I understand where Jennifer Aniston is coming from. Like many of her peers in Hollywood, not to mention scholars and writers opining on fatherhood these days, she has come to the conclusion that dads are dispensable: “Women are realizing it more and more knowing that they don’t have to settle with a man just to Read more
Although largely ignored in its day, Christopher Dawson’s Christendom trilogy is the masterwork of one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers. As it turned out, the Christendom trilogy served as the last great work of English-Welsh historian and man of letters Christopher Dawson (1889-1970). Sort of. The trilogy derived, originally, from lectures Dawson had delivered while teaching Read more
As Seigan Glassing walked down the sterile, white hospital corridor, he thought of a poem written by well-known Zen master Kozan Ichikyo shortly before his death. Empty handed I entered The world Barefoot I leave it My coming, my going — Two simple happenings That got entangled. Seigan paused outside one of the identical doors Read more
The president of the “bank” of the Holy See, in this interview with Vatican Radio, opens his campaign to restore credibility to the controversial institution. With more integrity, more transparency, more communication Q: President Ernst von Freyberg, do you like your job, coming from Frankfurt down to Rome, working inside the Vatican? A: It is Read more
Think of clenching your right fist. A nimble 14-ounce helicopter flies right. Imagine clenching your left fist. The chopper veers left. Think of clenching both fists, and it ascends vertically. This remarkable helicopter-control system is the work of a group of scientists at the University of Minnesota led by engineering professor Bin He. What sets it apart is Read more
Most married couples with children are satisfied with their relationships. There is only one problem with the dour and dismal portrait of heterosexual marriage painted by Liza Mundy in this month’s Atlantic cover story. It’s wrong. In her bleak rendering, contemporary marriage comes across as unequal, unfair, and unhappy to today’s wives. Wives are burdened Read more
When Germany legalised prostitution just over a decade ago, politicians hoped that it would create better conditions and more autonomy for sex workers. It hasn’t worked out that way, though. Exploitation and human trafficking remain significant problems. Sânandrei is a poor village in Romania with run-down houses and muddy paths. Some 80 percent of its Read more
It’s possible to become a more compassionate person by training your brain, according to a new study. Researchers from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconson-Madison’s Waisman Center found that engaging in compassion meditation — where you practice feeling compassion for different groups of people, including yourself — seemed to increase Read more
When a newborn joins a family we become beguiled by the perfection of this wondrous new being. Any hint of difference is easily overlooked during the early years. We now understand that the onset of symptoms of autism spectrum disorders is variable during the first two years of life. Signs are evident in some children from birth, Read more
The ideology of absolute self-determination has become sacred and unquestionable. In 2002, Belgium became the second country in the world after its neighbour, The Netherlands, to legalise euthanasia. Over the next decade our country has become a living laboratory for radical social change. With many other countries debating legalisation at the moment, now is a Read more