Miscellaneous

The big news this week? Flannery O'Connor. Not really, of course, but Dappled Things ran a great essay about O'Connor's influence on Bruce Springsteen [http://dappledthings.org/1148/naming-sin-flannery-oconnors-mark-on-bruce-springsteen/] . Excerpt: > Springsteen began reading O'Connor's stories in his late twenties,

A mother in China gave birth to a 15-pound baby. Chinese officials say it's so big, it can do the work of two babies. A new product that's coming out lets you consume caffeine by inhaling it. The product brings Starbucks one step closer to its

Miscellany If it's possible to combine smugness with evil, it's accomplished by Planned Parenthood. I've noticed the juxtaposition other times, but the most-recent video ad that congratulates President Obama on smacking down the Catholic Church wins the cake walk. You can read about it

State v. Society Hey! A columnist at the New York Times understands the important Nockian distinction between "social power" and "state power" and the related phenomenon that, when state power goes up, social power goes down [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/opinion/sunday/douthat-government-and-its-rivals.

From the Notebooks Christian Studies in Skepticism Significant: "Living in history, we experience only the present, the immediate. This is as it should be; it simplifies decision and directs action (for in this world only ignorance give us the freedom necessary to act)." Romano Guardini, The Lord, p.

"Lord, may I have balance and measure in everything--except in love." Escriva

Musicals and the Mind Abbreviated blogging today. It's musical weekend. Abbie has the role of Jo Jo in Seussical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seussical]. Last night was excellent. I look forward to seeing it again. The high school musicals seem so much higher in quality than they

Caveman Update I had my annual physical on Tuesday. The doctor noted that, in the past year, I had lost 15 pounds, my blood pressure had dropped from 108 to 102, and my pulse had gone from "very good" to "athletic." He asked what I was

Do It for the Children The number one friend of big government: The Crisis. When there's a crisis, the government says it needs more power in order to deal with it, and then it scarcely ratchets its newly-acquired power back down after the crisis is over. Big government&

"Limiting one's desires actually helps to cure one of fear." Seneca