man. The wild and wooly … Read more
We use so many metaphors for the Church: the Mystical Body of Christ, the People of God, the Ark of Salvation, the Bride of Christ. It’s all too easy for these vivid, poetic images to vanish from our minds, or ring bitterly hollow, when our confidence is shaken a bit by crises in our lives … Read more
You might have seen the New York Times article yesterday that made a serious claim about the Vatican’s response to the abuse scandal in Ireland — namely, according to its original title, that it “warned bishops not to report child abuse.” That incendiary title seems to have been changed today, but the charge is largely … Read more
Mine was a circuitous route from philosophy to politics, and there are few recent events that better illustrate the difference between my origin and ultimate destination than the tragic event in Tucson last week. Already, the pundits are talking about the “post-Tucson climate” of politics going forward, one where “rancor” and “vitriol” should have no … Read more
The year 2011 was born with the mark of Cain. Last week, Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan‘s largest state, Punjab, was gunned down by his own bodyguard, as the rest of his handpicked guards looked on. His killer, a Muslim fanatic, was greeted with showers of rose petals thrown by lawyers, and the victim’s … Read more
Should homeschooling families get a federal tax break? The Congress has failed to pass such a measure, and only three states currently allow some tax benefit for home schooling — Illinois, Louisiana, and Minnesota. The New York Times posed the question to a panel of experts, and the responses are here. Some think homeschoolers should … Read more
We’ve gone through a ringer of a year in 2010. What might the next twelve months bring? We asked our regular columnists and writers to make a prediction and share a hope for 2011. Here’s what they gave us… ♦ ♦ ♦ Rev. George W. Rutler I … Read more
I’d already been planning to catch True Grit in the theaters, and now this review from Stanley Fish in the New York Times, who calls it “a truly religious movie,” makes me even more curious: [In the original True Grit], we are told something about the nature of heroism and virtue and the relationship between … Read more
A little chapel in Wisconsin called Our Lady of Good Help has officially become the first site in the United States of a validated Marian apparition, according to the New York Times. In 1859, a Belgian immigrant named Adele Brise claims to have been visited by Mary three times. The Blessed Mother instructed Brise to devote her … Read more
I put this on our Twitter feed yesterday, but it’s too disgusting to let pass without a post. Lanny Davis, high powered Democratic lobbyist and former special counsel to President Bill Clinton, has a new client: Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo. That would be the same Laurent Gbagbo who refuses to recognize his re-election loss … Read more
The New York Times reported yesterday on Pope Benedict’s Christmas message to Vatican hierarchy in Rome where he spoke about the clergy sexual abuse crisis: Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday that the continuing sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church had reached a “degree we could not have imagined” this year, and that … Read more
Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul has secured lodgings when he moves to Washington, D.C. to begin his term: Senator-elect Rand Paul will be rooming with his father, Texas Rep. Ron Paul (recently named chairman of the House subcommittee on domestic monetary policy) in his Virginia condo while serving on Capitol Hill next…. [Ron] Paul told the … Read more
In a comment to my Tuesday morning post about Michelle Rhee and school reform, Deacon Ed made the point: [T]he only real solution to D.C.’s education woes (the same as it is everywhere else) is a voucher system where parents — who have the best interest of their children at heart — get to choose … Read more