Legal advocate David Blacker, said by the reporter to look a lot like Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies (his hair comes down to about his sternum), appeared in court with on his robe “a set of ceremonial St John Ambulance medals on his left breast along with colourful ribbons,” which apparently is just not done. And that is not all: “Mr Blacker goes by the full name of Dr The Right Honourable The Lord Harley of Counsel of the... Read more
“As you know, I’m a born again Christian” is a line rarely uttered by a public personality and when it is said often precedes something embarrassing. Not so with newscaster Dave Benton, telling viewers that he’s dying of brain cancer and has four to six months to live. His confidence in God, expressed so simply and directly, will make some listeners think there might be something to this religions business after all. Cheers, and prayers, for him. Read more
This is, apparently, not a hoax: the Communion White Host Dispenser from a company called Purity Communion. The Communion Host Dispenser offers a touch-free solution to preparing and serving communion, helping to prevent the passing of germs. The Dispenser can reduce the cost by as much as 50 percent by reducing the time and personnel needed to prepare and serve communion all year long ***MUST BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH PURITY HOST TUBE (either body&blood or classic). One of the... Read more
Not directly applicable to people of the age of the average Patheos reader but probably generally true of them (us) as well: According to a study by a market research company, “Amongst the 25-34 age group, representing the segment’s heaviest users, 70% say that the brand of beer says a lot about you and 66% say the style does the same.” But what does it say about you? That your taste in beer is more sophisticated than that of people who drink the insipid... Read more
What I think is a Black-capped Chickadee just sat on the perch on the hummingbird feeder on the window in front of me, staring at the fake flower from which the hummingbird drinks, and looked baffled, or maybe indignant. Hard to tell with birds. Read more
Elizabeth Scalia’s comment on yesterday’s Conservative Breast-Feeding: When I first saw the headline from David Mills I thought he meant conservatives were in need of a calming suckle. For all I know, that’s actually a subtext! 🙂 But seriously…I can’t believe we’re STILL talking about this. Feed your kids, wherever. Get over it. Don’t walk up to a discreetly nursing mother, as someone once did to me, ask, “are you nursing your baby?” (Because that’s how discreet I was; she needed to... Read more
“A divine light at the moment when [Putin] left his baptism transfixed his essence, restoring the destroyed depths of his being, and giving him an anthological ability to acquire celestial energy,” says someone described by Radio Free Europe as a “radical Russian Orthodox activist.” In a lecture in Moscow a couple of days ago, Dmitry Tsorionov praised Putin’s apparent ability to survive assassination attempts and lauded his “good deeds,” such as crushing opposition protests. . . . He asked the crowd... Read more
The peace, bane of introverts even when celebrated reverently, and bane of introverts and many others when celebrated badly, is still a good thing. So I argue in Keeping the Unpeaceful Peace, published in Catholic World Report. It begins: The sign of peace “breaks up the Mass and, when conveyed with zealotry, transforms it into something it’s really not supposed to be: part hippie love fest, part election campaign (there’s always one fellow who dashes through the pews, clasping hands like... Read more
Based on an inconclusive twitter discussion between three “prominent conservatives,” none of whom I’d ever heard of, the Daily Caller‘s Matt K. Lewis imagines a possible left-right controversy over breastfeeding in public. Don’t be surprised if issue could becomes even more divisive and political. It fits neatly into the “war on women” narrative Democrats have clearly signaled they like to push — and could potentially be the next front in the culture wars. The problem is that there are swaths of conservatives who could be... Read more
Conflicting narratives: “Atlanta Hawks Owner To Sell Share of Team over Racist Email” from Mediaite. “Bruce Levenson Isn’t a Racist, He’s a Businessman” from Time. The author of the second is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He says: “I read Levenson’s email. Here’s what I concluded: Levenson is a businessman asking reasonable questions about how to put customers in seats.” Read more
David Mills
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