A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

News and Politics

  • Mubarak out–what’s next?

    Seems like I should observe the big news of today, which, of course, is that Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak has given in to weeks of protests and relinquished power, despite that fact that as recently as yesterday, it looked like he was determined to hang on. There seem to be plenty of legitimate questions about Read more

  • Friday links

    –Do extraterrestrials have original sin? –Brandon on Sam Harris’s argument for a science of morality –How to build a progressive tea party –Fox News thinks there’s only one English translation of the Bible –This critique of Mad Men from the New York Review of Books scores some points –A video (in two parts) featuring the Read more

  • Obligatory Egypt post

    I wish I had something interesting to say about the situation in Egypt besides “Go freedom and democracy!” But, like many opining on the events, what I know about Egyptian history, culture, and politics could fit on one side of a three-by-five-inch note card. Here’s a good Nicholas Kristof column, reporting from the scene. The Read more

  • Friday links

    – Many people have pointed to this omnibus post at Mother Jones that provides background, context, links, and ongoing updates on the situation in Egypt. – Marvin writes on understanding apostolic poverty. – At the blog Memoria Dei, a post discussing feminist theologian Mary Daly’s use of women’s experience as an analogue for the divine. Read more

  • Some links for the weekend

    – Peter Singer on balancing concern for the environment with efforts to lift people out of poverty. – Kevin Drum on the difference between liberals and libertarians. – Bob Herbert on Sargent Shriver: “one of America’s great good men.” – Peter Berger’s blog at The American Interest. (Here’s a piece on recent developments in American Read more

  • Tortured reading

    I haven’t been blogging on the torture issue, mostly because others are doing it far more justice than I even could. But, in case you aren’t already reading them, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, John Schwenkler, and Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings have been my regular sources of info and analysis on this. Also see: this piece Read more

  • Ah, sweet freedom

    I’m not sure precisely what rights the Founders intended to protect with the Second Amendment, but I’m pretty sure they don’t include the right to sell AK-47s to Mexican drug cartels. Read more

  • Iowa

    My two cents, for what it’s worth: I was happy to see more or less “anti-establishment” candidates win, continuing to undermine the “inevitability” theme that had been running through the campaign. Neither Huckabee nor Obama are my ideal candidate by any stretch, but I’d much rather see a match up between those two than, say, Read more

  • Catch-all blog update post

    Sorry about the dearth of posting: a confluence of extreme busyness, travel, and computer issues has put a cramp in my blogging style. Although one perk is that I’ve been forced to detach from the various teapot-sized tempests roilling the blogosphere, which is always a benefit of time away from the computer. We’re in Indiana Read more

  • Moneybags Paul

    Ron Paul raised $4.2 million in Internet contributions in a 24-hour period yesterday as part of a concerted fundraising campaign. Wow! Paul’s total deposed Mitt Romney as the single-day fundraising record holder in the Republican presidential field. When it comes to sums amassed in one day, Paul now ranks only behind Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Read more