Friday Highlights

Hmm. Interesting?

• Saint Seraphim of Sarov: On Despair February 8, 2010
  Just as the Lord is concerned about our salvation, so does the devil, the slayer of men, concern himself about bringing the soul of man to despair.Judas the betrayer was faint-hearted and inexperienced in struggle, which is why the devil, seeing him in a state of despair, attacked and persuaded him to hang himself.Peter, the formidable rock, falling into gre […]
  John Sanidopoulos
• Asceticism and the Eucharist February 8, 2010
  Asceticism as such is not uniquely Christian. Much less is it unique to the tradition of the Orthodox Church. Off the top of my head I cannot think of a major world religion whose adherents do not practice some form of asceticism. What is unique about Christian asceticism is its connection to the Eucharist.Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast) […]
  Fr Gregory Jensen
• The Witness of Being Weird February 8, 2010
  One of the main themes of Evangel’s early days was evangelicals’ complex relationship to culture. I recently came across Evangel contributor Dr. Russell Moore’s astute analysis on the question from 2007 in the pages of Touchstone, the other ecumenical magazine of record. Dr. Moore’s piece really needs to be read in its entirety, as he manages to thoughtfully […]
  Matthew Lee Anderson
• Regrets, I’ve Had a Few … February 8, 2010
  Years ago I lived near a drinking establishment on the boundary of Quezon City and Manila where people essentially killed each other over nothing. The place in question was a really a roofed parking lot that had been converted to a beer garden. It was frequented by off duty policemen, enlisted men and [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website […]
  Richard Fernandez
• This is Why We Think You're Dumb February 8, 2010
  There's a piece coming out in the WaPo complaing that liberals are so condescending to conservative ideas. American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological […]
  David Schraub
• Peer Review as Talisman February 8, 2010
  Mark Steyn says: Like all the poodles of the environmental beat, Margot O’Neill repeats those magic words “peer review” every couple of paragraphs like a talisman to ward off evil deniers. From my “Scientific Peer-Review is a Lightweight Process” : By the way that proponents of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming (CAGW) wave it about as a talisman to w […]
  Shannon Love
• Meatfare Sunday: Sunday of the Last Judgment February 8, 2010
  The foregoing two parables -- especially that of the Prodigal Son -- have presented to us God's extreme goodness and love for man. But lest certain persons, putting their confidence in this alone, live carelessly, squandering upon sin the time given them to work out their salvation, and death suddenly snatch them away, the most divine Fathers have appoi […]
  John Sanidopoulos
• Palin at the Tea Party February 8, 2010
  Sarah Palin went to address the Tea Party Convention last night, laying out the populist-conservative case against Obama. We “need a commander in chief and not a law professor” in the war against “radical Islamic extremists” she declared.  (In purposefully using a phrase that the president eschews, she, of course, reinforces her point.) She fingered the clos […]
  Jennifer Rubin
• Tiny bubbles February 8, 2010
  There were fears that a tide of lending by Chinese banks to keep the economy going was building up a “bubble” of uncertain proportions. Beijing-based Fitch Ratings said that it was difficult to estimate just how large the bad debts were because the Chinese banking system was so opaque. One party trying to peer into China’s economic future was Japan. At the r […]
  Richard Fernandez
• She Chose February 8, 2010
  Thanks to Andrew Garland for this link, which provides details about Melanie Shouse, the St. Louis woman who once worked for the Obama campaign and who died last week of breast cancer. Contrary to the implication that I drew in my previous post, Mr. Obama did not know Ms. Shouse, so I was off-base to suggest that perhaps he should have personally paid for he […]
  Don Boudreaux
• Sarah Palin was a blithering idiot until she became a devious genius. February 8, 2010
  So here's Mark Leibovich, writing in the NYT, about the powerful political position Sarah Palin has devised for herself:Ms. Palin represents a new breed of unelected public figures operating in an environment in which politics, news media and celebrity are fused as never before. Her growing cast of advisers and support system could be working in the ser […]
  Ann Althouse
• russia's role in fannie and freddie February 8, 2010
  The EconomistFINANCIAL crises are often described as stomach-churning. For Hank Paulson that was literally true. Horribly sleep-deprived as he struggled to stop the world financial system falling apart in 2008, America’s then treasury secretary succumbed regularly to the dry heaves. In one meeting, he pretended to need to relieve himself of his last Diet Cok […]
  (author unknown)
• A Balanced China Policy February 8, 2010
  George Gilder has been one of our most interesting and important public intellectuals since the 1970s, so his pro-China commentary today in the Wall Street Journal deserves a more serious response than, say, the mindless boosterism of the average Tom Friedman column. In fact, I agree with him that it is hardly worth wasting American diplomatic capital with C […]
  Max Boot
• Is it possible to double exports in five years? February 8, 2010
  Free exchange Export volumes R.A. | WASHINGTON Historical perspective on the president's export goal Images:  YES:That chart is provided by Econbrowser's Menzie Chinn, who writes:Notice that nominal exports certainly doubled in the mid-1970s and early 1980's. Nominal exports also almost doubled by 1990 and 2008, approximately 5 to 6 years afte […]
  (author unknown)
• Sri Lanka: On Independence Day February 8, 2010
  Chanux at Prove that real but not virtual blog misses something on the 62nd Independence day of Sri Lanka. […]
  Rezwan