Take Five: Mercy Without Justice
In postmodern America, Paul Manafort is the “man in the iron mask” while an aspiring serial killer who hangs a toddler gets probation
Category: Access
Thomas Fleming Interviews Ched Rayson
CPR: I began to wonder if this website was a good place to launch the book. It is not the small circulation that disturbed me, but the apparent lack of interest. When I asked for the metrics on my chapters in comparison with other stuff, what you gave me showed a huge gap between pieces authored by you and those that had been written by others. I began to wonder if this site was not simply, you know, some kind of ego trip for an editor who had been bounced from his job. The idea of you getting more attention than me was pretty demoralizing.
Rending the Seamless Garment, II: Killing the Killers
I have heard liberal Catholic priests and Protestant ministers say that there is something “unchristian” about the death penalty. I have even heard those who say that the Church has always been opposed to executions, but I challenge them to cite one passage of Scripture or one creed, one conciliar document, one encyclical that unequivocally condemns the execution of murderers.
Wednesday’s Child: Letter from Piedmont
A poor man is not one who, with $100 in the bank, thinks himself poor. A truly poor man, when he has $100 to his name, thinks himself rich, at least until something untoward happens to quash this euphoric delusion.
Rending the Seamless Garment: Introduction
It is death that makes life so precious. Even Adam and Eve, without knowing it, lived under the shadow of the death that might come to them if they rebelled against their creator, and some protoplasmic earth-blob that were to go on growing throughout eternity would endure an existence without moral significance.
What the Trump-Putin Summit Could Achieve
Summits between the two major nuclear powers are essential to keep world peace. It’s good to meet the competition, know how he thinks, work on common problems and form a personal link.
Rex Scott Gives “Chicago” the Reading It Deserves
Robert Frost used to say Carl Sandburg had to accompany his readings with a guitar because that was the only way it would have a rhythm. Rex has taken Frost at his word…
Preparing for the Trump-Putin Summit: Russia’s Strengths and Weaknesses
As to Russiagate because on this site I’ve disproved it many times; there’s no way the Russians could have influenced the U.S. election because it was too complex for almost anyone to figure out, certainly anyone in Moscow. Trump figured it out because he won by campaigning nonstop the final weeks in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Wednesday’s Child: Letter from the Algarve
Curious people, these expats. I’ve met quite a number in my travels, mostly Brits, but also Americans and Germans, who aggregate in the south of Europe – Spain, Italy, Greece – drawn here by several very obvious lures. The sun and the sea are not among them. The main one is the cheapness of the alcohol, ranging from 96 proof spirit on offer in any supermarket to perfectly drinkable white wine for $1 a bottle.
