Yesterday, Newser highlighted a number of press reports about S 510, a major food safety bill making progress in the Senate. While it contains some important protections, a number of people are justly concerned about the bill’s impact on family farms. The problem is that it will will require small scale operations to adhere to … Read more
Recently, I encountered an online discussion among Catholic converts and Protestants that strayed into the topic of the St. Joseph house-selling kit. It was meant to be a sort of “gotcha!” moment for Catholics defending the cult of the saints. While I have no intention of going into the arguments concerning this particular practice, I … Read more
Pundits are still analyzing the outcome of last night’s elections, and it will take months to figure out what Americans’ votes will mean in terms of policy. Myself, I’m actually relieved that Republicans didn’t win both houses of Congress; since the economy (corrupted by bad investments encouraged by cheap money from the Fed) isn’t likely … Read more
I witnessed — indeed, participated in — a miracle this morning. It began with me opening my eyes. This neuromuscular feat, which required millions of years of evolution just so that I could have eyelids to open, was made possible for me by a pure gift of genetic donation from my parents, who were themselves … Read more
Reviewing a novel by Martin Amis recently in the pages of The Weekly Standard, David Gelernter spoke of irony as a “glacier that has pinned modern culture under its massive arrogance.” A nifty turn of phrase, certainly. But surely it applies to irony as it is currently known and practiced, not to the irony of … Read more
My wife Alice and I were married on an August morning in 1964 in a Presbyterian church just south of Richmond, Virginia. As our wedding reception drew to a close in the midday summer heat and we prepared to drive off to begin our married life in Austin, Texas, Alice’s mother took me aside and … Read more
Yesterday, the pope released a statement on immigration for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, coming up in January 2011. Titled “One Human Family,” Benedict addresses the dignity of all immigrants while acknowledging nations’ rights to regulate their flow: “The World Day of Migrants and Refugees offers the whole Church an opportunity to reflect … Read more
A quick look around the Catholic mom-o-sphere might leave you with the impression that most Catholic moms — especially those with large families — are a bunch of Frugal Frannies. And that might be so. Depending where you click, you can find articles about sewing your own clothes, baking your own bread, and making your … Read more
Cristina Odone is against doctor-assisted suicide, and she knows whereof she speaks: Her own father asked her to help him die. She tells the story of how she came to see that the medical community has it exactly backwards when it comes to matters of life and death: “Put me out of my misery.” The … Read more
I’m sitting outside a downtown Starbucks with two George Washington University undergraduates, talking about sex, politics, and religion. Michele Walk and Conor Joseph Rogers fit my stereotype of contemporary American college students. They’re sincere, confident, and hyperaware of the ways in which they’re different from their parents. Michele and Conor also represent a growing demographic: … Read more
Christopher Hitchens surveys the political landscape and wonders what sane person would choose to run for office today: I could introduce you to dozens of enthusiastic and intelligent people, highly aware of “the issues” and very well-informed on all questions from human rights to world trade to counterinsurgency, to none of whom it would occur … Read more
Sometimes a book puts down such deep roots in one’s soul that it seems always present, providing categories whereby one views the world, even when one has not read it in many years. Such a book for me has been The Culture of Narcissism, by Christopher Lasch, that renegade sociologist who should have been or … Read more
Today is the one year birthday of my youngest foster child. Over the past five months, I’ve marveled at her growth, her vice-like grip on anything I’m trying to read, and her amusement as she’s discovered how to walk. And even though she’s become far more vocal over the past few weeks, I’ve also really … Read more
“Look at me!” I announced to my bleary-eyed husband when he emerged from the bedroom one morning soon after our second child was born. Carefully, I shifted tiny Eamon in the crook of one arm as I scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and poured juice with my free hand. “I can nurse the baby and cook … Read more
I have loved reading since I first put “see,” “spot,” and “run” together, and so one of the great joys I anticipated from motherhood — not in vain — was the pleasure of revisiting childhood books and being introduced to ones I’d missed the first time around. At first there were board books and Pat … Read more
It’s a slow day here on the blog, so I thought I’d raise some hackles. Though a cradle Catholic, my adult conversion to the Faith was intimately tied to the writings of C.S Lewis, and thus I take somewhat of an academic approach to it. Add to this my legal training, and I tend to view … Read more
Among friends and family, I’m known for being an amateur barista and coffee aficionado. It’s not that I’m a connoisseur — far from it — but I have high standards when it comes to the quality of my coffee, and I try to stay informed on how to achieve excellence in every sip. Knowing this, … Read more
Over the course of the past few days, Fr. Dwight Longnecker has posted several times on the question of so-called “church shopping.” He begins with an examination of the phenomenon in Protestant churches, which, as a result of their constant splits and re-foundations have a real problem on their hands: The only thing that remains, … Read more
A handy travel tip: When in Spain, don’t desecrate the Eucharist. A Catholic priest in Spain’s province of Valencia slapped a young man in a church in the town of Rótova during a local festival on the evening of September 5. Believing that the young man had discarded a communion wafer, which the Catholic faith … Read more
image source In the great river of used clothing that courses through America, our family plays the part of sieve. Oh, I’m not going to moan and complain. I really am grateful. People could be throwing these clothes away, or selling them — but instead, they wash and fold them and save them for us. … Read more