H.I.F. Although I have found his books difficult to understand, I've long been intrigued by Ivan Illich. He strikes me as one of those thinkers who has an insightful and alternative handle on what's occurring in the modern world, even if his ideas occasionally

BYCU A TDE reader sent me this story [http://www.thelocal.de/20140305/euro-eurosceptic-afd-csu-germany-meet-for-ash-wednesday-summits-in-bavaria] last week: "On Ash Wednesday every year, German politicians are given a chance to drink a lot of beer in tents and then take

New reports show that the Crimean vote to join Russia on Sunday did not include an option for “no.” There were only two boxes on the ballot, one for “yes,” and one for “murder my family.”

They have now made Stallone's "Rocky" into a Broadway musical. It's getting such great early notices that they're already working on another one. I think the second one is "Rambo Get Your Gun."

Youtube video goes viral. What does it show? A minor league hockey venue that charges $7 for a large beer and $4 for a regular beer . . . yet the two cups are the same size. Link [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/11/if-you-already-think-beers-at-sporting-

H.I.F. A reader sent this to me last summer: Colleges' Stealth Tax on Family Savings [http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-07-07/colleges-stealth-tax-on-family-savings] . It points out that colleges punish harshly families that save for education. Excerpt (he's comparing two

From a TDE Reader: "Just recalled this after reading your D.H. Lawrence post - his poem "A Sane Revolution," which was on the inner cover of my older brother's Mott the Hoople album in the '70s." A Sane Revolution If you make a

William Doino Jr. explains why it's possible and desirable [http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/02/chestertons-pursuit-of-holiness] : > Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton, the diocese in which Chestertion lived, recently appointed a priest to investigate Chesterton's holiness, which could lead to the

H.I.F. A Mormon's American rag reports on the conversion of a Swedish non-denom megachurch pastor to Catholicism [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/10/non-denominational-megapastor-stuns-congregation-with-personal-theological-revelation/] .

H.I.F. "The Jews who fought for Hitler: 'We did not help the Germans. We had a common enemy [the Soviet Union].' But how do Finland's Jews feel today about their uneasy - and little mentioned - alliance with the Nazis?" Link [http://www.telegraph.