(image source) It’s stories like this that make me feel glad I (a) am out of style (b) don’t even generally realize that I’m out of style and (c) don’t read The Wall Street Journal: At model casting calls for New York’s fashion week, which begins today, one of the most coveted attributes is an … Read more
After some technical difficulties associated with the changeover of the site, we’re able to again provide visitors with a story every week from Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, the classic Catholic comic book distributed to parochial school students on a biweekly basis for three decades. As always, these images come from Catholic University’s online … Read more
Nine years ago today, my 10th graders and I were 10 minutes into an 85-minute 2nd period, doing Oedipus the King, when another teacher walked into the room and whispered into my ear that a plane had just hit the U.S. Senate building (wrong info, of course, but that’s what he said). What to do? … Read more
Salon staff writer Tracy Clark-Flory thinks Americans need to be more like the Dutch when it comes to teenage sex. In a recent column, she wrote that Dutch parents can teach their U.S. counterparts about “respect and acceptance of teenage sexuality.” Clark-Flory finds her views supported by a couple of studies, including one from 2003 … 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 few links to get the day rolling: A federal appeals court is temporarily allowing government funding of embryonic stem cell research while it considers Judge Royce Lamberth’s decision last month that would ban it (saying it violates a Congressional law against funding embryo-destructive research). Is it “silly” to be giving priests the honorary title … Read more
It’s the Cuban dictator like you’ve never seen him before. And I do mean never. Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic recently received an invitation to meet with Fidel Castro, after his recent article on Israel and Iran caught Castro’s eye. “Always eager . . . to interact with readers of The Atlantic,” Goldberg decided it … Read more
This is probably the best defense of traditional marriage that I’ve read. The writers are respectful of the views of same-sex marriage proponents, which is unusual in pieces like this. One section about the role of the state particularly caught my attention: …Although it is still a radical position without much purchase in public opinion, … Read more
It sometimes seems as though every Food Network show or special is somehow connected to furthering our understanding and appreciation of comfort food — that culinary category of dishes designed to warm (and occasionally weaken) the heart by playing on various childhood memories, emotional heartstrings, and long-dormant taste-buds. Yet it’s easy to see why Food … Read more
Boy does this video bring back memories… Bermuda. 2001. A Crisis Magazine cruise hosted by Deal Hudson and staff, with yours truly playing the role of Julie (Love Boat, anyone?) The Crisis Cruise (possibly the most unsaleable name in maritime vacation history) always attracted a lovely group of people, and the speakers that year included … Read more
I cannot, of course, endorse anything sight unseen, but I have to say that this December 2010 Nintendo Wii game looks especially interesting: Epic Mickey: “A hands-on demo of Warren Spector’s ambitious Epic Mickey revealed that the paint/thinner mechanic allows not just the ability to manipulate (very) specific parts of the game’s environment, but use … Read more
My wife and I are quickly approaching the four month anniversary of having two foster children in our household, and although it’s been an experience unlike any other, I can’t help but to feel like an “Associate Member” of the Parent Club. Not that we give our foster children any less love, wisdom, discipline, praise … Read more
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was one of 34 signatories to a statement yesterday denouncing “categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America’s Muslim community.” Catholic Culture has an excerpt: We are profoundly distressed and deeply saddened by the incidents of violence committed against Muslims in our community, and by the desecration of Islamic … 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
Henry Karlson at Vox Nova has offered a list of the top ten theological works of the 20th century, “based upon either their influence or the value I see they should have for the future of theology.” Here is his list: 10. Henri de Lubac, Catholicism. 9. Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology. 8. Gustavo Gutierrez, A … Read more
This article in the UK’s Mail Online is two years old, but a fascinating read. It’s a personal account by Rebecca Walker — daughter of poet, writer, and radical feminist Alice Walker — about what it’s like to grow up believing that men and motherhood are a woman’s chief enemies: My mother’s feminist principles coloured … 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
It had to happen eventually. This president is too thin-skinned to take the high road for very long. Yesterday, at a labor rally in Milwaukee, Obama went off his prepared remarks (a big mistake for him!): [O]ver the last two years, that’s meant taking on some powerful interests — some powerful interests who had been … Read more
Christopher Hitchens, it seems, is dying of cancer. And he asks, in an article penned for October’s Vanity Fair, that you do not pray for him. This is probably not news to many of you, if not most. I do not follow the man’s career, and am in fact only vaguely aware of him as … Read more
When I posted "Our Summer of Silents" a few days ago, I began wondering if I had spent too many of the 90+ scorching days afforded to Northern Virginia watching movies. So I started poking around in the various stacks of books cluttering our home to reassure myself I had spent some time in that … Read more