Joseph Bottum

A stunningly good review by the British writer John Gray of A.C. Grayling’s latest atheist manifesto: Reading Grayling, it is hard to resist the impression that he believes Western civilization would be much improved if it did not include the Judeo-Christian inheritance. Absurd as it is, . . . . Continue Reading »

You’ve seen news about the British Foreign Office memo , which suggested events for the pope, on his visit to England—including opening an abortion clinic and apologizing for the Spanish Armada. The New Statesman points out People think it is a joke. That is to say, it was written as a . . . . Continue Reading »

A Brooklyn teacher’s stolen car was found during a New York police raid of a chop shop, and returned to her in its fixed-up, road-racer condition. “I’m Jewish,” the teacher, Amanda Pogany complained, “and I don’t even know how to drive a stick shift!” I . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe— The wind ad took me a while; it was a second or two after the ad ended before I got that he actually is the wind, and all the things he had done before were wind things. Clips of wonderful ads are a little less of a joy and surprise now that YouTube has made seeing them easy, but . . . . Continue Reading »

For a slow Friday, one of my favorite ads—a reminder from the Berlitz language schools of the dangers of not knowing English: “May Day! May Day! We are sinking!” “Vhat are you sinking about?” . . . . Continue Reading »

“Until he reached the White House, Barack Obama repeatedly insisted that the United States apply more pressure on Sudan so as to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and elsewhere. Yet, as president, Mr. Obama and his aides have caved, leaving Sudan gloating at American weakness,” . . . . Continue Reading »

Sarah Hinlicky Wilson was a junior fellow here at First Things before heading off to the seminary, and we miss her—mostly because she was such good company, but also because she could do things like this: a run through the Bible , picking the one verse in each book that best exemplifies and . . . . Continue Reading »

” Could the U.S. become Argentina? ” asks the Washington Times , and Instapundit links to a similar discussion from the Washington Post in 2005. It’s a complicated question for economists to figure out, involving debt levels as percentage of GNP, but maybe there’s a simpler . . . . Continue Reading »

A funeral scene in a book I was reading reminded me of the great line of Tom Holt’s—wisdom for the ages: Count no man’s life wasted if there is a beautiful, mysterious woman weeping at his funeral. . . . . Continue Reading »

SNCC holds a reunion, from young and black to old and gray. Ron Radosh writes : These days, there is nothing old civil rights activists like to do better than hold reunions, where like World War II veterans, they trade war stories, recall the “good fight,” and praise themselves for . . . . Continue Reading »