From time to time, I like to think nostalgically back to those days when the “silly season” of political campaigning was actually just a season — rather than the year-round, “all-day/every-day” media construct we are plagued with nowadays. From time to time, I am also reminded that this “charming” nostalgia of mine is probably more … Read more
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Steve Skojec, and you might remember me from such blogs as: Inside Catholic, or even, if you didn’t loathe every thought I committed to writing, my old blog at SteveSkojec.com (it’s now the site for my as-yet-in-the-idea-phase photography business, about to undergo changes of its own soon, … Read more
Among the many awesome additions to the new and improved InsideCatholic, this is one that I’m very excited about: Introducing Cord Hamrick — aka “R.C.” — to our blogging family. This is usually the place where I’d introduce Cord, but longtime readers will know him already: R.C. has been writing insightful, thought-provoking, and encouraging commentary … Read more
“You see, I am not a Christian,” said the young man at lunch, chilling the conversation in an instant. He was exceptionally good looking, and obviously intelligent, but also obviously sad. His father, a former Protestant minister who was essentially driven out of his church for his faithfulness to the Scriptural directives regarding human sexuality, … Read more
Richard McGuire is the nom de guerre of a father who is trying to document the crimes of his four children for a hearing at the human-rights tribunal of The Hague. These are some of the lighter moments he captured over seven years — with no help from the NSA — that can be revealed … Read more
In a column on Lew Rockwell’s site last week, Jeff Tucker argued for the repeal of federal drinking laws. Such things, he says, are better handled by the individual states (as they were until 1984). [I]t is only because we are somehow used to it that we accept the complete absurdity of a national law … Read more
Economist Mark Perry points out one of the unintended consequences brought about by the president’s new healthcare program: White Castle has been offering health insurance to its workers [since] 1924, but Obamacare “will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs,” says company spokesman Jamie Richardson in … Read more
The other morning, when I attempted to start the family van, it hesitated and then stalled. I did not panic. It does this sometimes. One thing you learn quickly as a mother of a large family with a not-so-large income is that it is necessary to be patient with your vehicles. And your appliances. These … Read more
This year marks the centenary of G. K. Chesterton’s What’s Wrong with the World. The book continues to inspire and surprise with its prophetic insights on issues from economics and property, to its bracing defense of the “wildness of domesticity.” And what is wrong with the world for Chesterton? “What is wrong with the … Read more
Every summer I take a group of high school students on a mission trip to El Salvador. Our hosts there come from the landowning class, and over lunch a woman I’ll call Rosa told me about her husband’s family. “They are very wealthy landowners,” she said. “They own a lot of land and run … Read more
Loss of language among the younger population — that is to say, the ability to formulate and enunciate properly constructed sentences that reflect clear thought — is growing at a staggering rate in the United States. Even among students whose academic aptitude is well above the national average, my years as an undergraduate business professor … Read more
If you are one of the three million iPad owners, I would recommend a helpful guide for taking advantage of all its functionalities. iPad Made Simple, co-authored by Martin Trautschold and Gary Mazo, is easy to read and takes the reader step-by-step through all its various potencies. I thought I had a pretty good … Read more
It was a cool fall day ten years ago when Dan, my husband, pulled our banged-up Volvo station wagon to the side of a country road and waved his hand toward the nearby woods. “This is it!” he beamed. I looked. I saw trees. “Here?” I questioned him. “Right here?” He pointed to … Read more
I took the year off from Father’s Day yesterday. For several years I’d been making a point, in my secular newspaper column, of writing something quite opposite to “feel-good” on the subject for the Sunday corresponding to this secular occasion. But glancing through the last couple of them, I thought, “That’s enough now: People are … Read more
Men are still the major breadwinners in most families, but over the past few decades they’ve been expected to pull more weight at home. Wives now ask husbands to help around the house, share in child-care, and take leadership in areas other than career and finances. Men are finding this very stressful, according to an … Read more
Over the past six years, people — particularly other moms — have asked me how I’ve handled being a military mom. Most of the time, I just chuckle. I don’t feel like I’ve handled it at all. Basically, I’ve let our Blessed Mother handle it for me, and I merely go along for the ride. … Read more
Since film’s earliest days, no genre has stood out as more quintessentially American than the Western. Drawing heavily upon that era of America’s violently romantic, whirlwind adolescence, Hollywood’s savviest studios churned out an extraordinary number of them during the industry’s silent and early sound years. These films — along with the dime novels and tall … Read more
The long walkway was lined with painted crypts. Electric blue. Aqua marine. Black. White. Some were topped with crosses. Others had large and rusting padlocks hanging from their hatches. And still others were smashed open by grave robbers — the ragged remains of their occupants left atop the shattered ruins. My escort, Martin, and I … Read more
Some friends have urged me repeatedly to write a memoir, recounting what it was like to grow up Catholic in the 1970s, but I’ve always waved them off. Mainly it’s a marketing decision: There are too many horror titles, anyway. Perhaps, well-meaning pals suggest, I could shift the focus from the craziness that filled our … Read more
A man has dreams, and all too often, this one found himself drifting off on his pleasant and wishful clouds as he corrected yet another stack of undergraduate papers. Yes, being a professor had seemed so inviting — a life of tweed jackets, of dragging on the meerschaum, of good books and penetrating discussions, and … Read more