The July/August issue of The Atlantic has a provocative lead article entitled “The End of Men,” by Hanna Rosin. Bound to raise some hackles, it’s a well-written, fascinating, worrisome piece that looks at women’s growing dominance in the West and considers whether the modern, post-industrial world is actually more suited to the female: Man has … Read more
A new study has been released by the Commission on Parenthood’s Future, showing that young adults conceived by sperm donors generally fair more poorly than adopted children or those raised by their biological parents. The authors — which include Professor Norval Glenn of the University of Texas at Austin — surveyed more than 1 million … Read more
Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a traditional feast that goes back centuries. As a private devotion, it was commonplace by the sixteenth century and grew even more popular after a series of visions experienced by French visitation nun, Mary Margaret of Alacoque. Pope Pius IX made the devotion a feast … Read more
The “Year of the Priest” has come to an end, and in his homily in St. Peter’s to mark the occassion, Pope Benedict had some strong and clear comments about the sex abuse scandal, reported by Reuters: Wearing white and gold vestments as he spoke to some 15,000 priests, Benedict said the year that was … Read more
Should feminists embrace Sarah Palin and those like her? Last week, feminist author and blogger Jessica Valenti offered an emphatic no in The Washington Post. But Cathy Young, a columnist for RealClearPolitics has an interesting response in The Boston Globe. She thinks feminists make a big mistake when they ignore women like Palin: If feminism … Read more
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship who captured and tortured thousands of political prisoners. The UK’s Indepedent has an interesting story about a brother and sister — heirs to a big media fortune — who have been forced to submit to DNA testing to see if they are among the … Read more
Two European reports have accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of both exaggerating the threat of the H1N1 virus and failing to disclose important information about it. In Friday’s Washington Post, Rob Stein explained: The WHO’s response caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries around the world to waste millions of dollars, according to … Read more
It’s a day for a little Wendell Berry. These two excerpt come from “Solving for Pattern,” found in Berry’s collection of agrarian essays, The Art of The Commonplace, where he proposes 14 solutions — more like guidelines — to current problems in food production and farming: 6. A good solution embodies a clear distinction between … Read more
Science reports that a new study on mice shows that acupuncture activates pain-suppressing receptors. This is no surprise to the millions of people around the world who use acupuncture, but it’s always interesting when science discovers how things actually work. Researchers have developed two hypotheses for how acupuncture relieves pain. One holds that the needle … Read more
You may have heard about the article published in the May issue of Neurosurgery by Ian Suk and Rafael Tamargo — both neuroanatomy experts at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, here in Baltimore. According to Scientific American, back in 1990, a physician named Frank Meshberger published a paper in the Journal of the … Read more
This photo was taken by a photographer friend at the “Flags In” ceremony on Friday at Arlington National Cemetery. More than 250,000 flags were placed in preparation for today by members of the Armed Forces. Each flag is inserted one boot length from (and in the center of) each grave stone. My friend always wanted … Read more
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an unpleasant topic, but it’s making headlines right now because the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) just changed their position on it, leaving room for U.S. doctors to do an abbreviated form of the procedure known as “nicking.” There are four main kinds of FGM. “Nicking” is the least severe, … Read more
This is interesting: A newly-completed study of fetal death rates in September, from 1996 to 2002, found that 12% more male fetuses died in September 2001 (after the 20th week of pregnancy) than in the other years. According to the BBC News, fewer boys were born in the U.S. three to four months following 9/11. … Read more
I’ve heard of this Roman tradition, but have never seen it: On Pentecost, to symbolize the Holy Spirit’s descent on the Apostles and Mary, rose petals are dropped from the Pantheon’s oculus. The video belows gives a sense of what it would be like to experience the event. You’ll notice Veni Creator Spiritus being chanted … Read more
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an impressive woman. In her late 30s, she speaks six languages — that includes both her native Somali, as well as Dutch, which she learned so she could run for the Dutch parliament. Of course, she’s best known for what Theodore Dalrymple calls “her public and uncompromising repudiation of Islam.” Her … Read more
This quote in Dr. Thomas Howard’s book, Christ the Tiger, caught my eye this week. It speaks of how in God all things are made new. It’s a perfect passage to ponder as we approach Pentecost Sunday: Behold I make all things new. Behold I do what cannot be done. I restore the years that … Read more
I’ve read the stories on and off for some time: Unless things change, our oceans could be out of fish by 2050. The latest report from the United Nations says that, according to current estimates, a fish-less world is quite possible within 40 years unless stocks are allowed to recover: According to the UN, 30 … Read more
News channels and parenting blogs have been on fire the past few days over a video of 8-year-old girls dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” during a dance competition. The girls do a lot of gyrating and are dressed in bikini-like dance costumes. ABC interviewed one set of parents who justified the dance by saying the … Read more
Steve Jobs has been getting a lot of flak lately for his decision to keep porn off the iPhone. In April, he said Apple was staying away from that: So where should you go to get naked people on mobile phones? The Android. “Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone,” says Jobs. … Read more
Scientists are stunned by the recent sighting of a grey whale off the shores of Israel. Grey whales haven’t been seen outside the Pacific ocean for several hundred years. This one has traveled thousands of miles from the north Pacific. “What has amazed the entire marine mammal research community is there haven’t been any grey … Read more
