The present Gaza war started in October 2023 because Hamas—the Muslim terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip—foolishly attacked the western flank of Israel on October 7 that year, killing about 1,200 Jews. The Israel Defense Force then invaded Gaza to wage a war in an effort to root out Hamas which was dug into an intricate system of tunnels. The result has been that the IDF has now killed over 53,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Most of them... Read more
There’ve Been Fourteen Pope Leos On May 8th, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago was chosen as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church and the first American pope as well. In accordance with the tradition of popes taking the name of a previous honored saint, he chose to be called Pope Leo XIV. Thus, the Church has had fourteen popes who have called themselves Leo. What does Leo mean? And why did this pope choose Leo? Leo is... Read more
Yesterday, Scottie Scheffler shot an even-par 71 to win the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, by five strokes over second place finishers Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau, and Davis Riley. It was Scheffler’s 15th win on the PGA Tour and his third major title alongside his two Masters wins in 2022 and 2024. The PGA Tour announced that 28-year-old Scheffler has now reached rarefied territory by joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only... Read more
The war in Gaza continues despite a temporary cease-fire that failed. Donald Trump, the former real estate mogul and now U.S. president, last month called for an outlandish proposal for solving the Gaza war if not the larger conflict between Palestinians and the State of Israel—to remove Palestinians from Gaza and turn the place into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” And this week he has called for them to be removed to Libya. Uprising in Beit Layiha The Wall... Read more
Just Published—Mark Twain Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow has written a 1,200-page biography of the famous novelist, satirist, essayist, and humorist who built his famed literary career by using the pen name Mark Twain. Chernow’s Mark Twain was published Monday, two day ago, in hardcover by Penguin Press. Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. My book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, entitled Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia, (269 pp.) was published in 1990 as... Read more
Paul Did Not Teach Unconditional Obedience to Civil Rulers The apostle Paul wrote in his magisterial, theologically in-depth, and lengthy letter to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (Romans 1.7 NRSV), that they should do the following: Romans 13:1-7 1“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and... Read more
Robert Francis Prevost: The 267th Roman Catholic Pope Last Thursday, the Roman Catholic Church’s Conclave—a gathering of 135 cardinals at the Vatican—selected the Church’s 267th pope after only two days of deliberations. For the first time in the Church’s history, the pope is an American. He is from Chicago; he is 69 years old; he is a devout Chicago White Sox baseball fan; and his name is Robert Francis Prevost. His predecessor and friend, Pope Francis, had made him a... Read more
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania attended the funeral of Pope Francis last week at the Vatican. Many Catholic Church cardinals from around the world were there as well. They were mourning the pope’s death, honoring his legacy, and discussing who will replace him. Next Wednesday, 130 cardinals will officially begin deliberations to choose Francis’s successor. On Tuesday, President Trump said to reporters gathered outside the White House, “I’d like to be the pope.” Was he being real or... Read more
Trump’s Bluster about Canada as U.S. State Soon after Donald Trump won last year’s presidential election in early November, he soon began trumpeting that Canada should become the 51st state of the U.S. When he first said it, in December to Canada’s Prime Minister, Mr. Justin Trudeau thought Trump was joking. But he soon realized he wasn’t when Trump turned up the rhetoric that included threats that Canada would indeed become the 51st state of the U.S. President Trump in... Read more
Does Trump Exaggerate or Lie? When Donald Trump campaigned this last time for the U.S. presidency, he bragged that if he won reelection he would “end the Ukraine war on day one.” How many people who voted for him believed that? It was like him saying if president he’d build a wall on our southern border and “Mexico will pay for it.” It was so much of the same bluster he has become known for. Or did any of his... Read more
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