“All we ask is that decisions be based upon reason.” The speaker was a political scientist, addressing other political scientists. The subject was the role of the American judicial branch. But the frustrated assertion of the authority of simple reason is a familiar one in contemporary . . . . Continue Reading »
The brave Ron Rosenbaum points out what everybody actually knows but has been afraid to say: Michael Jackson just wasn’t much good after age 16 or so. His entire adult career was an exercise in publicity rather than performance. . . . . Continue Reading »
I have just said yes to Father’s generous offer of an opportunity to teach the First Communion class, and I’m not a little tied up in knots. First of all, when Father asked me, I looked around to see whom else he might have been addressing: I haven’t been Catholic all that long, . . . . Continue Reading »
My friend Michael Linton just sent me this video clip of his lovely “Third Marian Carol,” and with the mercury climbing outside, and my little kids fighting over whose turn it is to hurl him- or herself headlong down the Slip’N’Slide, I thought I’d share it with all of . . . . Continue Reading »
If you haven’t already, check out The Atlantic ‘s continuing interview with James Poulos of Postmodern Conservative at FT. Also: David P. Goldman fears art , and Sally Thomas offers some frightful and funny examples . . . . . Continue Reading »
Is the planet warming significantly due to human activities, and if so how much can it be expected to warm in the coming century? Frankly, I have no idea. Understanding the climate is a fantastically complicated problem, about which I know only as much as the average scientist, which is to say: not . . . . Continue Reading »
The death and veneration of Michael Jackson reminds me of my favorite medieval saint: Saint Guinefort. In the thirteenth century, a Dominican friar by the name of Etienne de Bourbon was preaching in the village of Sandrans, near Lyon, when he heard during confession that many of the local woman had . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at The Atlantic , I explain why Russia isn’t — but would be if we made them. I then explain why we shouldn’t do that, engage in a rare bit of critical race theory, and make another plug for French leadership in Europe. . . . . Continue Reading »
Pope Benedict announced today that he has signed his latest encyclical, Caritas in veritate . The document will “outline the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples.” The new archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, was also on hand to receive . . . . Continue Reading »
I was reading William Cobbett’s Rural Rides this weekend, for reasons too incidental to go into. Well, maybe not as incidental as all that. Last year, Rusty Reno explored a little the modern pop music of resurgent rural localism in England , Quebec , and South Africa . And the topic . . . . Continue Reading »
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