I don’t know if you’ve ever run into Rose Is Rose, but it’s a fairly long-running strip about a married couple (with a delightful, romantic relationship), their young son, and often his guardian angel. Imaging–a funny strip that doesn’t descend into cynicism and sarcasm! Amazon.com has lots of collections of the strip, and our family … Read more
As someone who was more-than-a-little scarred by Walden Media’s attempts to adapt Prince Caspian, I had resolved to keep my distance from the recently-released Voyage of the Dawn Treader until I could see the reactions of two of my favorite “working critics:” Jeffrey Overstreet and Steven Greydanus. Interestingly, both of them felt that the filmmakers … Read more
Anyone looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for those notoriously hard-to-shop-for friends and family members should consider picking up a copy of Anthony Esolen’s latest book, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. Tony, a regular contributor at IC, has written many beautiful reflections here that comment thoughtfully on the sorry state of … Read more
This piece in Salon caught my attention yesterday. It’s written by an admittedly un-maternal woman who gives thanks for not getting her tubes tied. She didn’t want children and then surprisingly found herself pregnant and happily parenting. She lists a number of reasons why she and her partner had their son: We decided to have … Read more
If you want to irritate the heck out of me, send me a link to a story like this. Dick Thompson, a 72 year-old Iowan man, lives in a trailer on 32 acres of land that he purchased from his parents. He prefers simple living — no plumbing or electricity — and has a few … Read more
Morning! Time for your Friday link round-up: Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” has been announced: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. One of the runners up: Julian Assange. (How do the winners of these things always end up being people that I would never want to meet in real life?) Pope Benedict is named a “person … Read more
Sky News reports that the European Court of Human Rights has criticized the Dublin government for “leaving its courts with a lack of good information regarding lawful abortions in the country.” Three women known as A, B, and C have been fighting Ireland’s ban on abortion. In Ireland, abortion is only allowed if there is … Read more
Over the past two weeks, we’ve discussed how teachers’ unions obstruct effective school reform. Now we have concrete examples of the ways they waste education funds as well. In the state of Illinois, for example, there are 138 Drivers Ed teachers who make over $100,000 for a 9-month work year. The highest among them pulls … Read more
I understand that technology can be a trap into which we fall. That said, this video, “Future applications of graphene,” is really amazing. [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YbS-YyvCl4 635×355] Graphene, as some of you know, is a monolayer of carbon molecules: transparent, stronger than steel, and amazingly conductive. Incredibly neat stuff!! Having a single device be a watch, phone, … Read more
For all of you who’ve been craving a bishop with the …ahem… backbone to assert his authority and engage his erstwhile wayward flock, you’re gonna love Bishop Olmsted in Phoenix, who just took a Catholic Hospital in his diocese to task: “The Catholic bishop of Phoenix will strip St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center of … Read more
Many companies have an incentive process built in to encourage their sales teams to sell more: commission structures, junkets, performance-based bonuses, etc. Well, the Just Born company (makers of candies such as Hot Tamales, Mike & Ikes and other favorites) decided to offer its sales force an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii if they made … Read more
This is heartbreaking. While we decorate our churches this time of year with garlands and poinsettias, Iraqi Christians are having to surround theirs with concrete walls: Concrete walls up to 10 feet high are being built around churches in Baghdad and Mosul to protect Christmas churchgoers from violence. The barriers are the Iraqi government’s response … Read more
Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul has secured lodgings when he moves to Washington, D.C. to begin his term: Senator-elect Rand Paul will be rooming with his father, Texas Rep. Ron Paul (recently named chairman of the House subcommittee on domestic monetary policy) in his Virginia condo while serving on Capitol Hill next…. [Ron] Paul told the … Read more
…how would the Nativity story have unfolded? A sweet little video — and given the Tweets and status updates I get from friends in the delivery room, probably pretty accurate. Hat tip to the Deacon’s Bench, which has just relocated to Patheos! Be sure to check out Deacon Greg at his new digs. [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA 635×355] … Read more
After the passage of the new health care legislation, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Catholic, filed suit, questioning the constitutionality of the federal government requiring its citizens to buy health insurance. Yesterday, U. S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson (no relation) ruled that: “The mandate on individuals in President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation goes … Read more
It appears the jury is still out as to whether the Church has taken — or will take — a stand on genetically modified (GM) crops. At first it seemed the Vatican was for it. According to The Independent, a leaked document from a group of 40 scientists who are linked to the Pontifical Academy … Read more
As the legend goes — and it is only a legend — after Christ’s crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea carried the Holy Grail from Jerusalem to ancient Britannia, specifically, to the area near modern day Glastonbury. There, he founded an abbey and planted a thorn tree, one offshoot of which survives to this day. While in … Read more
There’s not a whole lot to say about this Wall Street Journal article on the rise of “global surrogacy” — a new industry that uses “an international network of surrogate mothers and egg and sperm donors . . . to produce children on the cheap and outside the reach of restrictive laws.” Or, rather, there … Read more
The social aspect of religion, rather than theology or spirituality per se, is what makes religious people happy. That is, if you believe the news stories about the recent research reported in the American Sociological Review. However, if you look more closely at the study, led by Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at … Read more
The title, Zombie Jesus, is misleading, even if deliberately provocative: Jesus is never portrayed as a zombie in this comic. Is it Biblical? Maybe. Well, loosely. Okay, hanging by a thread, fine. Matthew 27: 51b-54 does describe some of the dead being raised from their tombs and appearing to the people in Jerusalem, causing the … Read more