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There’s an interesting discussion going on the weblog althouse, right here Althouse: Those contemptuous atheists… why won’t they be kind? Ann Althouse writes about Nicholas Kristoff’s NY Times column this morning, quoting Kristoff: [There is] an increasingly assertive, often obnoxious atheist offensive led in part by [Richard] Dawkins — the Oxford scientist who is author…

In keeping with the theme of the prior post on Africa and the undeveloped world, here’s a column in which a Catholic priest and sociologist – who has been writing for at least 40 years – is kind enough to accept the faith of southern hemisphere believers, as long as they leave the thinking to…

This excellent book of 288 pages is an examination of Africa and all it’s problems and potential, by a reporter for the London-based The Economist magazine. Robert Guest was one of their African correspondents for seven years, residing for most of the time in Johannesburg, South Africa. My friend Tom Hardy and his wife Mabvuto…

Yesterday evening my Aunt Ardis called with the terrible news that my cousin Tim – my oldest cousin, a year younger than me – had died. Of course a shock, but not a surprise – Tim had been diagnosed in January with thyroid cancer, and seemingly everything that could go wrong did go wrong. He…

Here’s a good posting on the weblog of a Catholic journalist about the "Fraternal Encounter" of Pope Benedict and the Ecumenical Patriarch of  Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The photos alone are worth a look. Whispers in the Loggia: Fratres in Unum From their joint declaration: This fraternal encounter which brings us together, Pope Benedict XVI of…

This past weekend a friend of mine, Patricia Lent (Tish or Tisha) got married to Owen O’Sullivan, in the Bronx. I hadn’t seen Tisha in months, since I met up with her and a couple of other friends in lower Manhattan for lunch. Tom Faranda’s Folly: Lunch with three ne’er do wells, or the 4…

One of the few print publications I still subscribe to is First Things, a monthly interfaith journal with a strong Catholic and Evangelical bent. It’s edited by Fr. John Neuhaus (The only other religious publication I get is America, the weekly U.S. Jesuit magazine). December’s issue arrived a couple of days ago, and it has…

Dawn Eden is a popular blogger with an interesting background (She is single, about 37, writes headlines for the Daily News). Here’s her weblog – The Dawn Patrol And she has a book out entitled The Thrill of the Chaste: How to Have Fun while Keeping Your Clothes On.     Thrill of the Chaste I…

A business associate of mine used to say, "money can’t buy happiness, but it can make the misery more palatable." Here are a group of studies that say the answer is complex –Money-Happiness Link Is Complex, Study Says – AOL News There is still another twist to the money-happiness story. Even though people who make…

What do the turkeys know that we don’t know? Is it like rats getting off a sinking ship? Wild Turkeys Try to Hop Train Out of N.J. – AOL News