Over at his Sun Times blog, Roger Ebert has the latest in his ongoing obsession with the question of 3-D — an obsession that I share, since I seem to be in the business of collecting as many obsessions as possible. This particular time around, he posts a letter he recently received from the legendary … Read more
In case you’ve not been following it, the push to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide has renewed it efforts, and is being pushed on two fronts at the same time: Hawaii and Vermont. The Hawaii Death with Dignity Act (SB 803) was introduced on January 21, 2011 in the Hawaiian State Senate. A similar bill is expected to … Read more
Big news today in episcopal appointments: Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon, has just been tapped as coadjutor bishop of Santa Rosa, California. According to Whispers in the Loggia, the current bishop of Santa Rosa, Bishop Daniel Walsh, will turn 73 in October, meaning that Bishop Vasa could be taking over the reins of the … Read more
Bill Donohue at the Catholic League has just issued a press release on a situation brewing at the U.S. Air Force Academy. On February 10, the USAFA will hold a National Prayer Luncheon. Lt. Gen. Michael C. Gould, the superintendent, invited Marine 1st Lt. Clebe McClary to speak. McClary is a decorated Vietnam War veteran … Read more
In his annual speech to the Roman Rota, the tribunal that handles annulments, Pope Benedict told priests they must do a better job preparing couples for marriage. The Associated Press reports that the pope said no one has the right to a church wedding and that every Catholic bride and groom should intend to live … Read more
This graphic novel is one of the best I’ve ever read. Firmly in the Lewis/Tolkien tradition, it posits an odd world full of anachronisms–like armored knights using swords and wearing jet boots. Though no individual panel is especially beautiful, the artist’s overall storytelling skills–how he moves the reader from one moment to another–are as good … Read more
Since Margaret stole my “cool, historical video” for her Free-for-All, I find myself forced to fall back on my #2 OpenCulture option: “Fantasmagorie,” thought (by some) to be the first fully-animated film. It was created in 1908 by Emile Cohl, “The Father of the Animated Cartoon.” [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAObel8yIE&feature=player_embedded#! 635×355]
Politico columnist Michael Kinsley has a piece about the recent miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II. He questions whether the French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, really had Parkinson’s at all, and criticizes the Church’s position on embryonic stem cell research, which he believes has denied him his own miracle via science: Congratulations to Simon-Pierre. … Read more
Happy Friday morning! Just a few links to get the day started: “The Man Who Loved Women Too Much“: A profile of pro-life lawyer Harold Cassidy… in Mother Jones. The author clearly isn’t too keen on his position, but he seems to have at least a grudging respect for the man. The wild and wooly … Read more
(cross posted at my blog, I have to sit down) My heart sank when I saw this picture on Creative Minority Report: The NAACP hid a prominent statue of George Washington inside a wooden box during a MLK Day rally, offering the terminally lame excuse that the box would make a more suitable backdrop … Read more
ZENIT has published an interview with the long-time (and now-retired) director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, the recently elevated Domenico Cardinal Bartolucci. A brief journey through the Interwebs reveals the 93-year-old composer to be a feisty advocate for sacred music, particularly the “classics.” In this interview, he reveals his belief that “for sacred music, the … Read more
I’m only just now reading through the full account of the charges being brought against Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was arrested yesterday and charged with eight counts of murder. It is painful, stomach-churning stuff. As the district attorney’s office put it, “Pennsylvania is not a Third World country” — and yet this man was … Read more
Former Planned Parenthood director and new author Abby Johnson (see the banner ad for Unplanned to the right) is in the process of entering the Catholic Church. “When we went to the Catholic Church for the first time we knew that was where we were supposed to be and we have been there ever since,” … Read more
A new story from the Creative Minority Report says that CCHD director Ralph McCloud worked as treasurer for a pro-abortion politician during his first year at the USCCB. Ralph McCloud was named head of the CCHD in November 2007. In his first year as head of the CCHD, according to public records, McCloud also worked as … Read more
With the March for Life just around the corner, it’s hard not to be aware of the cultural contradictions inherent in our attitudes toward life, specifically unborn life. Ross Douthat calls it the Unborn Paradox, pointing to the high rate of abortion on one hand and the unprecedented number of couples coping with infertility on … Read more
Rabbi Dov Fischer of Young Israel of Orange County is tired of hearing the Tucson rampage blamed on anti-Semitism. Jared Lee Loughner is a nut. He has earned by dint of his own merit the privilege of being deemed a 100% crackpot. Yes, he may have had an interface with a hate group whose name … Read more
You might have seen the New York Times article yesterday that made a serious claim about the Vatican’s response to the abuse scandal in Ireland — namely, according to its original title, that it “warned bishops not to report child abuse.” That incendiary title seems to have been changed today, but the charge is largely … Read more
Last year I blogged about the film Des Hommes et des Dieux, the story of the Trappist monks of Tibhirine who were murdered during the 1996 Algerian civil war. CNA now reports that one of the survivors of the attack on the monastery, Brother Jean Pierre Schumacher, gave an interview with the Spanish weekly Alfa … Read more
Nicole Kidman and her country music star husband, Keith Urban, welcomed a second child into their family last month. If you didn’t know she was pregnant, don’t worry — she wasn’t. Nor did she and her husband adopt. Here’s the statement they released to TMZ: Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to … Read more
Is neoconservative icon Bill Kristol coming around on the idea of returning to the gold standard? In response to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent comment that “the current international currency system is the product of the past,” Kristol writes: Isn’t Hu in this one respect right? And does the current international currency system of fiat … Read more