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When California Scientists Whine

I grow very weary of the constant whining by “the scientists,” that if they don’t get everything they want, it is doom time:  ”If there are ethical constraints on stem cell research, there will be a brain drain!” “If we don’t get funding increases . . . . Continue Reading »

The Codex Sinaiticus is Online

At least, it should be : About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet. Visitors to the website www.codexsinaiticus.org can now see images of more than half the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript. Fragments of the 4th Century . . . . Continue Reading »

Are Social Encyclicals Binding on Catholics?

If you had asked me as a young Baptist boy to explain the difference between Protestants and Catholics, I would have said that Catholics were the Christians who “have to do what the Pope tells them to do.” Now I’m an old Baptist and realize how naive I was. (I’m more likely . . . . Continue Reading »

First Thoughts on Caritas in Veritate, #6

And it is precisely to this question of the prophetic power of Populorum Progressio that Benedict turns in Chapter 2, paragraphs 21 through 33: “After so many years, as we observe with concern the developments and perspectives of the succession of crises that afflict the world today, we ask to . . . . Continue Reading »

That Lousy War

The death of Robert McNamara on July 6 has generated some reflections, here and there: a little remembering of the man’s strange place in history. One of the most interesting accounts of his role as secretary of defense appeared in the December 2000 issue of First Things : Adam . . . . Continue Reading »

Mark Your Calendar: UPDATED

From the Church Music Association of America: Gregorian Chant at the National Shrine, Washington, DC, September 25-26, 2009.Chant is good. I imagine this pilgrimage will be all right, too, though it’s hard to consider it perfect when it hasn’t even happened yet.[Rating: 97 out of . . . . Continue Reading »

Defeat for Assisted Suicide in the UK

The House of Lords has turned back the attempt of assisted suicide advocates to hijack an anti-suicide bill to specifically legalize suicide tourism. Baroness Campbell summarized the case for the opposition. From the story:Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, who has spinal muscular atrophy, said: . . . . Continue Reading »

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