The Republicans have taken over the House of Representatives. Good. Fine. Way better than the alternative. WHAT NOW? Here’s the first step they must take, if they’re serious about not acting like the sometimes-corrupt, sometimes-perverse, sometimes-cowardly, self-serving Washington-insider unprincipled useless lumps of flesh they were in the later Bush years. (With, y’know, the human dignity … Read more
I watched Chippy run down the lawn, across the neighbor’s drive, and around the wall separating the drive from the yard. As the small football was thrown in the air, I hoped it would come down to him with the point up, making it easier to catch. Years ago, I could make a ball do … Read more
In a must-read morning Wall Street Journal op-ed, Senator Jim DeMint offers some advice to the incoming Tea Party candidates: The battle with your Democratic opponents is over; your war with Republican insiders is about to begin. Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you … Read more
CNN national exit polling reports this morning that Catholic voters returned to the GOP yesterday. By an eight point spread, 53 percent to 45 percent, Catholics supported GOP candidates around the nation. These numbers basically are a reversal of the 2008 presidential results. As I predicted in my pre-election comment for Catholic Advocate, Catholics were … Read more
As expected, Republicans fared well in last night’s elections — regaining control of the House, picking up at least six Senate seats, and adding several more governors to their ranks. I’m sure there will be plenty of feedback and analysis throughout the day, as well as much rejoicing from the GOP, but Ross Douthat cautions … Read more
I just returned from my polling place — things were awfully quiet in this corner of Baltimore — and thought I might do an Election Day roundup. First, if you’re looking for an interactive election map to keep track of results, the Huffington Post has a good one. * * … Read more
I’m de-lurking, as the young people say today, to plug a video produced by my employer, TAN Books, in promotion of our title Hungry Souls, which relates accounts of and physical evidences left by apparitions of suffering souls in purgatory. (See the author’s Inside Catholic feature on Catholic parapsychology here.) As I hope the video … Read more
The story of Sunday’s attack on the Syrian-Catholic church in Baghdad is still unfolding; it appears that there are now as many as 58 dead and 75 wounded in what has been the largest attack on Iraqi Christians since the war began. The exact timeline of events in the church has been hazy, but two … Read more
CNA reports that the Synod for the Middle East, a historic gathering of bishops in Rome, ended on October 24 with some criticisms of its concluding statement. The bishops’ concluding “Message to the People of God” criticized Israel in detail, but omitted most of the criticisms made against Islamic governments during the synod. Some observers … Read more
Horrifying news out of Iraq: Gunmen took 100 people hostage in a Syrian-Catholic church in Baghdad yesterday, and by the time Iraqi antiterrorist forces were able to regain control, as many as 37 hostages and security officers were killed and another 56 wounded. According to official estimates this morning, the death toll has risen to … Read more
Yesterday, I read a blog post about how rapidly the world is aging and what it means for the future. Stephany Anne Golberg in Smart Set writes: The number of people who are 60 and older is set to triple in the next 40 years. By 2050, there will be more people aged 65 and … Read more
Today, we share part 7 of ten-part “Catholics in Action,” a 1953 serial exploring Catholic Social Doctrine as it’s lived out from day to day. In most cases, this series has stayed close to the “street level,” but today’s episode, unlike most, actually deals with politics. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online … Read more
Bill Whittle, explaining the Natural Law underpinnings of good law, and observing what is the underlying (as opposed to the proximate) cause of the current economic malaise: What We Believe, Part 4: Natural Law It’s Part 4 of Bill’s series about what American conservatives (and especially Tea Party folks) believe. Here are Parts 1, 2, … Read more
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTfaro96dg 635×355] The film Waiting for Superman by Davis Guggenheim has received many accolades, and they are well-deserved — I saw the film last night. Guggenheim follows the stories of five children at different grade levels in both parochial and public schools. One lives in Redwood City, CA, and the rest are inner city kids … Read more
Good morning! In honor of the silliness that will be descending upon us this weekend with the arrival of Halloween, today’s wrap-up is completely devoid of any valuable news content. Consider it candy for your brain. Virtually no child has ever been harmed by the ol’ “poisoned Halloween candy” trick. So why are we still … Read more
Who is Lady Antebellum? Just heard them sing the “Star Spangled Banner” before the 2nd game of the World Series, and it gave me chills. The three singers sang our anthem a cappella with great feeling and obvious pride in our country. Those in the stadium interrupted them several times with cheers. I guess I … Read more
I’ve always been a “Glass Half-Full” kind-of-guy. I blame my boys. Whether it’s because they give me hope for my future, or because I need to have hope for theirs, I’m not sure. But either way, I’m generally an optimistic fellow. I assume that’s why this post from the Criterion Collection’s blog caught my attention: … Read more
God is a unity … of three. True God … and true man. We say these statements so often, it’s hard sometimes to realize just how outrageous, how logically self-contradictory, they seem to be on their surface. The wisdom of the wise is foolishness. The greatest one is the one who serves. Blessed are those … Read more
I am shamelessly stealing this from the Deacon’s Bench, because it was too beautiful not to share. It’s a brief look at this year’s ordination of priests in Milwaukee, but it could just as easily apply to all our priests everywhere. It’ll make you want to run out and shake the hand of every one … Read more
Hard to believe, but a Michigan woman posted an ad on her church bulletin board for a Christian roommate and was then cited by the state for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against people of other faiths. The 31-year-old woman is not a landlord or a management company, but a homeowner looking for … Read more