Bye bye bishop Williamson

The “absolutely unequivocal and public” taking of distance from his positions regarding the Shoah, which the Vatican was expecting from bishop Williamson, has not come to pass. Which is perhaps no surprise, given the nature of the case—a desperate one, indeed.What is surprising is, in my opinion, that Richardson felt the need to perform an attempt to apologize for the interview he gave to a

March 10, 2009: Display the Tibetan flag

Next March 10 will mark a double anniversary for Tibet: 50 years since Tibetans rose up to protest China’s illegal invasion of their homeland, and one year since unprecedented protests broke out across the Land of Snow showing China and the world that Tibetans are determined to be free. The images in March 2008 of Tibetans in Tibet bravely displaying Tibetan flags is an image that none, among

Moving backwards?

Moving backwards on the foreign policy front with Barack Obama in charge? Perhaps they forgot Machiavelli's lesson …From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than feared. I reply that one should like to be both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

Slaying Leviathan

“Slaying Leviathan envisions an approach to tax policy rooted in natural justice. To achieve this goal, Ms. Carbone first traces the historical evolution of U.S. tax policy, from the 1765 Stamp Act to the 1997 tax cut. She then assesses the current American tax burden and former president George W. Bush’s tax cuts and explores the fundamental problems with U.S. tax policy. After providing a

'It is written . . .'

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, which occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter. I thought these “few provisions for your Lenten trek,” by Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, might be a very appropriate way to celebrate this day. P.S. Ah, don’t worry about the title of the post to which I linked ... a thorough reading and understanding of this piece is required

Carnival of Venice

I don’t have any particular feeling for or against this period of the year, but I generally refrain from going to Venice during these days, when the Carnival—the famous Carnevale di Venezia, first recorded in 1268—is whooping it up in the streets (my misanthropic side’s fault?). But nothing prevents me from enjoying these beautiful pictures.

Geert Wilders in the US (updated)

“Oriana has always been my idol, my point of reference, and I am proud to receive this award,” Geert Wilders said in an interview with Il Giornale (in Italian) the day before receiving the “Premio Oriana Fallaci” (Oriana Fallaci Award, see here his acceptance speech). Asked how he felt about the UK government’s decision to ban him from entering the country, he said: “It was a scandalous event and

The Wager

While browsing my Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, I found an effective synthesis of the famous Pascal’s wager, so I thought it might be useful—above all for my younger readers—to share at least a portion of the item. Here it goes:The ancient and popular (or vulgar) view that belief in God is the ‘best bet’, given its classic formulation in the Pensées of Pascal. Suppose that metaphysical

'Giotto and the 14th Century'

“Giotto e il Trecento” (Giotto and the 14th Century), the major exhibition opening on March 6 at the Vittoriano in Rome and running through June 29, will be the first ever realized outside of Florence—the latest one was at the Uffizi Gallery in 1937—and one of the artistic highlights of the year.An event not to be missed by anyone who loves art. Ok, I’m not what you’d call a neutral witness,

'I need a beachfront condo, Mr. President!'

Some hundred people protesting against the the $787 billion stimulus package, signed by President Obama Tuesday in Denver, gathered outside Dobson High School in Mesa (Az) at 10 a.m. and expressed their frustration with signs. Nice pics of the event at Michelle Malkin’s blog.

All books are equal!

Librarians are being told to move the Bible to the top shelf to avoid giving offence to followers of Islam.Muslims have complained of finding the Koran on lower shelves, saying it should be put above commonplace things.So officials have responded with guidance, backed by ministers, that all holy books should be treated equally and go on the top shelf together.This means that Christian works,

The debacle of the Italian left

So, now that most of the ballots have been counted, there is no doubt that the center-right candidate Ugo Cappellacci has won—with about 52 percent of the vote against 43 percent—regional elections in Sardinia against a left-wing coalition led by the outgoing governor and Tiscali internet company-founder, Renato Soru.It’s quite a surprising result, since most pre-election surveys had predicted a

Is the flag of Shariah already waving over the US?

When the hard part of what you are trying to do or to understand or to investigate is in the many small details, you can say, along with the old saying, “the devil is in the details.” So, it may happen that an apparently minor news might turned out to be much less insignificant than anyone thought.Take, for instance, the case of the beheading of a woman whose husband, Muzzammil Hassan, an

Under the Tuscan stars

This is great: Filmed in Cortona, with the Tuscan city setting the background for a romantic evening, and the outdoor atmosphere matching the charm of violin virtuoso André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra … “La donna è mobile,” “The Carnival of Venice,” La Traviata (the drinking song), Carmen, Aida, Nabucco (“Va pensiero,” which is almost a national Italian anthem) and more.

But they should never have banned Geert Wilders

About the UK government’s decision to ban the anti-Islamist Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering the country (see my two previous posts on this) there is an interesting piece up at Pajamas Media by Mike McNally, a British journalist who blogs at Monkey Tennis Centre. He says he recently changed his mind about the war against the extremist Islamists, a war which he believed his country could

A crime against God and humanity

The hatred and contempt for men, women and children that was manifested in the Shoah was ”a crime against God and humanity” and it was “intolerable” for anyone to deny it, said Thursday Pope Benedict speaking to American Jewish leaders at the Vatican. “How can we begin to understand the enormity of what happened in those terrible prisons? The whole of humanity feels deep shame for the savage