Cleveland Commonweal Local Community Network

dotCommonweal blog For eleven years from March 2006 until March 2017, Commonweal Magazine had a blog which was called the dotCommonweal blog.  This allowed contributors to provide many short articles that could not possibly have fit into the print magazine.  A fine example of some of those on healthcare by the pseudonymous Unagidon (he worked in healthcare) are found here: UNAGIDON ON HEATHCARE AND CAPITALISM Many contributors like Unagidon very patiently dialoged with those who commented on their articles. Anyone with a valid e-mail address could comment. Each contributor was the moderator of his own articles and could remove comments that were inappropriate. The blog developed a reputation for high quality conversations without the bad manners so frequently found in blog comments.  The blog developed into a community where the most frequent commenters came to know to each other online. A few even met when someone visited another city. In March 2017 Commonweal completely...

    Summary The current decline in new cases at the rate of 2% per day is not the first decline.    The January –February decline at the rate of 2.5% ended in stagnation in March.    The July-August decline at the rate of 1.5% ended in the great spike which began in mid-September.    Can these past declines help us predict what will happen in the rest of this calendar year?

   IMPLICATIONS FOR CHURCH AND WORSHIP  Summary While small group events, (a bible study with a dozen persons) or even a larger group event (such as a choir rehearsal) are safe if everyone is vaccinated, church worship services are risky (only 8% of epidemiologists are now willing to attend them) because the number of new cases per day is still high and many people are not yet vaccinated.  Vaccines are not one hundred percent effective; the higher the number of unvaccinated persons, and the higher the incidence in the community, the higher the risk of infection even for a vaccinated person and for their transmission of the virus to others who are at even greater risk. Vaccinated persons at high risk and/or caretakers of persons at high risk should pay attention to what epidemiologists are doing and saying. The New York Times Survey Of the 723 epidemiologists who participated in the survey, 35 percent work for governments. The rest are mostly academics. The questionna...

 On April 22, 2012 the following report was released by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) Religious Identities and the Race Against the Virus:  Engaging Faith Communities on COVID-19 Vaccination The above is a link to the full report, which has an executive summary. However there is also a webinar including slides which can be accessed here:  Faith-Based Approaches Can Positively Impact COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts .  The first thirty minutes of their ninety minute program is a fine graphical presentation much of which I have summarized in one chart below. Attitudes Toward Vaccination (%)   Acceptor Wait and See Only if required Refused Americans 58 19 9 14           Democrats 73 15 6 6 Independents 58 20 ...

MAY 2021 COMMONWEAL   FROM THE EDITORS Courage & convictions COMMENT Violence in Tigray (Regina Munch) The Chauvin conviction (Isabella Simon) Justice Breyer needs to retire (Matthew Sitman) SHORT TAKES Letter from the United Kingdom (Felix Robertson) No more waiting   ( Susan Bigelow Reynolds) Biden’s foreign policy (Andrew Bacevich) Antigonish activist (Michael W. Higgins) CONTINUING CONVERSATIONS ‘Identity’ & narrative Paul J. Griffiths, (Daniel Walden) ARTICLES Life in the Big Zone (Timothy Snyder) Rethinking interfaith dialogue (Thomas Albert Howard) From princes to managers (Massimo Faggioli) The militant mysticism of Charles Péguy (Jack Hanson) ARTS ‘Grief and Grievance’ 9Clifford Thompson) BOOKS The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade   (Reviewed by Valerie Sayers) Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler (Reviewed by Jacob Bacharach) The Silence by Don DeLillo   (Reviewed by Philip Christman) American Catholics by...