Christmas Day ’08

Actually Christmas Eve and Christmas. I was the lector and Tim an altar server at the 10PM Christmas Eve Mass, and after we returned home, we opened the gifts from Brigid’s relatives in England and Australia. That has become our custom in recent years – overseas gifts on Christmas Eve and everything else Christmas morning. … Read more

The Pope on political systems: “there is not just one political model…”

This is from Zenit, the Catholic news service: Pope Says There's No Ideal Political Model Invites 11 Envoys to Cultivate National "Genius" VATICAN CITY, DEC. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says there is no ideal political model, and that each country needs to cultivate its own national spirit. The Pope affirmed this today when he … Read more

The SEC and Bernie Madoff

See here The Bernie Madoff fraud where I point out that it's not just the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that failed; but there's no doubt they were shockingly dismal. The Washington Post has a good analysis – SEC Ignored Credible Tips About Madoff, Chief Says – washingtonpost.com The nation's chief securities regulator said yesterday it was "deeply troubling" … Read more

The Bernard Madoff fraud has devastated some philanthropies.

For several days this stunning, fraudulent, Ponzi Scheme has been in the news. First here's the definition of a Ponzi Scheme Ponzi scheme – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns ("profits") to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather … Read more

Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ

The Cardinal died yesterday, at the age of 90. A really fine theologian, I loved to read his essays in America and First Things. Tom Faranda's Folly: Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles retires Dulles resided in the Bronx, on the campus of Fordham University. Here's this morning's aricle in the local newspaper, and it's a very good and … Read more

Darfur update

Haven't posted anything on Darfur in quite awhile. And things don't seem to be getting any better. This is an editorial from yesterday. Editorial – Darfur, Another Year Later – NYTimes.com Much of the fault lies with Sudan’s cynically obstructionist president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. But Russia and especially China — which has major oil interests … Read more