Sixth (and last) in a series on changing cities

In March 31, 1755, the curtain rose for the first time at Lisbon’s Casa da Opera, said to surpass “in magnitude and decorations all that modern times can boast,” with spectators gaping at “the richness of the house and all the gilded decorations.” Its stage was 180 feet long, twice the length of a modern NBA basketball court. King José had assembled “the greatest singers then existing”: Domenico Luciani, Giuseppi Morelli, Gaetano Majorano, and more. 

David Block and Kenneth Freeman in God and Galileo (Crossway, 2019) throw light on the battle between Roman Catholicism and the scientist who became known as “the father of observational astronomy.” They show how political maneuvering at the Vatican contributed to the infamous decision to force Galileo to recant publicly while still holding to what his scientific observation told him: that the Earth moves.

Pierre Omidyar had the Midas touch. In 1995 he founded what became eBay. I don’t doubt that Omidyar worked hard, but his $11 billion fortune may be a case (compared to the typical toiler) of easy come, easy more—and that may mean trouble for the rest of us.

Editor’s note: Marvin Olasky continues his monthly biographical series on key individuals from late 19th and early 20th century American history. In February and March, we looked at the life of John D. Rockefeller. In April, we presented Part 1 on the life of Grover Cleveland. Here’s the concluding second part.

It’s 1,376 miles from Caracas, Venezuela, to Doral, a Miami suburb now known as Doralzuela because so many refugees from the world’s latest socialist experiment now huddle here, yearning to be free. 

They come in the footsteps of refugees who fled Cuba in the 1960s, when Peter, Paul and Mary were singing in coffeehouses, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” Each verse concluded, “When will they ever learn?” That question should now be addressed to fans of socialism and socialist candidates. 

Fifth in a series on cities

Pundits have written abundantly about evangelical support of Donald Trump, but they’ve mostly gotten it wrong. WORLD’s running survey of evangelical leaders in 2015 showed almost zero initial support for Trump. Not until his ascension left him as the only alternative to Hillary Clinton did he pick up broad support from church-going evangelicals, and the reason was obvious: the Supreme Court.