Category Archives: politics

Same Old, Same Old

The pope is a new pope, and Twitter is a new(ish) medium, but Francis certainly knows the old tunes. Here’s a papal tweet from this morning: My thoughts turn to all who are unemployed, often as a result of a … Continue reading

Posted in politics, Religion | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Bird Brain

The Wall Street Journal reports: CARACAS—Nicolás Maduro, the one-time bus driver widely expected to become Venezuela’s next president in Sunday’s elections, has resorted to an unusual campaign gimmick in the past week: At nearly every stop, he has suddenly broken … Continue reading

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Update from the Arab Spring

Cross-posted on the Corner: Via The Daily Star (Lebanon): CAIRO: Egyptian police fired tear gas outside Cairo’s Coptic cathedral on Sunday after clashes following funeral prayers for four Christians killed in sectarian clashes. Black-clad riot police pointed at the main … Continue reading

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The Essence of Chavismo

Via the BBC: The acting president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has put a curse on citizens who do not vote for him in next week’s election. He likened his main rival candidate, Henrique Capriles, to Spanish conquerors fighting indigenous people … Continue reading

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“Islamophobia”

In an earlier post here, Mr. Hume and Jackson Doughart, reacting to an exchange between Glenn Greenwald and Sam Harris, discuss (amongst many things) the way that the notion of ‘Islamophobia’ has been used to try to stifle those who … Continue reading

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Being the party at prayer, without alienating the prayerless

This weblog has been around for 4+ years now. It started as a way to give voice to people who lean Right who are not necessarily libertarian. America’s conservative party, the Republicans, have lost their second presidential election in a … Continue reading

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The Anti-Pussy Riot?

Via Russia & India Report: A group of Creationists staged a publicity stunt in Moscow’s Darwin Museum, unfurling a Christian banner, distributing leaflets, and singing hymns. This is the latest in a string of attention-seeking performances by self-proclaimed ‘Orthodox activists’. … Continue reading

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Ready to Lose in 2016?

I can understand the argument that religion can be a handy bulwark against an over-mighty and over-intrusive state (it can, incidentally, also be an ally of just such a state), but there is a limit as to how far that … Continue reading

Posted in Church & State, politics | Tagged , | 16 Comments

The Cheerleader

On the whole, patriotic priests are preferable to those preaching the old baloney about the universal brotherhood of man, an impossible, unnatural aspiration that, by definition, can only (if it is to mean anything) be coercive. It is however better … Continue reading

Posted in history, politics, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Making Friends and Influencing People

The Indianapolis Star reports: Women obtaining an abortion-inducing drug would be required to undergo an ultrasound before and after taking the drug under a bill approved Wednesday by an Indiana Senate committee. Though the bill doesn’t specify that it be … Continue reading

Posted in law, politics | Tagged , | 2 Comments