Pediatrics has just released a study on childhood firearms injuries and deaths, and this CNN article is typical of the news coverage. Unless you read very carefully, deep into the article, you would get the idea that we are having an epidemic of young children shooting one another.(How do I feel about the stories like the one that opens the CNN article? As I've said on these pages: If you aren't committed to keeping your firearms out of the hands of unauthorized users, you shouldn't own fi … [Read more...]
Pain Bleg Update –> How’s It Going, Jen?
June 20, 2017 by
So if you post something like last month's Name this pain bleg, it's a good idea to update sooner, rather than later, when you rejoin the happy world of healthy-type people. Otherwise, every time you turn up some friend will peer at you with concern and ask gravely, "How are you?"If you are me, it'll take you a minute to wonder why they are asking this way, because I'm somewhat forgetful in this regard.(My description of a particularly difficult bout of unmedicated childbirth: "It took … [Read more...]
Does the Catholic Faith Permit the Use of Artificial Wombs?
June 2, 2017 by
If Brave New World is coming soon to a hospital near you, what does that mean for your premature baby? Over the Register, today I'm making predictions about what the next edition of The Catechism will have to say about "artificial womb" technology: Here at the Register, Angelo Stagnaro has recently expressed his grave concerns about the invention of “artificial wombs.” The technology in question is a medical device that simulates an unborn baby’s environment in utero. It is designed as an improv … [Read more...]
Catholic? Like to Write? There’s a Conference for That
May 31, 2017 by
I have always enjoyed writing. In school and then at work as an accountant, I was the person who ended up with the writing jobs. If you leave me with no computer for more than about a day, I will somehow get hold of pen and paper and start writing stuff. But I didn't necessarily think of myself as a writer. I didn't know how to make the transition from "person who likes to write" to "writer."Obviously I've made that transition now, and the people responsible for making that change happen … [Read more...]
McDonald’s to Close Down After Accusations of Cultural Appropriation
May 25, 2017 by
Just weeks after launching its Great Tastes of America burger series in the United Kingdom, McDonald's Corporation reports it is shutting down amid accusations that they ripped off their recipes.The accusations arose after advertisements touted a "sweet and tangy South Carolina sauce" that some viewers believed may bear a vague resemblance to mustard-based barbecue sauces used in some regions of the state. Fox News reports:Though the eatery had been open for several months decades, th … [Read more...]
Why Does the Ascension Matter?
May 25, 2017 by
This is my annual reminder of why we bother with all this Jesus business. If you're not in it for this, I'm not sure what you're doing. First ran at the Wine Dark Sea. *** We think of atheists as the people who actively deny the existence of God, but there’s a much more pernicious and widespread atheism among religious people today: Faithy-ism. We talk about God, and do God-themed activities, but we don’t really mean it. It’s all just a metaphor. Our spirituality consists of our deeply felt … [Read more...]
Bleg: Name this Pain
May 6, 2017 by
Two interesting things happened this week:(1) I finally met the physician I'd been referred to last October, and now I know why there was a seven-month wait on appointments. The guy is both competent and humane (like Tod Worner, but a different guy). I like that in a doctor.(2) I'd been planning to tell him everything's fine now, but actually it's not fine. I've had a wind-up of fatigue and the same kind of pain I was having last fall -- it was still fairly mild on Thursday, but is get … [Read more...]
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