Prior to the great crisis of 2007, the governments of the European Community (according to its official statistical service Eurostat) spent 47 percent of GDP, against 19 percent for the US federal government. Including state and local government spending, the US total rises to 36 percent (of which . . . . Continue Reading »
Arakawa, the architect and artist whose buildings were supposed to help one live forever, has died . His wife and long-time collaborator, Madeline Gins comments: “This mortality thing is bad news,” Ms. Gins said by phone from her studio on Houston Street. She said she would redouble her . . . . Continue Reading »
Just because we can do something in science, that doesn’t mean we should do it. That verity should be kept in mind as we ponder the news that scientists have created an artificial bacterium using synthetic genes. From the story:Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first . . . . Continue Reading »
The USCCB has announced that it will have to cut its ties (a paid membership) with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights after the LCCR endorsed President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan. Bishop William Murphy, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice . . . . Continue Reading »
[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is personality-defining books. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com .] “If you could have just one book to explain yourself, what would it . . . . Continue Reading »
In Dwelling in the Possibilities of a “Win-Win” , today’s On the Square article, Elizabeth Scalia reflects on what God may have intended for the woman with pulmonary hypertension who, with the hospital ethicist’s permission, aborted her child. Her suggestion may startle you. . . . . Continue Reading »
First Things senior editor David Goldman appeared on CNBC’s Larry Kudlow show last night to discuss the troubled financial markets. Part I Part II . . . . Continue Reading »
On Monday, May 24, ten minutes into the premiere of a heavily promoted, live, interactive game show called Million Pound Drop , viewers across Great Britain (but not in Northern Ireland) will see a thirty-second commercial that features three anxious-looking women; one is shown standing at a . . . . Continue Reading »
Like us over at Mere Orthodoxy, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen likes C.S. Lewis.As an undergrad, she was drawn to his vision of a Christianity, which fuses intellectual robustness with piety and a lively imagination. She found in him a subtle challenge to the dominant regime of physicalism, a . . . . Continue Reading »
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