Academic

Obama's Populist Turn--Skeel

Posted on January 24, 2010
It's hard not to think of Franklin Roosevelt (Roosevelt-and-water, perhaps) as President Obama criticizes the Wall Street banks, welcomes Paul Volcker (who argues that the banks should be partially broken up) back into his inner circle, and condemns the Supreme...

Tithes and Offerings--Skeel

Posted on January 18, 2010
At the end of each year I wonder whether I and my family's giving for the year fully reflects the Bible's teachings. It isn't so much the question of how much to give that I puzzle over. While the New Testament doesn't...

The House and Senate Abortion Provisions

Posted on January 09, 2010
As I understand it—and this is a serious qualification, because I'm not sure I do—the principal difference between the treatment of abortion in the House and Senate healthcare bills is this: the House Bill would prohibit government funding of health...

Back in the Day--Skeel

Posted on December 23, 2009
Am I imagining it, or is the old cliché 'back in the day' enjoying a renaissance?  I seem to see it everywhere, even in 'objective' newspaper stories.  When I was a kid (back in the day, in other words), it...

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Person of the Year?--Skeel

Posted on December 21, 2009
The selection by Time magazine of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke as its person of the year has been met by a collective yawn. Perhaps this reflects a general disinterest in financial regulators. It also could simply be one more illustration of the...

Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer--Skeel

Posted on December 17, 2009
The flurry of comparisons between President Obama's Nobel Peace Price speech and Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian Realist theology reminded me of a debate over whether Niebuhr is the author of the 'Serenity Prayer,' which has long been attributed to him. Last year,...

Two Italian Poets--Skeel

Posted on December 15, 2009
Here is a little review of a pair of very interesting Italian poets that might be of interest to a few folks-- particularly those who are tired of my rambling on about the proposed financial reforms....

Cancer News--Stuntz

Posted on December 11, 2009
This past week, I heard the results of the latest round of films: none of my tumors has grown in the past couple of months, and the one on my liver appears to be slightly smaller than it was. This is very...

Silence--Stuntz

Posted on December 11, 2009
Apologies for the long silence. Chemo brain has taken hold of me, and writing of all sorts has become a good deal more difficult than it was. I've never found writing easy, but I've always been able to do it. These days, I...

Afghanistan and Stem Cells--Skeel

Posted on December 02, 2009
I may the only person in the country who was reminded by President Obama's speech last night of President Bush's announcement of his stem cell policy in August 2001. In both cases, the President was announcing his policy on a controversial...

Should Geithner Step Down?--Skeel

Posted on November 29, 2009
A recent report by Neil Barofsky, the special investigator for the $700 billion TARP program, criticizing last year's AIG bailout has stoked suggestions that perhaps it's time for Treasury Secretary Geithner to step down. My guess is that Geithner will indeed...

Goldman's Good Works--Skeel

Posted on November 22, 2009
For reading the current financial tea leaves, the week's most important event was Goldman Sachs' announcement that it will devote $500 million to loans for small businesses and other good works. This noblesse oblige underscores just how much money Goldman has...

Religious Exemptions--Skeel

Posted on November 13, 2009
At a law and religion conference at Seton Hall's law school yesterday, Rob Vischer, a law professor at St. Thomas, gave a fascinating talk that touched on the debate over religious exemptions—the question whether religiously oriented individuals and businesses should...

Bailouts and Preemptive Strikes--Skeel

Posted on October 29, 2009
One of many interesting questions I was asked while presenting a paper called 'Bankruptcy or Bailouts?' at Professor Ted Janger's bankruptcy seminar at Brooklyn Law School yesterday was whether there's a connection between the ethos that led to the Bush...

Health News, and the Cost of Cancer Treatment--Stuntz

Posted on October 21, 2009
I haven't posted for far too long; sorry about that. I've been hunkered down, trying to manage chemo—which is harder this time around than it was last year—and also trying to make some progress on a book I'm writing.So, a quick...

Stuntz on Suffering

Posted on October 06, 2009
Bill had an article called "Three Gifts for Hard Times" in the August issue of Christianity Today, which I suspect will be of particular interest to those who have followed his posts on his cancer treatment.  I just noticed that the article is now...

DealBook Dialogue on the Financial Crisis--Skeel

Posted on October 06, 2009
The NY Times DealBook blog is hosting a dialogue on the financial crisis, with a variety of folks (I'm the least of them, by any yardstick) weighing in.  Several of the initial columns have been quite interesting; it's continuing all...

The Ardi Fossils--Skeel

Posted on October 04, 2009
I happened to be reading the transcript of the 1925 Scopes ('Monkey') trial the other evening, then woke up to front page pictures of Ardi, who was described 'a 4.4 million-year-old human forbear.' Scopes and Ardi prompted a swirl of competing...

Deer--Skeel

Posted on September 14, 2009
As the days shorten and fall activities begin, one of the summer rituals I will miss most is sitting on our back porch at the end of the day. At around 7pm most days, white tailed deer—usually two or three—strut across...

Life Issues and Healthcare Reform--Skeel

Posted on September 08, 2009
 A key issue with both life issues that have flared up in the healthcare debate—'death panels' and funding for abortion—is coercion. If healthcare reform requires doctors to consult with their elderly or other patients about end of life healthcare options, and...

Kennedy's Passing--Skeel

Posted on August 26, 2009
Like nearly everyone who does not inhabit the left, I've always had deeply mixed feelings about Ted Kennedy—admiration for his dedication and accomplishments mixed with distaste for his partisan excesses and the seamy side of his personal history...

Bernanke--Skeel

Posted on August 26, 2009
In announcing Ben Bernanke's nomination to another term as Federal Reserve chair, President Obama said he "approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom." This seems a fair characterization of Bernanke's personal demeanor, but an odd description of...

Still More Cancer, and Hope--Stuntz

Posted on August 07, 2009
Last week, my oncologist told me the results of the latest set of films: I appear to have a cluster of four small tumors on the left side of my abdomen, and one slightly larger tumor on my liver. My cancer...

Wedding Bands--Skeel

Posted on August 05, 2009
Vacationing at the beach this week, I noticed something I notice every year: although they have been happily married for many years, neither my brother-in-law nor my sister-in-law wears a wedding band.I've always been strongly pro-wedding band. A wedding band says...

More on Calvin's 500th--Skeel

Posted on July 31, 2009
A few more thoughts on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth, in this op-ed.Although this obviously isn't a theologically oriented country, I've been surprised the anniversary hasn't gotten more attention in the general media....

Sam Harris on Francis Collins--Skeel

Posted on July 28, 2009
That Sam Harris, one of the leading 'new atheists,' criticized the president's nomination of Francis Collins, a professed Christian, to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health in this New York Times op-ed yesterday was hardly news. But I...

The Apollo 11 Landing--Skeel

Posted on July 21, 2009
The Apollo 11 landing was one of the first public events I remember. My family was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and we had returned from a family camp in Michigan the day of the landing. It was a long day, but...

Sotomayer and the Cost of Success--Stuntz

Posted on July 15, 2009
A couple days ago, David Brooks had a wise and interesting column on Sotomayor and the price of professional success. (Link: here). Plainly, Sotomayor has paid a price for her achievements—according to Brooks, her marriage appears to have been a casualty of...

Calvin's 500th--Skeel

Posted on July 11, 2009
 Yesterday was the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth. The anniversary didn't make any newspaper that I saw, but there have been major celebrations in the church world, including a series of talks and sermons in Geneva that featured many evangelical...

The GM Sale--Skeel

Posted on July 06, 2009
Although GM is vastly larger and more significant than Chrysler, its "sale"-- which was approved by the bankruptcy court late yesterday-- has received far less attention.  There seem to be two reasons for this.The first is a been-there-done-that effect...

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