If Aging is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Get Old
by Ryan Sayre PatricoArakawa, 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 »
Synthetic Life Concerns Primarily About Safety—For Now
by Wesley J. SmithJust 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 »
USCCB Cuts Ties With LCCR
by Meghan DukeThe 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 Obamas Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan. Bishop William Murphy, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice . . . . Continue Reading »
What Are Your Bookends?
by Joe Carter[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Todays 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 »
Divine Possibilities
by David MillsIn 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 »
Markets in Turmoil
by Joe CarterFirst Things senior editor David Goldman appeared on CNBCs Larry Kudlow show last night to discuss the troubled financial markets. Part I Part II . . . . Continue Reading »
Abortion Services Ad to Air on British TV
by Mary Ellen KellyOn 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 »
A Sword Between the Sexes
by Matthew Lee AndersonLike 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 »
Steve Jobs Says “No” To iPorn
by Kevin Staley-JoyceSteve Jobs can, as one commenter said of his 2007 iPhone debut presentation, sell ice to an Eskimo. Whats more interesting than what he can sell, though, is what he chooses not to. After his well-publicized decision not to sanction adult-themed applications on the new iPad, . . . . Continue Reading »
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