Keep Learning, Even While You’re Stuck at Home

If your local church has been closed for mass or services because of the coronavirus outbreak, you might already be availing yourself of the...

Coronavirus Update: Testing Stalls as Cases Surpass 140,000

On Sunday, President Trump extended social-distancing guidelines through the end of the month, after having suggested they might be lifted on...

‘Let Rip a Grateful Holler’

Impromptus today has the usual variety, with the first several items having to do with the coronavirus and new ways of living. You may remember a...

Rhode Island’s Governor Sends the National Guard Out in a Door-to-Door Search for New Yorkers

At a time when everyone in the country needs our leaders thinking the clearest, the governor of Rhode Island has decided to deploy police and the...

Media Outlets Credulously Report Chinese Data on New Coronavirus Cases

As new cases of the novel coronavirus continue to surge in the U.S., major media outlets continue to report that the Chinese city of Wuhan, the...

The Need for Cost-Benefit Analysis Exists Even during a Pandemic

Cass Sunstein wrote a piece in Bloomberg Opinion last week about the need for cost-benefit analysis, even during a pandemic. A tidbit: In the...

Learning the Wrong Lessons

At crisis’s end — whenever it ends — there will be plenty of lessons for American leaders to learn from the pandemic, and the international...

The New Chapel Hill Chancellor’s Moment of Opportunity

Carol Folt abruptly resigned as UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor last year after the turmoil over the statue of a Confederate soldier. She took the...

A College-Cost Catch-22

An important aspect of college costs in America is the huge gap between the prices universities list and what many students actually pay. Schools...

Twenty Things that Caught My Eye Today: Maria Mercador of CBS Dies of Coronavirus & More (March 30, 2020)

1. Monsey, N.Y., Stabbing Victim, Josef Neumann, Dies 2. Maria Mercador, from CBS, went to the same high school I did in Manhattan. We were on...

The Dangerous Temptation of Denial in a Looming Crisis

Shortly after the second plane hit the tower on 9/11, a stunned WABC television news anchor speculated live on-air that “perhaps some type of...

Maryland and Virginia Governors Prohibit Events with More Than Ten People

Governor Ralph Northam (D., Va.) and Governor Larry Hogan (R., Md.) each issued orders today in their respective states banning almost all...

About that Deadly Fish-Tank-Cleaner Cocktail

Speaking in Tongues

These days, there are a lot of pictures like the one above: The Piazza del Duomo (i.e., Cathedral Square) is left to the pigeons. Normally, there...

All in the Same Fight

Michael Brendan Dougherty recently made the very thoughtful point that, as we make our way through this pandemic, those who are most worried about...

10,000 Coronavirus Deaths in Italy in Three Weeks

On March 7, the coronavirus death toll in Italy was 233 . As of March 28, Italy’s coronavirus death toll was 10,023 . Some skeptics of “social...

A Cruel Disease

There’s still much we don’t know about COVID-19, but one reason Italy has been so hard hit is probably because Italians of all generations spend a...

Red Sox Casualties of the Great War

I touched on this in my book review on the homepage today, but whereas baseball fans are familiar with the toll of missed time from the Second...

Coronavirus Update: More Than 2,000 Deaths in U.S.

Seventeen U.S. states have now confirmed more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus, with the national total over 119,000. New York remains the epicenter...

Between Albania and Zimbabwe

I very much appreciated Kevin Williamson’s piece today: “Pandemic: The First Great Crisis of the Post-American Era.” Many of us have been...

Tom Coburn, R.I.P.

We’ve lost Tom Coburn, a great conservative and patriot, a man of remarkable faith and integrity: Saddened by the death of my friend Tom Coburn....

The Path Ahead

The worst is yet to come in the struggle against Covid-19 in America, unfortunately. And yet, it’s also not too soon to be thinking about the...

Love in the Time of Coronavirus with the Little Sisters of the Poor

If anyone was prepared for this current moment, in many ways, I’d think it would be the Little Sisters of the Poor. They care for some extremely...

Coronavirus Update: Trump Considers Tri-State Quarantine, New York Death Toll Doubling Every Two Days

With a death toll over 700 and more than 52,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, New York is in a state of emergency. Not only is it the hardest-hit...

Twenty Things that Caught My Eye: First Catholic Priest in the U.S. Dies of Coronavirus, Quarantine Chorus & More (March 28, 2020)

I was having terrible connection problems Thursday and Friday, so I’m hoping you appreciate some weekend links. Some from earlier, some newer. 1....

It’s Best to Avoid Creating Unnecessary National Crises Because You Never Know When a Real One Might Arise

That’s one of the lessons of impeachment. It’s hard to believe, but the end of the trial was only last month, early last month, but last month....

Streaming the Performing Arts through COVID Spring

Spare a thought for people who work in the performing arts, here in New York and elsewhere. Theater, dance, and opera are all shut down. Thousands...

Poll: 91 Percent of Americans ‘Staying Home As Much As Possible’ to Fight Spread of Coronavirus

Don’t be fooled by last week’s videos of heedless spring-breakers shrugging at the possibility of catching and spreading the coronavirus. The...

“You’re Arguing in Bad Faith,” Says Person Losing Argument

I’m not the first person to notice this, but many of our friends on the left exist in an intellectual bubble in which everyone agrees with them...

The New York Times Editorial Board Peddles Planned Parenthood Talking Points

Several of my most recent posts have focused on how abortion providers and activist groups are using the coronavirus crisis to promote at-home...

Pandemic Preparedness

Josh Hendrickson: When a pandemic occurs, the demand for medical supplies such as masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers and...

Perhaps It Was Essential to Somebody before All This

‘Simply to Win an Election’

Last week, Representative Dan Lipinski lost the Democratic primary in the third district of Illinois to Marie Newman, a progressive challenger who,...

Massie’s Mistake

In the normal course of things, of course Congress should hold a roll-call vote on a $2-trillion bill. But this isn’t the normal course of...

Lives vs. Dollars

My latest Bloomberg Opinion column surveys the debate and concludes that it’s not worth having. An excerpt: What makes the debate even more foolish...

Finally, That ‘Libertarian Moment’

“Congress Races Back to Washington Because a Libertarian Is Having a Fit,” reads the Slate headline. On Thursday night, the office of the House...

A Scholar’s Lament

John M. Ellis has served on college faculties since 1963. He has seen a lot of change over the years, much of it deplorable. He has written The...

Nerds Have Been Waiting a Lifetime to Write This Headline

The House Democrats’ Coronavirus Extortion Gambit Backfires

The House’s voice vote passing the Senate’s version of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill puts the final nail in the coffin of House...

The Universal Truth of Coronavirus

Social media is doing a terrific job of explaining a universal truth about the coronavirus. Anyone who is less worried than you are about they or...

No, a COVID Scientist Didn’t Walk Back His Prediction

A narrative rocketed around social media earlier today: An Imperial College study said that COVID-19 could kill 500,000 Brits, but in recent...

An Accusation against Joe Biden

The Trump Uptick

The president’s approval rating trades in a pretty narrow band but has definitely been on the upswing. A couple of reputable polls have had him a...