President Obama’s brief speech at the memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre is by far the best speech that has ever been written for him. As a work of presidential rhetoric, it’s as solid as they come and should be used as a model for speechwriting. One section in . . . . Continue Reading »
Via AP:Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.I will not offer any comments, but you . . . . Continue Reading »
Which HIV prevention programs are truly saving lives in Africa? In 2003, President Bush asked Congress for $15 billion to establish the PEPFAR plan to fight AIDS in Africa. A contentious debate ensued. The Democrats were seeking condom-centered prevention, and Republicans were demanding . . . . Continue Reading »
The UK is the land of good newspapers, and salacious ones, but lets leave that part alone. And each of the majors has a vivid voice: The Telegraph, more conservative; the Guardian, definitely liberal; The Independent, very liberal, while the Times has imploded; whatever it once was, it . . . . Continue Reading »
I’ll be off in about two hours to debate assisted suicide at the Scottish Parliament. I am going to alter my usual approach—or better stated, to alter my usual emphasis—to more forcefully reflect the harmful message assisted suicide advocacy sends to potential . . . . Continue Reading »
From the letter of Methetes to Diognetus, c. 170 AD:For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs. For they dwell not somewhere in cities of their own, neither do they use some different language, nor practice an extraordinary kind of . . . . Continue Reading »
Today a friend of mine on Facebook (not just a Facebook contact, an actual friend) posted a link to a survey by White Horse Inn distributed at a Franklin Graham evangelism and Christian music event in August. According to the survey, a total of 92 people participated (45% male, 55% female). 57% were . . . . Continue Reading »
The often-unreliable Seymour Hersch has a long piece on the New Yorker website warning that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal may end up in hostile hands, either because radical Islamists elements seize parts of it, or because Pakistan itself turns radical Islamist.One gets better material in Asia . . . . Continue Reading »
Secondhand Smokette and I had a fine day walking Edinburgh. It was wet and cold, but the company was warm and the city beautiful. Here are a few photos.First, the famous castle:I had to take this shot over a lot of construction that impeded the view. But I think I nailed it.I was very . . . . Continue Reading »
One assumes that The New York Times would have been glad to receive an Op-Ed article from the new Archbishop of New York. The Archdiocese of New York is responsible for a very important part of the city’s educational, medical, and charitable life. The newspaper refused to print it. Such . . . . Continue Reading »
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