The institutional Catholic church has provided yet another demonstration of its active contempt for women or, in this case, girls. The Washington Post reports this morning that the Kansas City Archdiocese has summarily terminated its … [Read more...]

Mikhail Kalugin, allegedly confirmed Russian spy. A BBC piece just rolled through my Google news feed that strikes me as significant. I don't see a current thread for Mark (and others) to comment on, so I thought I'd just start … [Read more...]

I'm breaking my self-imposed "radio silence" to encourage us to be careful about what we think we know — to paraphrase Mark Twain, "it isn't what we don't know that hurts us, it's what we know that just ain't so". Case in point is "The … [Read more...]

The Saloon Come, enjoy some libations, and talk politics at the first post-truth stammtisch. Our now-regular monthly BMG Stammtisch will happen tonight, the first Wednesday of the month at The Saloon in Davis Square at 7p. Hope to see … [Read more...]

The Saloon Come, enjoy some libations, and talk politics at the first post-truth stammtisch. Our now-regular monthly BMG Stammtisch will happen, as usual, the first Wednesday of the month — 7-December— at The Saloon in Davis Square at … [Read more...]

There has been a lot of talk about "identity politics" since the election, too much of it self-serving complaints from arguably the most privileged demographic in America until it was eaten by its own dragons — working-class white … [Read more...]

Automated toll gantry I realized this holiday, while doing my annual shuttle duty for children arriving and departing Logan airport, that an era truly has ended. The toll plaza at the Callahan tunnel, along with all the others, is dark. … [Read more...]

Donald Trump famously promised, during his campaign, to "drain the swamp" of Washington DC. Various reports like this suggest that he is instead surrounding himself with alligators (emphasis mine): Trump taps into DeVos family to head … [Read more...]

It appears that all the comments have been removed from today's "Frank Talk from Barney" diary, as well as the ability to add comments. Did something break, or was this an editorial decision? While the exchanges were spirited, they … [Read more...]

Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander Thomas Merton wrote (emphasis mine): If we really sought truth we would begin slowly and laboriously to divest ourselves one by one of all our coverings of fiction and delusion: or at least we would … [Read more...]