So, this guy Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser has been taking his mad yo yo skillz* on a moderately-sized whirlwind tour of TV stations around the midwest. The only problem with his act is that it goes like this: “I . . . I don’t have the muscle memory.” Nice job by the host, though. He really … Read more
Year: 2010
“I don’t have the muscle memory.”
So, this guy Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser has been taking his mad yo yo skillz* on a moderately-sized whirlwind tour of TV stations around the midwest. The only problem with his act is that it goes like this: “I . . . I don’t have the muscle memory.” Nice job by the host, though. He really … Read more
Batman, Pro-Life Crusader
Well, you don’t often get pro-life pieces at the Huffington Post. Though to be honest, the piece I found isn’t explicitly pro-life. In fact, it doesn’t mention abortion or euthanasia at all. But the ideas he expressed are thoroughly pro-life (though I’d predict the author would deny the connection). Writer Bryan Young, nominally Catholic, recently … Read more
The Understudy
I felt the question coming like a dog feels the pulse of the earth before a quake. I had tracked Monsignor’s comments from, “How quickly they grow,” to, “What grade are you in this year, Ann?” and I knew what came next. So did Ann. Exactly one beat before the question came, we exchanged a … Read more
Some positive press for NJ Governor Chris Christie
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is becoming quite a political star, and for good reason: He’s facing down a terrible state financial crisis and he’s doing it with courage and principle. Happily, some in the mainstream press are noticing: Christie is tackling the nation’s worst state deficit — $10.7 billion of a $29.3 billion budget. … Read more
Help the Catholic League Defend Mother Teresa
Please consider signing the Catholic League’s petition in response to the decision made by the owners of the Empire State Building to reverse an earlier decision to light its towers in white and blue on August 26, the day the U.S. Postal service issues a stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Friday Free-for-All
A few links for your Friday morning: News outlets are shocked — shocked! — that Pope Benedict doesn’t approve of gay marriage. Much like the recent Denver case, a boy in Massachussetts was denied re-enrollment in a Catholic school because of his parents’ homosexual relationship. Unlike the recent Denver case, the archdiocese has offered to … Read more
Pope Benedict on ‘Authentic Witness’
Today is Pope Benedict’s final day in Portugal. He departed from Fatima this morning for the northern city Opporto, where he celebrated Mass. Opporto is a port city (famous for Port wine), the second largest in the country, and significant not only as a commercial center but because of the large number of immigrants. In … Read more
The New Missal: Disaster or Opportunity?
Last week, the Holy See gave the formal recognitio, or official approval, to the new English translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal, the book that contains the prayers and rubrics of the Mass. The third edition of the Roman Missal was itself approved by Pope John Paul II in 2000.While the approval of … Read more
A Bit of Visual Context
I must admit to feeling a bit lost in the sea of ink being spilled over the BP oil spill. It’s not that I want to ignore the drastic impact it’s having on the surrounding area. I just find myself having a difficult time comprehending what exactly is happening down there in the Gulf. I’m a visual person, and written descriptions of … Read more
Family Values in Red and Blue States
In his New York Times column this week, Ross Douthat examined the thesis of the recently released book Red Families vs. Blue Families, which argues that, with all their emphasis on no sex before marriage, families in Red States are “trying to sustain an outdated social model” that leads to “teen childbirth, shotgun marriages and … Read more
Pope Benedict’s Homily in Fatima
Today is the Feast of the Ascension, at least at the Vatican. Elsewhere, though, it’s the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. And that is the Mass the Pope celebrated this morning at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, where many thousands of people were gathered. The official text of the Holy … Read more
iPorn: Who controls the content on your phone?
Steve Jobs has been getting a lot of flak lately for his decision to keep porn off the iPhone. In April, he said Apple was staying away from that: So where should you go to get naked people on mobile phones? The Android. “Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone,” says Jobs. … Read more
Pro-military bloggers come out against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
This was unexpected: The national security conservatives at the popular military group blog Blackfive have released a joint statement on the expected repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and it may surprise you. Just to the left of an ad for a t-shirt that blares “Sometimes Violence is the ONLY Answer,” they write: … Read more
Sewage Detox
It had already been a harrowing spring for me and my family. Two weeks before, my daughter was walking our family pet, an eight-pound terrier, on a leash, when they were rushed by a big dog that grabbed ours by the neck and shook him to death. My wife was devastated; the little fellow had … Read more
The largest mammal in the Atlantic?
Scientists are stunned by the recent sighting of a grey whale off the shores of Israel. Grey whales haven’t been seen outside the Pacific ocean for several hundred years. This one has traveled thousands of miles from the north Pacific. “What has amazed the entire marine mammal research community is there haven’t been any grey … Read more
Fake Virtues Are Worse than Vices
Lately I’ve felt like Lex Luthor without any Kryptonite. For the past few weeks here I’ve been vindicating the rights of the merely natural against the claims of supernature. (Sheesh, that even sounds boring to me.) It’s not a project calculated to win me friends among the pious. In Christian circles, who really wants to … Read more
Related to the organ donation discussion, a British bioethicist weighs in.
Logic divorced from compassion will lead you to some ugly conclusions. Like advocating openly for euthanizing some people to use their organs for other people. Would it prove or violate Godwin’s Law for me to raise the spectre of the Nazi eugenicists in this post? That will prevent the comboxes from having to bring it … Read more
Benedict: ‘The greatest persecution of the Church’ comes from within
Pope Benedict, on his flight to Portugal yesterday, regarding the sex-abuse scandal (emphasis added): [A]ttacks against the pope or the church don’t come just from outside the church. The suffering of the church also comes from within the church, because sin exists in the church. This too has always been known, but today we see … Read more
Responding to the Oil Spill
The Mississippi Gulf Coast still has not fully recovered from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and yet here we are, awaiting another catastrophe. Massive quantities of oil are being released from a sunken off-shore drilling platform, about 5,000 barrels per day. The full impact of this disaster has not yet been realized, … Read more