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Fresh from FT Online

If you haven’t already, check out The Atlantic ‘s continuing interview with James Poulos of Postmodern Conservative at FT. Also: David P. Goldman fears art , and Sally Thomas offers some frightful and funny examples . . . . . Continue Reading »

Save Science from the Planetary Saviors

Is the planet warming significantly due to human activities, and if so how much can it be expected to warm in the coming century? Frankly, I have no idea. Understanding the climate is a fantastically complicated problem, about which I know only as much as the average scientist, which is to say: not . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael Jackson and Saint Guinefort

The death and veneration of Michael Jackson reminds me of my favorite medieval saint: Saint Guinefort. In the thirteenth century, a Dominican friar by the name of Etienne de Bourbon was preaching in the village of Sandrans, near Lyon, when he heard during confession that many of the local woman had . . . . Continue Reading »

Russia: Our Worst Enemy?

Over at The Atlantic , I explain why Russia isn’t — but would be if we made them. I then explain why we shouldn’t do that, engage in a rare bit of critical race theory, and make another plug for French leadership in Europe. . . . . Continue Reading »

Charity in Truth

Pope Benedict announced today that he has signed his latest encyclical, Caritas in veritate . The document will “outline the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples.” The new archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, was also on hand to receive . . . . Continue Reading »

Rural Rides

I was reading William Cobbett’s Rural Rides this weekend, for reasons too incidental to go into. Well, maybe not as incidental as all that. Last year, Rusty Reno explored a little the modern pop music of resurgent rural localism in England , Quebec , and South Africa . And the topic . . . . Continue Reading »

The Power Vacuum in the Middle East

Writing this morning in Asia Times Online, I draw out the implications of the power vacuum left by the collapse of American foreign policy with the Iranian elections. The editors’ summary is:President Barack Obama has not betrayed the interests of the United States to any foreign power, but he . . . . Continue Reading »

Pro-Life Plaster

Brazilian student Jorge Lopes has pioneered the conversion of data from ultrasound and MRI scans into life-size plaster models of living embryos using a method called rapid prototyping. ‘It’s amazing to see the faces of the mothers,” says Lopes, who created the technology for his . . . . Continue Reading »

A Call to Order

Okay, so there’s blood on the floor. The bottles have been smashed, the tables flipped over. But now perhaps we should heed Professor Wilson’s suggestion and bring some order to this brawl. Not Marquess of Queensberry rules: we’ll keep it bare-knuckle. Yet it might worth selecting . . . . Continue Reading »

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