Council of Europe Does the Right Thing

As C-FAM reports , representatives in the Council of Europe, the European legislative body that meets in Strasbourg, France, reversed an effort by abortion proponents. A resolution came before the Council that was designed to make it difficult for medical professionals to refuse to perform or . . . . Continue Reading »

Mean Lutherans

Over at Cranach , Gene Edward Veith (provost and professor of literature at Patrick Henry College) ponders the state of argumentation in a world of blogging, and for good reason. His . . . innocent little post has now chalked up a record 422 comments at last count. What happened is that a very . . . . Continue Reading »

Afternoon Links — 10.14.10

Mental Floss offers Ten of the Best Parents in Fiction and What Ten Classic Books Were Almost Called . The number one parent is Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird , and Bram Stoker considered The Dead Un-Dead for the book eventually published as  Dracula . Joan Frawley Desmond . . . . Continue Reading »

Who Owns Our National Debt?

Who holds the biggest part of our national debt? China? Japan? No, the bulk is owned by the Federal Reserve . Now,  the central bank owns over $808 billion in treasuries . And it still has over $1.086 trillion of MBS in its portfolio left to sell. Since the middle of August,  the Fed has . . . . Continue Reading »

SHS Funnies

If they relax together at sunset in side by side bathtubs as a prelude, a whole industry could collapse.The evil before the  “plant rights” movement:Why Dusty is Michelle Obama’s “Enemy # . . . . Continue Reading »

Christians in Israel

Readers of David Goldman’s Israeli Christians may be interested in this report on the synod for bishops in the Middle East, quoting Rabbi David Rosen, an adviser to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, who spoke to the bishops yesterday: Rabbi tells synod that Christians in Israel enjoy freedom, . . . . Continue Reading »

A Pauline Painter

Today in “On the Square,” R. R. Reno reflects on an artist whose work expresses an Augustinian understanding of man who is not at home in the world. Enrique Martinez Celaya, whose paintings are being shown at both the Museum of Biblical Art and the (Episcopal) Cathedral of St. John the . . . . Continue Reading »

Western Man’s Freedom Fantasy

Every day thousands of people in America have accidents that endanger their lives—and yet they don’t capture our imaginations in the same way as the thirty-three miners in Chile. Why is that? Andrew Belonsky proposes and intriguing explanation: [W]hy do we care so much about  . . . . Continue Reading »