Blair in Rimini

The speech by Tony Blair at the Rimini Meeting has been widely covered by the British Press. John Waters was there.

A people

An article on reconstruction in New Orleans.

We choose our values

Whatever one may think of Ted Kennedy's politics, it is true that there is a huge difference between what "liberalism" meant for his generation and what it means today. Today's progressivism is technocratic and relativistic, hence very unconfortable with invoking "morality." Since the realm of rationality coincides with the empirical sciences, morality does not reflect any objective reality.

A bloody disaster

Michael Ruse does not seem to like the "new atheists" much.

The seeds of all evil in his own heart

Interestingly, William Golding had originally made the main character in Lord of the Flies even more Christ-like, but the editor forced him to change it.

Open

It is true that babies are interested in reality per se, not just in the aspects that suit their purposes.

Peter Singer is right

Infanticide apparently was the cultural norm thoughout many pre-Christian civilizations.

Tip

Several good pieces today on the English-language section of Il Sussidiario.

Utopianism?

An old article by Fr. Samir and a reply by David P. Goldman. While one has to sympathize with Fr. Samir's call for a "mental revolution," it is also important to remember that the heavenly Jerusalem he talks about DOES already exist on earth (it's called the Church). It seems more realistic to focus on supporting her presence in the Middle East than to place high hopes in a "utopian" political settlement between the Arabs and the Jews.

A peculiar type of compliment

The Secretary of the Treasury reassures us by pointing out that "Congress never failed to raise the debt limit when necessary." That's impressive... (Denninger, however, is not happy)

Did you know...

that antidepressants are now the most prescribed cathegory of drugs in America?

Think Catholic

As described by the Wall Street Journal, the intra-Catholic debate is moving along the usual, utterly predictable lines. Nobody seems to realize that the whole dilemma (helping the poor vs. defending life) would almost disappear if legislation reflected more Catholic ideas about the role of the state, subsidiarity/solidarity, freedom, intermediate communities etc.

Fighting on

On the predicament of the Church in Vietnam.

Land grab

An article on a massive wave of investments in arable land in the developing world. While the journalist seems to think that the problem is population growth, keep in mind that the population is not growing in most of the countries that buy the land, only in those that sell it..

Full-on

Extreme sports for Jesus.