BLACK TO SWALLOW PLANET EARTH! I love Pravda. This is as good as the PRC’s People’s Daily (featuring headlines like, “USA is one five hundred pound heavy big orangutans”): “Is there an absolute evil deed in the world? Is there the absolute evil, like the absolute zero of temperature, the symbol of death and stillness, when there is not even a small vestige of any movement? The absolute and perfect evil is the black hole. “…This is good news, is... Read more

ENTER MY CONTEST. Philosophical drag queen names. You know you want to. Results are good so far. Winners will be announced next week. Read more

You think they’re so dumb You think you’re so funny Wait until they’ve got you watching At their Blog Rally… Body and Soul: Good news from Egypt; good post on complexities of the Miss World riots. (Good grief, that’s a phrase that looks like it comes from science fiction, “the Miss World riots.”) Relapsed Catholic: Awesome column on the Eucharist. A Volokh: Very funny geek story about intellectual property. (No, really.) Read more

A READER ASKS whether manners, as described in my JWR column (see next post), are the same as the “sensitivity” we’re constantly called to show one another. While sensitivity to others is better than insensitivity to same, I think there are three key differences between the concept of sensitivity and the concept of manners: 1) Focusing on others’ sensitivities tempts other people to thin their own skins–to cultivate their own sensitivities, to scrutinize every comment for a hidden insult, to... Read more

MISS MANNERS AND THE LANGUAGE OF TRADITION: My JWR column. Kind of a condensed version of this post. For more on Miss Manners, there’s this post too. Read more

MINIBLOGWATCH: This week is mucho busy, so blogging will be (even more) intermittent (than usual). But check out these fine folks: CalPundit: Summary and review of The Threatening Storm: The Case for War Against Iraq. (Via Body and Soul.) Sed Contra: He has permalinks! Plus, a wealth of material on St. Aelred and friendship; and an infuriating and depressing story. “Well, when he tried to confess the sin, the priest responded[,] ‘That’s not a sin.’ ‘What do you mean,’ my... Read more

A NOTE ON THE NOTE: Below, I link to a post at Body and Soul asking people to help a woman seeking to set up a day care center in Kabul so that Afghan women can attend university. I should note that I still haven’t had time to follow the links, so this is not a project I know much about, and therefore not one I can endorse. Just so you know. I do trust Jeanne’s judgment, and the project... Read more

“I remembered a Thanksgiving on Rikers, when the students in the cooking class were furloughed–yes, freed–for the day to deliver 100 turkey dinners they’d made to soup kitchens, a battered women’s shelter, and a hospice for people with AIDS. For several years now, Fresh Start has worked this bit of magic. Barbara Margolis persuaded the correction officials to let us use the jail kitchen overnight to cook the turkeys and stuffing. To this day, New York City restauranteur Michael Weinstein... Read more

IMPORTANT NOTE FROM BODY AND SOUL: “…a woman in my town, Maliha Zulfacar, who is a native of Afghanistan, and who used to teach at Kabul University, is trying to raise money to build a child-care center at the University, both to educate children and to allow women to study, work and teach at the school. If you read this blog, you know how important programs like this are, and so, just in case you’re thinking of making a charitable... Read more

BLOGELLES: Lisa Guernsey wonders where the lady bloggers are at. Amy Kropp (now in her new home) answers: They’re at Mass. I would tell Ms. Magazine but I am not so sure that they are interested in these particular femmeblogs. (Ms. link via Body and Soul.) Also, I must note that I am 100% sure I do not have anywhere near as many readers as blog-queens Amy Welborn and Kathy Shaidle. I am a mere blog duchess. No, countess. I... Read more