Joseph Bottum

The Anglican bishop of Hereford has been fined £47,345 and ordered to undergo “equal opportunities training” for failing to hire an active homosexual who applied for a position working with young people in the diocese. Perhaps, following the advice of his archbishop , he . . . . Continue Reading »

“A gift cannot so easily be severed from its giver,” writes Gilbert Meilaender, responding to the news that the prime minister of Great Britain had called for a system in which organs would simply be taken for transplant from cadavers, with their consent presumed. “When an organ is . . . . Continue Reading »

A usage question for all you legal types. In an article about a misused government informant, I came across this line: “prosecutors are asking a federal judge to dismiss charges including conspiracy and cocaine trafficking against most of the defendants, even some who pleaded guilty.” . . . . Continue Reading »

So, if you look up higher on this page, you’ll see that First Things is beginning its search for next year’s Junior Fellows .Want to apply? These are one- or two-year internships for young writers and scholars interested in religion and public life. The positions offer the opportunity to . . . . Continue Reading »

So, last night, I took my daughter to her first live college basketball game— Georgetown vs. St. John’s , at Madison Square Garden. She told me it was the best game she’d ever seen, which is a little bit sad—I’m such a bad father!—because the playing was . . . . Continue Reading »

As Rudy Giuliani goes gentle into that good night , it’s worth remembering what he was taken to represent, once upon a time. Or, at least, what Frank Rich told us he represented in the October 28, 2007, issue of the New York Times . At that moment, Giuliani was on the top of all the polls, . . . . Continue Reading »

Our friend William Baer writes to remind us that it’s that time of year again: The St. Robert Southwell Institute is taking applications for this summer’s installment of its annual creative writing workshop. This year, it’s from June 1 to June 11 at the Carmel Retreat House in . . . . Continue Reading »

Thanks to our emailers for all the help with a name for words formed from roots in different languages. “Hybrid word” was a common suggestion, though it seems more a description than a name. Macaronic turns out to be the word I was trying to come up with, though it seems technically to . . . . Continue Reading »

There’s a name that curmudgeonly grammarians give to words derived from more than one language—and for the life of me, I can’t think of it. Television is a famous example, a Greek prefix on a Latin stem. Uber-theocon is another, less-famous example, a epithet someone or other flung . . . . Continue Reading »

“We regret to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the publication of The Astrological Magazine will cease with the December 2007 issue.” (Hat tip: The Volokh Conspiracy .) . . . . Continue Reading »