This is good news. The pure public option was swamped 15-8, with five Democrats voting no. A non profit system had a closer vote. From the story:The Senate Finance Committee gaveled a nail in the coffin of government-run health insurance, with moderate Senate Democrats casting the deciding . . . . Continue Reading »
I am still mulling whether to get an H1N1 shot, which is solely in my discretion as it should be.Not so New York State health care workers. They have been ordered to get the inoculation or lose their jobs—and it is causing a revolt. From the story:New York is the first state in the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Washington Post has treated us to three op-eds by four authors in two days each advocating that the U.S. make concerted effort to pressure Iran on the issue of human rights. Today, Robert Kagan argues in ” Forget the Nukes: The Most Fruitful Target is Iran’s Weakening Regime . . . . Continue Reading »
David Nilsen on the resurgent interest in John Calvin : No one in the history of the church has been so equally reviled and adored by so many as John Calvin. Some of the greatest pastors, theologians and missionaries in both Great Britain and America have considered themselves Calvinists. And yet . . . . Continue Reading »
So, here’s what they suggest doing. In the contrarian spirit of Saint Jerome, whose feast it was first, here are some alternative ideas: Put a WWJDrive bumper sticker on your 15-passenger van. Tell a girl that growing up to be a wife and mommy is an interesting and intellectually satisfying . . . . Continue Reading »
An intriguing claim that I think has a lot of merit: The historical debate about the genealogy of modern atheism continues amongst historians and theologians, blaming various figures such as Duns Scotus, Francisco Saurez, the deists, René Descartes, and many others. I don’t doubt that . . . . Continue Reading »
“We live in a society that wouldn’t dare pass judgment on even deviant sexual practices, but we can’t let women make their own decisions on how to diaper their children.” — Mollie Ziegler Hemingway in ” White Flag in the Mommy Wars .” . . . . Continue Reading »
The Anchoress offers a meditation by Pope St. Gregory the Great: You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those . . . . Continue Reading »
I am never quite sure what to make of columns like this: Joan Wickersham’s father committed suicide years ago, and his death clearly still cuts deep. What to do? She writes in the Boston Globe that we need to “talk.” From the column:Suicide is so disturbing that most of . . . . Continue Reading »
Economist Bryan Caplan sets out to prove that basic economics is intuitive : To make my prima facie case, I’m going to present a few allegedly counterintuitive economic propositions, then explain them at a 6th-grade level. 1. Counterintuitive claim: Free trade makes countries richer, even if . . . . Continue Reading »
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