1. Sam Kean on the periodic table : In some sense, what you might have suspected from the first day of high-school chemistry is true: The periodic table is a colossal waste of time. Nine out of every 10 atoms in the universe are hydrogen, the first element and the major constituent of stars. The . . . . Continue Reading »
This is the first positive sign that the UK may get a grip on the disaster that has become the NHS. The new UK government plans a radical overhaul that could take the power away from bureaucrats and permit physicians more latitude on making health care decisions with their patients. From . . . . Continue Reading »
The Department of Communications of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a set of social media guidelines for the use of church personnel, defined as “anyone—priest, deacon, religious, bishop, lay employee, or volunteer—who provides ministry or service or is . . . . Continue Reading »
Secretary of State Clinton’s tour of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus last week demarcated a catastrophe for American foreign policy that the mainstream media has not yet absorbed: the return of Russia to great power status. at the expense of the United States. In the Georgian capital of . . . . Continue Reading »
In Why is the Supreme Court Supreme? , the historian Thomas Reeves argues that the Supreme Court works pretty well as it is, or as well as it is likely to. Responding to the question “Why should the American people be ruled by nine unelected lawyers?”, for example, he argues that every . . . . Continue Reading »
The English tabloid the Daily Mail reports on Belgium’s Plan to Wash Its Dead Down the Drain , and the paper is not exaggerating. As the subhead puts it: “Bodies would be dissolved in caustic solution . . . and flushed into the sewer.” The process is called . . . . Continue Reading »
A Meditation on Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!Shortly after the death of Nebraska pioneer John Bergson, his children––Alexandra, Lou, Oscar, and Emil––go on a “pleasure excursion” to buy a hammock from Crazy Ivar, who obtained the name from his hermetic lifestyle, . . . . Continue Reading »
A voice was heard in Cleveland, wailing and loud lamentation, Cleveland weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because he was no more . . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the big stories today in Australia is of a Melbourne woman who has announced that she is traveling to Thailand to have sex selection IVF because it is against the law here. She just has to have a girl, don’t you know! From the story:A MELBOURNE mum is so desperate to . . . . Continue Reading »
[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is greatest children’s toys. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.] Although the topic for last week was faddish objects from childhood , the . . . . Continue Reading »
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