Warren Buffett’s letter his editors and publishers May 23, 2012 To the Publishers and Editors of Berkshire Hathaway’s Daily Newspapers: Until recently, Berkshire has owned only one daily newspaper, The Buffalo News, purchased in 1977. In a month or so, we will own 26 dailies. I’ve loved newspapers all of my life — and always will. My dad, when attending the University of Nebraska, was editor of The Daily Nebraskan. (I have copies ofthe papers he edited in 1924.) He met my mother when she applied for a job as a reporter at the paper. Her father owned a small paper in West Point, Nebraska and my mother worked at various jobs at the paper in her teens, even mastering the operation of a linotype ... Continue reading →

Some say her work is forbidden. Some might say it's a complete waste of time. Others remain silent. But Julie Seltzer, one of a few women in history to write a complete Torah scroll, is just following her heart. "My love of Torah led me to be a scribe," she says. Jews all over the world are preparing for Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai and is characterized by all-night learning of sacred texts. However, the question of who may write this ancient scroll continues to be debated. Seltzer, who lives in San Francisco, is part of a growing, loosely knit community of approximately 50 female Jewish scribes living across the United States and in Israel. They span the spectrum ... Continue reading →

Among whites polled, opinion leaned toward supporting same-sex marriage (48 percent support vs. 43 percent opposition). The new Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that black Americans are now more supportive of same-sex marriage than white Americans are (59 percent vs. 50 percent).For many black Americans, opposition to gay marriage is rooted in conservative religious beliefs. While more left-leaning on many economic and civil rights issues, black Americans poll similar to many white Christians on social issues including same-sex marriage.Obama's announcement, however, could shift opinion on this issue among black Americans. On Monday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) approved a resolution supporting same-sex marriage. The resolution supported both “marriage equality” and “the religious freedoms of all people.”Roslyn Brock, chairman of the ... Continue reading →

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES | Tue May 22, 2012 12:40am EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ronald Reagan's foundation expressed outrage on Monday at a British company's auction of what it says is a vial of the late U.S. president's blood taken at the hospital where he was treated after a 1981 assassination attempt. PFC Auctions, a company based in Guernsey in the United Kingdom, announced on Sunday that it would sell the vial of blood in an online auction set to end on Thursday.The vial was taken at George Washington University Hospital on March 30, 1981, after Reagan was wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., PFC Auctions said on its website. It is said to have come from a person whose late ... Continue reading →

(apple) Last year, Christian apologist Josh McDowell made a remarkable claim about the Internet, stating that “the abundance of knowledge, the abundance of information, will not lead to certainty; it will lead to pervasive skepticism... the Internet has leveled the playing field [giving equal access to skeptics].” He said that like it was a bad thing. It’s not hard to see why McDowell is afraid, though. Open access to knowledge -- the ability to fact check your pastors and imams and rabbis -- is a death knell for religion as we know it, and the Internet is only hastening the process. (I focus on Christianity in this piece because it has the largest Web presence in the United States.) It wasn’t long ago when statements ... Continue reading →

For Catholics enraged by the Obama administration’s proposed contraception mandate, the film about the Mexican church’s fight in 1920s is a heartening and timely cinematic boost in the American church’s battle to preserve “religious freedom” in 2012.For other Catholics and non-Catholics, the film is, more simply, action, suspense and a good cast. Besides Garcia and Blades, there’s “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria and the legendary actor Peter O’Toole.Endorsements for the film from Catholic leaders explicitly connect it to the current clash between church and state. “’For Greater Glory’ is ‘must-see’ viewing for all those who care about faith and liberty today,” wrote Carl A. Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, which put the film on the cover of its members’ magazine. “It ... Continue reading →