Monthly Archives: September 2009

Separation of church and state

Church leaders in Los Angeles are calling for illegal aliens to be included in the government health insurance plan, a position echoed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  A free dialysis clinic in Atlanta whose clients are overwhelmingly illegal … Continue reading

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Political hermeneutics

In his new book, Why Are Jews Liberals?, [Norman] Podhoretz describes how liberal Jews—rabbis and worshipers alike—routinely cherry-pick passages from the Torah to buttress favored social policies, writes Wall Street Journal reviewer Richard Baehr. It has been my impression that … Continue reading

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H.P. Lovecraft – Greek or Roman?

A few days ago on NRO’s Corner, John J. Miller and I had some exchanges about the ever-fascinating (“more fun to read about than he is to read,” observed an emailer) American-Gothic writer H.P. Lovecraft. Among the follow-up emails, here is … Continue reading

Posted in culture | 26 Comments

What Michael Steele should have said:

Gadfly Michael Meyers celebrates the presidential hook shown to New York Governor David Paterson as the demolition of the cordon sanitaire that has protected mediocre New York black politicians.   What’s next? Meyers asks: We can only imagine, only hope, what … Continue reading

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The rise of the Secular Left

From American Nones: The Profile of the “No Religion” Population: The proportion with “No Religion” has gone from 9% in 1990 to 15% in 2008. In most ways those with “No Religion” have become more like the general population since … Continue reading

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The Right plays the race card

Right-wing criticism of Obama is not racial, but Obama’s kick in the pants to New York Governor David Paterson apparently is.  Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele told CBS on Sunday: I found that to be stunning, that the White … Continue reading

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Contingency & the nomination

In the comments on the post about Mike Huckabee winning the “Values Voter Summit” strawpoll there’s a lot of fear. I’m generally sanguine for two reasons: 1) A lot changes between now & then. 2) Populist candidates usually can’t override … Continue reading

Posted in data | Tagged | 3 Comments

Teen pregnancy, individual level variation

Someone else has done the GSS data-digging, and it looks like teen pregnancy is correlated with: 1) higher religious fundamentalism, and, 2) lower religious attendance. To see the full data & analysis you’ll need to pay $10. I want to … Continue reading

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Oh Well

He’s still around… Mike Huckabee cruised to an easy victory in a presidential straw poll taken among attendees at a social conservative conference, beating a group of four other Republican contenders by an over two-to-one margin.

Posted in politics | Tagged | 17 Comments

Fair Enough

Via the London Times: HELPING terminally ill and incurably disabled patients to commit suicide is set to be decriminalised in Britain under guidance to be issued this week. Those who assist a friend or relative to end their lives on … Continue reading

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