Did California voters just strike a blow for governmental ‘moderation,’ or was Tuesday’s successful passage of Proposition 14 an early Christmas gift for lobbyists and big name, big money candidates? The new system will put candidates of all political stripes on a single ballot, and all voters will be able to participate. The top two … Read more
Should feminists embrace Sarah Palin and those like her? Last week, feminist author and blogger Jessica Valenti offered an emphatic no in The Washington Post. But Cathy Young, a columnist for RealClearPolitics has an interesting response in The Boston Globe. She thinks feminists make a big mistake when they ignore women like Palin: If feminism … Read more
I promised last week while on retreat with Father Groeschel that I would tell the story of his visit with Walker Percy. As many people know, the Catholic novelist lived in the small town of Covington, Louisiana where he entertained many visitors on his porch. (I remember a friend at Mercer University who used to … Read more
I promised last week while on retreat with Father Groeschel that I would tell the story of his visit with Walker Percy. As many people know, the Catholic novelist lived in the small town of Covington, Louisiana where he entertained many visitors on his porch. (I remember a friend at Mercer University who used to … Read more
This is just too good to miss: A Zogby International survey measuring basic economic knowledge across the ideological spectrum found that conservatives and libertarians rated quite well. Progressives and liberals? Not so much. Researcher and economics professor Daniel Klein explains: Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic and I considered the 4,835 respondents’ (all American adults) answers to … Read more
Two years ago, Todd created a schema for discussing Christian Art that I’ve found very useful, even as I’ve made some adjustments to it. Todd originally suggested: Category one: Directly Christian works. This category comprises works of art that have the mysteries of the Faith as their direct subject; eg Christ the Lord or “The … Read more
Reflecting on Corpus Christi Sunday, Joe Escalante has a suggestion for getting kids more interested in the Faith: seize on the wild and supernatural. Focus on rivers of blood, secret language (Latin), 3D Gothic images, Gregorian chants, etc. And dress those Knights of Columbus like Roman soldiers for effect and get them out of those … Read more
LifeSiteNews has just published a story containing, to my mind, the surest sign of a decadent culture. The chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, David Benatar, has pubished a book, “Better To Never Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence.” The basic argument is this: Human existence necessarily … Read more
LifeSiteNews has just published a story containing, to my mind, the surest sign of a decadent culture. The chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, David Benatar, has pubished a book, “Better To Never Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence.” The basic argument is this: Human existence necessarily … Read more
A company called “Wizards of the Coast” has re-packaged the iconic role-playing game “Dungeons & Dragons” into a bite-sized version that they’re hoping will attract us 40-something gamers of yore to play a stripped-down, abbreviated version of our old pasttime. We can recapture just a bit of the fun we had in our youth while not … Read more
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship who captured and tortured thousands of political prisoners. The UK’s Indepedent has an interesting story about a brother and sister — heirs to a big media fortune — who have been forced to submit to DNA testing to see if they are among the … Read more
Man, church attendance is down everywhere. The famous cliff swallows who nest every year at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California have bypassed their traditional home for something a little more modern: Instead, they found graceful lodging in the eaves at the year-old Vellano Country Club. The private community boasts a golf course designed by … Read more
A conversation overheard at the White House… Rahm Emmanuel: Mr. President, you need to toughen up about this oil spill, because you look like a *****. A little, pigtailed, tea-party dress wearing, oversized lollipop licking *****. President Obama: I see. And what would you suggest? Rahm Emmanuel: Well, Cupcake, I’d suggest you pretend Michelle married … Read more
Sorry; late again. Last episode, we saw a gorilla drive away in a fire engine. At this point, anything can happen. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. Â I love the baby gorilla’s scream when Sharp unmasks… Next week: The Last Uncle Harry Story!
Veteran journalist and public irritant Helen Thomas just announced her retirement, effective immediately. I wonder what might have prompted that? Her decision comes after her controversial remarks about Israel hit the blogosphere. She later apologized for her comments, saying she “deeply regretted” making them…. The reaction of most reporters, friends and former White House officials … Read more
Regular readers of InsideCatholic will know Eve Tushnet for her many excellent articles that we run here regularly. Over the weekend, though, she was introduced to a larger audience via a profile in the New York Times as “a gay Catholic voice against same-sex marriage”: “The sacrifices you want to make aren’t always the only … Read more
Two European reports have accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of both exaggerating the threat of the H1N1 virus and failing to disclose important information about it. In Friday’s Washington Post, Rob Stein explained: The WHO’s response caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries around the world to waste millions of dollars, according to … Read more
You’ve seen this, right? Helen Thomas, a terrifyingly senior member of the White House press corps, recently took the opportunity to explain her take on international politics . . . to a rabbi, at an event celebrating Jewish Heritage: Kind of harsh, eh? But it’s cool, it’s cool — she apologized. According to Fox News: … Read more
The United States is in the midst of a realignment as the private sector gives way to the government as the nation’s primary employer. We’re not there yet, but the direction is clear. Of the 431,000 new jobs the Labor Department just announced, a full 390,000 of them are with the government (primarily, short term … Read more
Check out today’s insane YouTube clip, which comes with a bit of a backstory: The genesis of the sport, which has acquired the catchy (though perhaps a tad unwieldy) name of “Liquid Mounaineering,” is described by its practitioners over at the Liquid Mountaineering blog: There are some historical statements that suggest that this sport was created … Read more