VIDEO: The Future of Publishing
I’m not sure this video — created by a British publishing company — will do much for the book industry, but it’s awfully clever just the same. Watch the entire two and a half minutes for the twist…
Year: 2010
The Facebook Revolution, Continued
Despite my snobish insistence on refraining from “any and all things Facebook” — I waste so much time on the IntraWebs as it is, I’m afraid of what might happen if I added FB to the mix — I could not let this story pass by without comment: Social networking website Facebook has capped a year of phenomenal … Read more
Bring a Friend In out of the Cold
“You’ve got to disintegrate the positive/then figure-skate about the negative/latch on to the pejorative/don’t mess with Sister In-Between.” If that’s what I’ve been singing for the past few columns, let me here squirm out of the blame and shunt it onto the subject matters I’ve dealt with: modern liturgy and terminal cancer. These two things, … Read more
Dragging Benedict into Germany’s abuse scandal
As new clergy sex-abuse allegations come to light in Germany, some in the media seem eager to tie them in whatever way possible to the German pontiff. Damian Thompson of the Telegraph points to a Times headline — “Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry” — as just one of … Read more
The Red Tories are Coming!
If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, possess a brain, and have not attended at least one of the Tocqueville Forum lectures at Georgetown University… well, I don’t know what to tell you. The good folks at the Forum have been putting together some of the most compelling lectures and conferences available in the … Read more
Brothers, Sing On
Recently, one of our local high schools celebrated a state championship in track and field. Not remarkable, unless you consider that it was the school’s 16th championship in a row. On the same day, the same high school’s swimmers swept to victory in the state finals. It was their 21st straight championship. This school is … Read more
From Jack Smith at the Catholic Key Blog, I have just recieved a rather pointed comment by Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Missouri on the support given by the Catholic Health Association to the Senate health care bill. Jack Smith introduces the statement: Kansas City: Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann is urging … Read more
Archbishop Naumann Urges Calls to Congress and Sister Carol
From Jack Smith at the Catholic Key Blog, I have just recieved a rather pointed comment by Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Missouri on the support given by the Catholic Health Association to the Senate health care bill. Jack Smith introduces the statement: Kansas City: Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann is urging … Read more
Bernstein Breaks Down Beethoven
Since my early childhood days, I’ve always had a great affinity to and appreciation of classical music. My first memory of music — in fact, practically my first memory of anything –was hearing Bach’s “Wachet Auf” performed by John Williams and Peter Hurford, and I was off and running. (I blame/bless my father for this. … Read more
The end of high fructose corn syrup?
Good news: Some food companies are beginning to listen to consumer concerns and are phasing out high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from their products. Of course, as Advertising Age reports, the decision is creating its own marketing challenges: The biggest risk is that trumpeting sugar could undermine other products in the portfolio that will continue … Read more
A new play from Shakespeare?
Lewis Theobald was dismissed as a hack in the 18th century when he published Double Falsehood and claimed that it was an adaptation of a lost Shakespeare original. Now, some Shakespeare scholars believe that he was telling the truth all along: ”There is definitely Shakespearean DNA,” said English literature professor Brean Hammond, who has worked … Read more
What’s in a Name?
Michigan is nicknamed “The Wolverine State”, so it came as a bit of a shock to me to hear today that our only known wolverine has been found dead. Wait a second. Did that say, “Michigan’s only known wolverine”? We only had one? Why on earth did we get that nickname then? Well, one story … Read more
The Attack of the Drones
Spiegel Online talked to P.W. Singer of the Brookings Institution about the increasing role of military drones in warfare. They are more widely used than I imagined — the U.S. alone has 7,000 drones flying, and 43 other countries have programs as well. As a result, warfare — and the experience of it — is … Read more
Pray for Us Sinners
One of the most mysterious rifts to have developed in the Christian world is that between those who pray to the saints in glory, or for the dead in Christ, and those who regard all this as utterly sinister. The rift is, of course, of extremely recent vintage, historically speaking. But it is deep … Read more
OK, we’re a few days from the House vote on the Senate health care bill containing abortion funding. That funding has been publicly acknowledged and condemned by the USCCB and numerous bishops individually. We have also witnessed the support given the Senate health care bill by the trade association for Catholic hospitals — the Catholic … Read more
Imbalanced Coverage from Catholic News Service
OK, we’re a few days from the House vote on the Senate health care bill containing abortion funding. That funding has been publicly acknowledged and condemned by the USCCB and numerous bishops individually. We have also witnessed the support given the Senate health care bill by the trade association for Catholic hospitals — the Catholic … Read more
The Extraordinary Power of Suffering
Last week, Adrianne Adderley, an extraordinary woman that we members of the Susanka Clan are proud to call “friend,” wrote an equally extraordinary story for LifeSiteNews. It recounts the devastating sorrow Adrianne recently suffered when she lost her fifth son, Phillip, to a miscarriage. And it also speaks of the way in which her suffering, (and her … Read more
Original Sin
Many people these days are utopians of some variety. We think that we can get rid of the doom that stands over us by our own efforts. We can reorganize the polity, the family, education, or the economy so that things will be fine. We cannot accept that the issue has to do with ourselves, … Read more
Crunching the Numbers on Sainthood
I’m a sucker for charts and graphs, so this preliminary study on “The Economics of Sainthood” had plenty to entertain me. The authors explain their purpose: Saint-making has been a major activity of the Catholic Church for centuries. The pace of sanctifications has picked up noticeably in the last several decades under the last two … Read more
The Femivore’s Dilemma?
In “The Femivore’s Dilemma” in last Thursday’s New York Times, Peggy Orenstein looked at the surprising intersection between feminism and locovorism. Apparently, there is a noticable movement of American women leaving high-level careers to raise organic produce, home school, can vegetables, and raise chickens. Femivorism is grounded in the very principles of self-sufficiency, autonomy and … Read more