Signs and Wonders: Turning to 'reason' instead of prayer in Charlotte

Like a Foxx. As I reported Monday, President Barack Obama appointed Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to be the next transportation secretary. What I have found out since then is that Hizzoner Mayor Foxx has declared Thursday “A Day of Reason” in Charlotte. May 2 is traditionally the National Day of Prayer, an event designed to encourage people to “turn to God in prayer and meditation.” Foxx said May 2 was better served as A Day of Reason because “the application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival on Earth.” According to U.S. News, “The American Humanist Association, whose slogan is ‘Good without a God,’ created the National Day of Reason with the Washington Area Secular Humanists to raise awareness about government threats to religious liberty and up the profile of the non-religious community. The day will [include] acts of service and discussions on rational thought.”

Not dead yet. Those who think newspapers are dead had best not tell The New York Times. “The Old Gray Lady” reported an 18 percent gain in daily circulation to the Alliance for Audited Media. That dramatic gain moves it past USA Today as the second-largest newspaper in the United States. The Times now has an average daily circulation of 1.87 million. The Wall Street Journal remained the No. 1 paper in the country, with its circulation climbing 12 percent to 2.38 million. The Gannett Company-owned USA Today dropped to third after daily readership slipped 7.9 percent to 1.67 million. Overall, though, newspapers are still in decline: Daily readership of U.S. newspapers declined 0.7 percent. Sunday editions were down 1.4 percent. And more people are reading news online. Paid online circulation accounts for 19 percent of total circulation, up from 14 percent last year.

Cruz for president? Freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is considering a presidential run, according to a report at National Review Online. It’s important to note that almost no one quoted in the NRO article has a name. Sources for the story were “his friends and confidants” and “a Republican insider” and “a Cruz donor” and “a longtime Cruz associate.” Still, having met Cruz a few times myself, I must say the idea has the ring of truth. When you hear him speak, you think, “This guy could be president of the United States someday.” Cruz, 42, brings a blue-chip resume and an election win in a big state to the conversation. Winning in Texas means he has proven he can raise big money. Certainly we here at WORLD have been paying attention to him for a while, even putting him on our cover last year. That said, there are a million ways a presidential campaign can go off the rails, and Cruz has been in the U.S. Senate for less than year, so his wife, Heidi, shouldn’t be picking out colors for the Lincoln bedroom (assuming she gets to do that) any time soon.

A baseball moment. Baseball proved again last night it is the greatest game in the history of mankind. That moment came during the bottom of the fifth inning in the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves. Braves pitcher Tim Hudson was toward his 200th career major league victory (which he accomplished in the Braves 8-1 victory). But for this moment, he was in the batter’s box, and he hit a home run. For a pitcher, Hudson is a good hitter, so the blast was not completely unexpected, but coming in Atlanta with his wife and family in the stands—it had extra drama and poignancy. Add to the story that “Huddy” is a crowd and teammate favorite, that he had Tommy John surgery in 2008, missed most of 2009, and was named Comeback Player of the Year in 2010, and you begin to see that those who complain that baseball is “too slow” are people much to be pitied. It’s too early to talk about Hudson for the Hall of Fame. He’s 37 and would have to string together another three or four good years to make that a real possibility, but last night he didn’t hurt his chances.