Category Archives: Uncategorized

The conundrum of prayer

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Last Saturday, the New York City Police Department  experienced the worst misfortune that can befall a police department: one officer mistakenly and fatally shooting another.  The loss of Officer Omar Edwards to friendly fire is an unbearable tragedy, for which … Continue reading →

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The Frontiers of Disgust

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Bradlaugh

I mentioned in a previous post that the next great social change arising from ever-heightened empathy might be an end to the mass killing of large animals for food. A reader contributed the following, off-line: Mr. D.:  Removing “mass slaughter … Continue reading →

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North Korea’s new god

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-il is reported to have picked his youngest son as a successor, and the mandatory worship has already begun: In recent weeks, North Korean diplomats abroad have been told to begin to pay homage to Kim … Continue reading →

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PC Science

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I’m all for making science alluring to a wider audience, which it rightfully should be, given the natural Eros of knowledge.  But this opening night line-up for the World Science Festival in New York could send even the most committed … Continue reading →

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Henry James, fellow skeptic

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I confess that Henry James usually drives me up the wall, for the usual reasons.  Give me the passion and directness of Edith Wharton or Trollope over James’s cloying mannerisms any day.  These are undoubtedly my failings, not his, for … Continue reading →

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Underdogs and empathy

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Obama’s infamous “empathy” test for judges: we need somebody who’s got the heart — the empathy — to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American … Continue reading →

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Supersense

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Bradlaugh

After reading this Michael Shermer piece I went to Amazon and looked up Bruce Hood’s book Supersense.  Amazon has posted an engaging little short video of Hood talking about his book — engaging enough, at any rate, that I momentarily forgot … Continue reading →

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Religion red in tooth and claw

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I’ve been reading about Jan Kupecky, a Baroque Bohemian portraitist, whose paintings I fell in love with in Prague several years ago.   (This lousy reproduction does not begin to convey the extraordinarily modern irony and chiseled delicacy of this sitter’s … Continue reading →

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Blessing the subway

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Earlier this month, the new Catholic archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, visited a subway construction site in Manhattan to offer his blessing: “Bless this tunnel, those who are constructing it, and those who will use it.” Such an act … Continue reading →

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The Terminator in desperate straits

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger found time to attend a Sacramento prayer breakfast last week in the midst of California’s budget crisis.  Last year, he assured the Catholic Health Assembly in San Diego that he would call on God’s power to … Continue reading →

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