It’s been a while since I wrote about my favorite topic. But now, Jonathan Cohn discusses an interesting PBS documentary on comparative health care systems across the world. Unlike Sicko, the tone is sober, and it doesn’t include Cuba in its list of comparators! It also does not avoid the problems that these countries face with their health care systems. Still, the bottom line is clear: “Every system the film portrays has its problems, but overall each one seems to... Read more
Does torture work? As Bill Clinton might have said, it depends on what you mean by “work.” If your goal is to extract a confession for use at one of Stalin’s show trials, then torture works well enough. If, on the other hand, your goal is to get reliable intelligence out of a person, to get him for example, to tell you the details of a potential terror plot or name his confederates, then just as clearly torture does not... Read more
Yesterday I had to buy produce and fruit and some meat. I went to my local grocery store and at the checkout I commented on how expensive everything was. The clerk agreed with me. She told me that she just came back from a visit to the Philippines and she said she was shocked by what she saw. She said that people could not afford rice any more and so more and more people were having to dig in trash... Read more
Since we wouldn’t want anyone to be abused… Attorneys for the [mothers of the children taken in the raid of the FLDS compound in Texas] asked the judge to consider letting nursing mothers remain with their children after negotiations with CPS on the issue stalled. They asked the judge to let the mothers stay until DNA results are in, likely to take up to 40 days. Walther acknowledged the nutritional and bonding benefits of breast-feeding. “But every day in this country, we have mothers... Read more
Part I Part II-1 Part II-2 Probably the most important text we have by Theophilus on Origenism is his letter concerning the Alexandrian Synod of 400.[i] This is because, among other things, his accusations against Origen were fresh and he had not yet been distracted by political disputes. In it, we find several charges made against the teachings of Origen. Central to Theophilus’ concern was On First Principles, but it is clear it was not the only text he was criticizing.... Read more
What should we be doing to re-create this complete Christian life? What we need to do is discover a new lifestyle. We have to accept that we are swimming against the tide; we need to find a lifestyle which is life giving and life enhancing. I don’t mean that we should re-create an entirely Christian society, separate from our own society. That was the temptation of the hippies in the sixties and seventies; they tried to live apart from the... Read more
From Agence France Presse: Democratic presidential Hillary Clinton has threatened to “obliterate” Iran if it launches a nuclear attack against Israel as she fights for her own political survival. “I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Senator Clinton told ABC News, asked what she would do as president were Iran to launch a nuclear attack on Israel. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on... Read more
I have touched on this theme before in terms of Pope Benedict XVI’s appreciation of the depth and insight of Karl Marx’s intellect. Throughout his socio-political writings, the Pope exhibits at once a fascination with and a repugnance toward Marxism. He is measured in his critique of Marxist ideology, preserving those few fragments that are true while rejecting those elements contrary to an authentic anthropology. I want to draw attention to one such element, central to Marxism as a system... Read more
The 1960s were a strange time, and the political battles joined in that era are still being fought today (this is one of the reasons I think Obama is a superior candidate, by the way). One the one hand, you had great accomplishments in civil rights, as Martin Luther King unleashed the power of the gospel against the racist establishment. On the other hand, there was a marked shift away from notions of the common good, toward a greater emphasis... Read more
Did you allow someone to go ahead of you today even though you were in a rush? Did you get impatient when the person driving a few cars ahead of you didn’t go right after the light turned green? Did you say a few bad words after someone cut you off on the highway? I didn’t do too well on the three points above yesterday, so I hope you can do better than me! It was a wake-up call yesterday... Read more
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