Happy Friday! Just a few links to get the morning rolling — feel free to add your own in the comments: In the wake of the horrible attack on the Orthodox church in Egypt on New Year’s Day, this sort of thing gives me hope. A Twain scholar announced this week that he will be … Read more
I’m a lifelong Democrat who is now badly disillusioned with the Democratic Party. Why? Because the party has become America’s anti-Christian party, a party that is dominated not just by atheists and agnostics (the agnostics being of that species whose skepticism is the virtual equivalent of atheism), but by atheists and agnostics having an anti-religion … Read more
I don’t like the Jets. Their coach is brash and arrogant, their trainers cheat, their offense is hard to watch (a.k.a. boring and anemic), and the media’s disproportionate attention to all NYJets matters makes my inner SoCal Sports Fan mumble about “East Coast Bias” under its breath. GangGreen is exactly the sort of team I like … Read more
For the past 15 years, I have guided the work of this apostolate, both as Crisis Magazine and as InsideCatholic.com. Now I must step away. I will begin spending the bulk of my time getting Catholic Advocate ready for the 2012 election. That race promises to be one of the most important in the history … Read more
Should homeschooling families get a federal tax break? The Congress has failed to pass such a measure, and only three states currently allow some tax benefit for home schooling — Illinois, Louisiana, and Minnesota. The New York Times posed the question to a panel of experts, and the responses are here. Some think homeschoolers should … Read more
The Discovery Channel will be debuting a reality series this spring that explores and recreates past cases of exorcism. Here’s the twist: They’ve gotten the cooperation of the Vatican to do so. The Exorcist Files will recreate stories of real-life hauntings and demonic possession, based on cases investigated by the Catholic Church. The project includes … Read more
Who were the Wise Men? Where did they come from? Where did they go? We do not know. To make sense of the story, we must pay attention to its symbolism. Read in that way, we find that the story has five stages. The magi, whom we also call the wise men, saw; they searched; … Read more
Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s medical license has been revoked after it was revealed that he had falsified all twelve of the medical histories in his 1998 study. CNN reports: “It’s one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors,” Fiona Godlee, BMJ’s … Read more
Friends told me my predictions of January 1 were a teensy tad cynical: “You keep trying to prove you’re the Catholic Mencken. Cut it out — you’re depressing the laity,” was a comment that came back to me. More feedback: “Thanks! I’ll start the new year by slashing my other wrist.” Still more: “Why didn’t … Read more
Good news for drinkers: A longterm study of alcohol consumption and mortality rates was just published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, and the results were surprising: The tightly controlled study, which looked at individuals between ages 55 and 65, spanned a 20-year period and accounted for variables ranging from socioeconomic status to level of … Read more
Last month, I blogged about a New York magazine article on the “little-discussed consequences of the Pill”: namely, that after years on birth control to avoid pregnancy, many women were finding it difficult to become pregnant later in life. In his most recent New York Times column, Ross Douthat says that the tension “between the … Read more
As I make my weekly trek to Tampa International Airport, I merge onto I-275N in St. Petersburg and pass one of the largest homeless shelters in the area. Actually, “shelter” is overstated; it’s really an underpass supported by Catholic Charities, several community and church organizations, and individual volunteers. Because it gets a lot of traffic … Read more
Smart phones scare me. I’ve never much enjoyed the prospect of having a device that is more intelligent than I am, and there’s the whole “irritating ringtone” issue to be taken into consideration, as well. But now, “thanks” to /Film’s link to LG of UK’s website, I might be forced to reconsider: Exciting news today … Read more
In July and August of 1939, just before World War II began, Msgr. Ronald Knox gave five sermons on the “Our Father” — my edition of his Pastoral Sermons does not indicate where, probably at Oxford. Some 60 years later, Pope John Paul II asked us to devote the final year of the 20th century … Read more
John Allen has the scoop: According to a report by veteran Italian Vatican writer Andrea Tornielli, a miracle attributed to the late Pope John Paul II has been approved by both the medical and theological consulters of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In effect, that clears the path for the beatification of John … Read more
The Independent has a story about one mom’s decision to bar the use of technology in her family’s house for six months. Susan Maushart was becoming anxious about the amount of her time her three children spent transfixed by technology. Her son was hooked on his gaming console, one daughter was addicted to social networking … Read more
“You’re nuts.” That’s what a man with 11 children, 15 grandchildren, and a successful legal practice told me after the middle sister of my two foster children was welcomed into our home on Christmas Eve. Of course, he said it in jest (I think). His comment wasn’t about accepting children that weren’t mine into my … Read more
Professional historians have long known that the “Dark Ages” — roughly, the period between 500 to 1000 — was not a time of ignorance or superstition, but involved a range of scientific, economic, and cultural advances. For that reason, it’s always nice to see a work of popular history set the record straight, as Nancy … Read more
Some years back, I was privileged to hear a tape of some original music recorded by several friends of mine. Singing on the tape were four women with well-trained voices and an astonishing gift for harmony. And though it was done on a shoestring (the whole thing was put together in someone’s basement), the music … Read more
I was just told about www.spokeo.com, a new “white pages” service costing (I believe) $2.95 annually. For free, I accessed my own name, approx. age, address, map location, house photo, phone number, and family members’ names (two of them, anyway), as well as how long I’ve lived in my house. If I were to pay the … Read more