GOOD IDEAS FROM THAT WELFARE-TO-WORK STUDY: “The assistant director of one faith-based group in Dallas, for example, spoke enthusiastically of plans to develop a new ‘technology center that will be based on the model of a cyber cafe’ where after-school youths and adults can come to receive computer training and conduct job searches. A Latino Baptist pastor in Philadelphia spoke about his organization’s plans to start a Christian junior college in cooperation with a local four-year Christian college, to develop... Read more

ATTN: BLOGADDER. Go here. You won’t regret it. Link via Rat. Also, here are some funny lawyers, via Overlawyered. Read more

FAITH AND WELFARE-TO-WORKS: My employer, the Manhattan Institute, just put out an important study comparing government, secular non-profit, for-profit, very religious, and less religious welfare-to-work programs. Unfortunately the study didn’t focus on results; its findings were more basic. Nonetheless there’s a lot of good stuff. You can get the full report in PDF form here. Here are some meaty quotes: [clipped] Read more

Who robs kingfish of their sight? Who rigs every Oscar night? Blogwatch… blogwatch… The Agitator: Rapper or toiletry? (hilarious); plus scroll down for more on Straight. Two new blogs: The incredibly foofily named “Chickpea Eater’s Bookblog,” in which a friend of mine spouts off about stuff he’s just read (sorta like this page only longer). First entry is on Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. I expect this page to be fun, philosophically rich, and poorly spelled. (Dude: The Rat... Read more

“The enjoyment of art is the only remaining ecstasy that is neither immoral nor illegal.” –Clifton Webb, “The Dark Corner” Read more

Who keeps the blogwatch off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps? We do… we do… Blogadder and Cacciaguida on my Israel post. (Have gotten some good email on this which I’ll post tomorrow–a.k.a. when I have more time.) Juan Non-Volokh: Two very worthwhile posts on organic farming and environmentalism. The Hall of Shame: A vast, depressing, awful list of priestly crimes and clerical coverups. Link via Amy Welborn. Who also has this fantastic post which you must read... Read more

HEE HEE!: The Dostoyevsky Drinking Game. A gift to you, from me and the Rat. Read more

SPEAK, BLOGGERY: Just received confirmation that I’ll be speaking next Wednesday at an America’s Future Foundation panel on blogs. What will I say? Won’t know ’til I get there! Come on, feel the noise–here’s the email I received: On Wednesday, June 19, the America’s Future Foundation will present a roundtable on the new online phenomenon known as Weblogging or “blogging.” Are blogs legitimate sources of news and opinion [boo, hiss–Ed.]?Do they threaten the established press? Or do they empower journalists... Read more

“WORDS WHICH COULD ONLY BE YOUR OWN…”: I can’t believe I forgot to mention the most intriguing moment in Sasha Volokh’s “why study the dead guys?” post–the secret Morrissey/Heidegger connection! (You mean there’s only one?) Compare Volokh: “Heidegger said biography doesn’t tell us anything useful — he said of Aristotle: ‘He was born. He lived. He died.‘” with “Cemetry Gates“: “All those people, all those lives/Where are they now?/With loves, and hates/And passions just like mine/They were born/And then they... Read more

POETRY WEDNESDAY: More Larkin: A slight relax of air where cold was And water trickles; dark ruinous light, Scratched like old film, above wet slates withdraws. [clipped] Read more