Did you know that 150 is a magic number? According to this NPR piece from Goats and Soda blog, it is. The author, Diane Cole, talks to Susan Pinker, the author of The Village Effect, who explains that traditional villages had populations of about that number, and how it is ideal for human interactions.
This Penelope Trunk post, it's not really a career counseling story. It's a caring story. It is a story of what we need to do, because the Church is in eclipse, and we have to get to the down and dirty of being hands-on Catholics. The Synod on the Family should be talking about how to prevent stories like this one.
Another novelty: Pope Francis strikes a deal with Porsche to rent the Sistine Chapel for a private corporate event, reports The Telegraph. Francis plans to use the money for his charities, although they were not identified in this article.
A Heretic AND a Liar. In yesterday's Restoration Reader I linked to the story about Cardinal Walter Kasper making disparaging remarks about the African bishops. Well today, he flatly denied being interviewed by a reporter from Zenit. Furthermore, he denied making the remarks. Zenit, in true effeminate VII style, showed no support of its reporter at all and pulled the interview. Now, Lifesite News reports that Edward Pentin, the reporter, has published his iPhone recording of Kasper's incriminating remarks. The Synod14 Circus continues.