Pope Benedict was in Palermo, Sicily, yesterday, encouraging the locals to resist the evils of the Mafia: “The temptation toward discouragement, to resignation, comes to those who are weak in faith, to those who confuse evil with good, to those who think that, faced with often profound evil, there is nothing to do,” Benedict told … Read more
It has (too) recently come to my attention that the Criterion Collection’s release of John Ford’s brilliant Stagecoach is now available through the Netflix Watch Instantly feature. As one of the most influential Westerns of all time — as well as a prominent entry on the list of “All-Time Greatest Film Entrances” — it’s one of … Read more
You’ve got to love the latest PR move by the Corn Refiner’s Association (CRA). It petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow it to use the term “corn sugar” instead of “high fructose corn syrup.” All in the name of “consumer clarity,” of course. <cough> “Consumers need to know what is in … Read more
I haven’t picked up a Stephen King novel since I was a kid, but I enjoyed reading the horror master’s opinion of contemporary vampire fiction. “Here’s what vampires shouldn’t be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and work only at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes,” writes Stephen King … Read more
Time for some Friday morning links to get the day started: Scientists discover an effective alternative to embryonic stem cells that doesn’t require destroying embryos. What was that about necessity and invention…? Other exciting science news: “Roller-coaster rides can relieve symptoms of asthma, beards are a health hazard and randomly promoting workers creates more efficient … Read more
As I’ve been saying, the Catholic tea kettle is boiling and one of the first places it’s bound to boil over is the home of the original Tea Party, Boston. Joe Sacerdo at the blog devoted to Rev, J. Bryan Hehir is calling for the protest in response to — guess what! — a SOCIAL … Read more
Over at National Review’s Corner blog, Fred Schwartz pointed out the most alarming example of “Federal Government/Copy Editor” collusion yet: Federal copy editors are demanding the city change its 250,900 street signs — such as these for Perry Avenue in The Bronx — from the all-caps style used for more than a century to ones that capitalize only … Read more
I couldn’t resist borrowing a meme from Matthew Archbold at Creative Minority Report: Songs that make men cry. Apparently, the UK Sun is reporting that the song most likely to make a grown man cry is… “Everybody Hurts” by REM. Archbold has some, er, choice words upon hearing that revelation: “Men are officially complete wusses.” … Read more
Over at Catholic.org, my friend Deacon Keith Fournier makes the argument that Catholics need to “take back” the phrase “social justice” in its true meaning. His argument is a continuation of an exchange we shared at the Catholic Leadership Conference in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. Deacon Fournier was in the midst of making the … Read more
On Tuesday, I posted a recent report about road fatalities due to texting and talking on cell phones while driving. Yesterday, there was a short piece in the Cleveland Leader about some research conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute that shows crash rates may actually increase when bans against texting are put in place … Read more
Please forgive me if this post seems to drop out of nowhere; I’m stuck at home for a few days with, ironically, walking pneumonia. So there isn’t much to do except stroll around You Tube, like young Susanka. Here is a piece of music that will break your heart: the final Trio from Richard Strauss’s … Read more
As you may have noticed, InsideCatholic was down most of the day today. Our Web host company had a power disruption at its facility last night, and the event took out our site and many others. We’re back up now (obviously), but apologize for the inconvenience. Since we didn’t get the chance to feature David … Read more
A big hat tip to the Deacon’s Bench for pointing out this video of Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s recent video to Haiti and its ravaged cathedral. As co-chair of the board of directors for Catholic Relief Services, Dolan went to Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the quake and attended the funeral of Haiti’s own Archbishop … Read more
Our society’s new ‘drunk driving’ threat is talking or texting behind the wheel. I’m guilty of it, particularly when I’m stuck in traffic. But as of this Friday, Maryland’s hands-free law goes into effect, so my bad habit will have to end. An analysis of road fatalities from “distracted driving” was just published in the American … Read more
InsideCatholic contributor Ron Rychlak has done yeoman’s work defending Pope Pius XII’s record during World War II against an ever-changing raft of accusations. First it was Pius’s supposed failure to act during the war; then it was what he supposedly failed to do after the war. With both of those charges handily debunked, critics have … Read more
Early this morning, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released its survey on religious knowledge in the United States, and the results are sure to draw attention. Here’s why: On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and … Read more
In yesterday’s Washington Post, a column by Kwame Anthony Appiah asked, “What will future generations condemn us for?” We tend to marvel at the shortsightedness of our ancestors with respect to, say, slavery; Appiah argues that actions we unthinkingly accept today will be viewed with similar incomprehension somewhere down the line. He offers three criteria … Read more
Well this is interesting: First Lady Michelle Obama said last month that her husband “always carries a picture of Mary Help of Christians in his wallet.” She made her remarks while visiting a house of the Salesian community in Ronda, Spain. Under the title of Help of Christians, Our Lady is the patroness of the … Read more
Two health-related articles caught my attention this weekend. The first is on a subject I’ve been loosely following for a while: the mammogram. To mammogram or not to mammogram… I’ve long questioned the benefit of this test for women over 38, and have had doctors stare me down on this one. I’m not saying you shouldn’t … Read more
Here’s part three of 1952’s Catholics in Action series, which ran over ten issues of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. These stories focused on Catholic social doctrine as lived on the personal level, instead of the political. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive. Has anyone worked a mission before? Are … Read more