The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new case, Gonzales v. Google, seeking to hold Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, legally responsible for injuries to victims of terrorism promoted on their sites. This case has implications far beyond terrorism, potentially making these companies responsible whenever their web search algorithms steer viewers to dangerous content. …
Father Paul Mariani, S.J., professor at Santa Clara University, gave a fascinating talk at the Napa Institute Summer Conference on the subject of China and the Vatican. Father Mariani’s presentation centered on a 2018 “provisional accord” between China and the Vatican that was apparently designed to work toward normalizing relations and resolving issues over the…
The Eleventh Annual Napa Institute Catholic Conference included a practical but very profound talk on the subject of fasting by Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., O.P., of The Busch School of Business at Catholic University of America. The Bible is full of references to fasting, especially at critical times during a person’s life, especially necessary along…
The Eleventh Annual Napa Catholic Conference was held July 22-24, 2021, with an impressive lineup of Catholic speakers on the theme “All Things Made New.” The conference included Mass and a wide range of talks, including religious and spiritual topics, lots of commentary on current Church and world events, apologetics and some very practical subjects…
A group of Democratic lawmakers has launched an effort to let President Biden appoint four new Justices to the Supreme Court. Their stated purpose is to change the balance on the Court so that it will approve the Democrats’ liberal policies. This is a highly questionably and likely unconstitutional practice known as “court-packing.” President Biden…
On April 5, Justice Thomas issued a concurring opinion in the case Joseph Biden vs. Knight First Amendment Institute, addressing the historically unprecedented control of information and communication by a few privately owned digital platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon. While the case had originated as an attack against President Trump, Justice Thomas used…
As a California attorney, I take regular continuing education classes. With Covid on everyone’s’ minds, I decided to learn something about vaccine laws. Some of what I learned was eye-opening, including the truth about three common Covid vaccine myths. Myth 1: Covid Vaccines are FDA approved. Reply: The vaccines have only been authorized so far…
Since we are responsible for the actions of those we elect, how should we vote when there is no perfect candidate? Obviously, the same way we make other prudential decisions in an imperfect world… we prioritize and weigh competing issues and considerations. This does not make us a “single issue” voter but we do have…
We hear a lot these days about systemic or institutionalized racism, especially in connection with the police and persisting economic disparity between races. Protesters say historical racism is so embedded in our western culture that we need to erase symbols of our tainted past like statues and the names of cities, schools and sports teams.…
As our society gradually unwinds the Covid-19 shutdowns and people reenter the public workforce, we’re seeing new government efforts to “protect” us whether we like it or not. This increasingly involves mandatory health screenings and various forms of technology-assisted “contact tracing,” including new smartphone apps to identify people who are sick or have associated with…
We all agree on the need to start reopening the economy, and our lives in general, as soon as possible to avoid a cascading array of catastrophes—major economic problems, business failures, unemployment, depression, domestic problems, suicides, possible food shortages, increased poverty and the like. We also need to remember that the U.S. Constitution remains…
When the Coronavirus pandemic first hit, the Catholic Church was among some of the first organizations to “self quarantine.” Public worship was quickly shut down, including Masses and confessions. Unfortunately, as time has passed and safety procedures are being developed, little effort has been made to reopen the sacraments, even during Easter week, and even…
Much has been written about the morality of investing in the stock market, often expressed in terms of an obligation to avoid stock in companies that are engaged in immoral businesses. This can be very difficult considering the wide variety of business activities of major corporations and the diverse stock holdings in modern mutual funds,…
