What do I do as a music critic? Why do I do it? Perhaps these are questions you have never posed yourself. The more selfless reader, however, might have wondered exactly how I occupy myself in order to come up with the musical selections I present each month. I have been doing this for Crisis … Read more
A couple in England lost their right to be foster parents because “they said they could not tell a child a ‘homosexual lifestyle’ was acceptable”: Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation “should take precedence” over the right not to be discriminated against … Read more
New Jersey governor Chris Christie is one of the more intriguing political figures today, even for those who don’t agree with him. In this weekend’s New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai considers Christie’s appeal, his political strengths, and his case against public-sector unions in his attempt to haul New Jersey out of its giant sink … Read more
On April 26, 1783, two weeks after Congress approved a preliminary peace treaty with England, the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey entered into a compact over their shared use of the Delaware River. The waterway was an important shipping route, and any interference in its operation, either from dams or bridges, would harm both … Read more
Here’s part four of “The Treasure of Paradise Island,” a ten-part 1952 serial by Capt. Frank Moss and artist Frank Borth. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. More next week!
When Peter O’Toole was denied an Oscar for his astonishing performance in “Venus” a few years ago, I turned off the television declaring, “That’s it for me and the Oscars!” I can’t recall all the times I’ve made that promise and failed to keep it. It should probably go onto my iConfess app list of … Read more
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, once the foremost abortionist in the United States and then perhaps abortion’s most effective opponent, died on Tuesday at age 84. The Washington Post obituary mentioned that his 28-minute film, The Silent Scream, released in 1985, “became a sensation, widely distributed by antiabortion groups and screened at the White House by President … Read more
I’m pretty sure my books don’t do this. Why not, I wonder. It seems like a useful feature, though the “sorting by color” principle could get to be a bit irritating. [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFnuP9niRUg 635×355] (Today’s stop-motion gem comes to us by way of the ever-interesting/bizarre Within the Crainium.)
Rumors are flying. Is she or isn’t she? Will she or won’t she? The subject is celebrity mom Katie Holmes, naturally, and the second child she is rumored to be currently gestating or planning to conceive with her husband, Tom Cruise. Let the talking and stalking begin! I don’t usually pay much attention to tabloid … Read more
It’s Friday, which means you may need a good laugh at the end of a long week — or maybe I should speak for myself. Anyway, here’s a piece, resurrected from the archives of the Atlantic, that you may appreciate. It’s called “Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father,” by Ian … Read more
Time for some Friday morning links: Catholic bishops back Wisconsin protestors? Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, CA, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on domestic justice, said: “The debates over worker representation and collective bargaining are not simply matters of ideology or power but involve principles of justice, participation and how workers can have a … Read more
Professor Richard Beck offers a provocative and well-written look at a truth that hardly anyone else is willing to state. In his piece “How Facebook Killed the Church,” he argues that our new connectivity through Facebook and cell phones, and the broader digital world of Twitter and Skype, is hammering away at the foundational social … Read more
The tragic 6.3 magnitude earthquake which hit New Zealand’s largest city on February 25th added an eerie element to the series of man made upheavals in north Africa. In short order, the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, and imminently Libya, fell as a spontaneous and explosive wave of street protests forced out their long time rulers. … Read more
The 1998 canonization of Edith Stein created quite a turmoil for the Jews. They are willing to admit that she was an extraordinary woman, though the fact remains: To them, she was an “apostate.” It is not the first time the Jewish people have had to face a situation in which someone whom they view … Read more
While I occasionally hear stories of women being “ordained” to the priesthood by the group Roman Catholic Women Priests, I’ve never heard of any women leaving the heretical organization…until now. Norma Jean Coon, who participated in one of these ordinations in 2007, recently posted the following on her personal website: [T]he ordinations were illegitimate and … Read more
A couple of days ago, I read about the two American couples killed by pirates in the Indian Ocean. What the mainstream media articles did not say was that at least one of them — retirees Scott and Jean Adam of Marina del Rey, California — were Catholics, and were cruising in that part of … Read more
On the eve of the last Super Bowl, two men were discussing the great American ritual of watching football on television. The older man admitted that he just didn’t do that anymore. In times past, he said, he’d seen his share of TV football, but twelve or fifteen years earlier he’d become aware that his … Read more
Big — but perhaps not surprising — news from the White House today: President Barack Obama has ordered the Justice Department to drop its defense of a central part of the 1996 law that bars official federal government recognition of same-sex unions – a long-sought goal of gay-rights activists. Attorney General Eric Holder sent letters … Read more
John was only an eight-year-old boy when he had the situation first explained to him: “The judges who run our country just decided that a mother who’s pregnant with a baby doesn’t have to have that baby if she doesn’t want to.” “So what can she do instead?” “She can go to the doctor and … Read more
Many thanks to Terry Mattingly at Get Religion for pointing out this incredible story of forgiveness in the face of overwhelming suffering and evil. A BBC Today segment introduces readers to Lawill Concy, a 42-year-old Ugandan woman who was mutilated at the hands of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), “the most feared militia in Africa”: … Read more