And when they’ve blogged you and they’ve watched you and wasted all your money And made your parents cry, I will be there… oh, believe me… Cacciaguida celebrates the twentieth anniversary of his reception into the Catholic Church. Jane Galt: Republicans, race, vouchers; is the murder rate really the not-getting-to-hospitals-fast rate? Good stuff, and, of course, be sure to read the comments. Julian Sanchez: Very interesting post on Saddam, Bush, rationality, and rhetoric. Don’t be put off by the game... Read more

FAITH AND REASON MAIL: Initial posts here and here. You can get Arthur Silber’s response to the aesthetics post here. Roger Donway: I have always found it useful to realize that “faith” translates the Greek word “pistis.” Most people who have studied ancient Greek were taught to translate “pistis” as ‘trust.” And that is how I understand it to be used in the New Testament. The Apostles were calling on people to have trust in their testimony regarding the Good... Read more

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE MAIL: Also without replies. Here’s the initial post. Mike Daley: The statement [by a Jordanian ambassador a few decades ago]: ‘There was no situation similar to this in the East, particularly with the civilization where for centuries the majority of Jews lived happily and productively and to which they contributed in every way, namely, the Arab civilization,’ leapt out at me. My enduring thought was I imagine the Southern US aristocracy of the mid-19th Century had somewhat... Read more

MAIL WITHOUT REPLIES (or with short replies): Mail with substantive replies comes later. Sorry I’ve taken forever on this. In reverse chronological order, starting with the oldest and moving to the newest. Christian soldiers; cloning; home ec; promise-making; what is a Christian?; science fiction and war; media bias; manners; and VX gas. Paul Donnelly: I think you miss the point — a soldier has made a LEGAL commitment. Thus he (or she) is required to follow all LEGAL orders, and... Read more

WHY DO PEOPLE TELL THEIR KIDS THE “SANTA CLAUS” MYTH?: I seriously don’t get it. Stuart Banner wrestles with the when-do-we-tell-them-we-lied question at the Volokhblog. My parents never told me that some magical being brought me presents; I knew the presents came from family. This in no way made my Christmas (or Random Winter Presents-Giving Holiday That Conveniently Falls On December 25 But Has No Religious Significance, which is more what it was) less sweet, fun, Dickensian, etc. Honestly, St.... Read more

LORDMAGE GONE FOR GOOD: A goodbye post, plus a big, generous list introducing readers to bloggers he likes. I gotta check out that Travelling Shoes guy. Read more

SPAMMERS HAVE THE BEST NAMES. Would you trust someone named “Proudfoot Sipos” to solve all your tax problems? Read more

ANOTHER DRUG WARRIOR MOVING TOWARD A “BATTLEFIELD CONVERSION“?: Via The Agitator, hopeful words from Dan Burton. “Let’s talk about what would happen if we started addressing how to get the profit out of drugs.” Read more

FIXING THE BLOGROLL. Sed Contra is back; Light of Reason is at its rightful URL; Tenebrae is now Tenebrae et Lux, which seems like a good thing. Read more

HEY, I’M SO BUSY I’M LIKE A VAGUELY EVE-SHAPED BLUR, but I’ll blog a bit tomorrow when things settle down. For now, have some links: Matt Welch on criminal Bush appointees and Cold War ghosts; Ted Barlow on smaller government and tax rates (though I still prefer the Jane Galt plan); Noli Irritare Leones on gender. Tomorrow: mostly mail. Faith and reason stuff. More on Angela Carter. And contest results! Read more