Pray

Unsurprisingly, this story has not received much attenton in the US press.

Hidden

There are are now 2.3 million people in jail in the US.

How did that happen?

It is a sad reflection on the state of our culture that probably nobody at the Economist has read Christopher Dawson.

Speaking of ignorance, fans of "Spengler" will get a kick out of this. Especially the part where Rush insists that there is "NO FIRST NAME!!"

Prophet of doom

It seems logical that too much money (printed to finance too much debt) must lead to inflation.

Culture matters III

There is nothing between the individual or family unit on one hand and the central state on the other. Britain has fallen into De Tocqueville's trap of an atomised society, where "every man is a stranger to the destiny of others. He is beside his fellow citizens but does not see them ... while above them rises an immense and tutelary power, that of the state". We have lost the habit of association.

Indeed. May we suggest that the problem reflects deep cultural trends, and will not be fixed by having more local mayors and city councils?

Hypocrisy

Michael Kinsley explains.

Immersed

You cannot but feel some admiration for these guys. Also, Marvin Olasky is an interesting man.

Opposition

The challenges facing the Church in India.

One more time

Lebanon may be about to pay the price of other people's follies, again.

Male infantilism

This lady has made an important discovery:

Adults don’t emerge. They’re made.

Reality does not matter

A notable difference between US and European politics is that while in Europe doctrinaire ideological thinking is found mostly on the "progressive" side (i.e. on the political left, after the demise of fascism and nazism), in the US one can find full-fledged conservative ideologues.

Bifurcating

David Brooks captures what's at the core of the Clinton-Obama race, which has interesting implications about what "education" means nowadays. (Certainly, not being "introduced to reality." Rather, becoming able to avoid it systematically, like the alphas in Huxley's Brave New World).

He is just too nice

Nothing can be more destructive that good intentions combined with intellectual confusion.

Responsibility

This article does a good job of diagnosing a major problem affecting public education in the US: incompetent boards of education that let corrupt teachers' unions run the schools. It is not clear though that the answer lies in "nationalising" public education. First of all, there are many things between local school boards and the federal government (what about the states?). Second, there is no reason to think that politicians are less irresponsible and teachers' unions less powerful at the federal level than they are locally.

Beliefs

Commonweal reviews a book by Antonio Monda