Joe Sobran has slipped away, dying at age sixty-four . What can one say? He was a polymath, a genius, and a sometimes brilliant writer of enormous speed and fluidity. And he drove himself nearly mad, embracing conspiracy theories and the crankiest of ways to reject consensusfrom the . . . . Continue Reading »
[caption id=”attachment_8985” align=”aligncenter” width=”150” caption=”Dr. Mark Olson”][/caption]Dr. Mark Olson recently sat down with me to discuss seminary and its challenges and opportunities. Dr. Olson is the President of the John Leland . . . . Continue Reading »
Michael Kinsley thinks Baby Boomers are a failed generation. I agree. We have been the most self satisfied and smug generation in this nation’s history—with the least about which to be smug and self satisfied, unless self absorption is warrants such attitudes. But...We should not, . . . . Continue Reading »
Promising news from the stem cell front:Scientists reported Thursday they had developed a technique that can quickly create safe alternatives to human embryonic stem cells, a major advance toward developing a less controversial approach for treating for a host of medical problems.The researchers . . . . Continue Reading »
Two women carried out a joint suicide pact in the UK, using dangerous chemicals. From the story:The pair, believed to be in their 20s, were found in a flat in Putney, south west London. The windows had been taped up and police believe toxic vapours were released which they inhaled. Detectives . . . . Continue Reading »
William Oddie makes an intriguing suggestion : . . . [I]t might now be time seriously to start thinking about an unavoidable question: after John Henry Newman, who next? My answer is that it can only be Gilbert Keith Chesterton. The obvious objection to this is that Chesterton was nothing like our . . . . Continue Reading »
As President of the John Adams Center for the Study of Faith, Philosophy and Public Affairs, I’ve been working on a statement of our purposes, and thus on an explanation of the critical importance for society of careful philosophical engagement with the deepest underlying issues. I . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at The Corner , Daniel Foster wonders whether a tremendous recent breakthrough in creating pluripotent stem cells from normal body cells, could end the culture war battle over biotechnology. Alas, not a chance. As I pointed out in a longer analysis of this story over at Secondhand Smoke : Even . . . . Continue Reading »
Never underestimate the creativity and excellence of our scientists. New research seems to have overcome the difficulties of IPSCs, allowing pluripotent stem cells to be created from normal body cells without using genes or viruses. From the story in the Washington Post:In 2006, researchers . . . . Continue Reading »
Steve Drake over at NDY has an angry post up, embedding the YouTube clip above of Mike Huckabee criticizing the Obamacare requirement that insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions. Drake is unhappy because Huckabee analogized that provision to allowing a homeowner to buy property insurance . . . . Continue Reading »