These uber cool sci fi mugs naturally make me think of John C. Wright’s outstanding essay on fiction ocassioned by Ross Douthat’s outstanding rumination on Avatar. My own rumination: Douthat is simply right when he says: Traditional theism has to wrestle with the problem of evil: if God is good, why does he allow suffering and death? But Nature is suffering and death. Its harmonies require violence. Its “circle of life” is really a cycle of mortality. And the human... Read more

plays Gotcha. Rules: Find some 800 year old church document tailored to the pastoral situation of an entirely different age and culture. Elevate it to Eternal Dogma. Pretend to want to know what Catholics think about it. Ignore things like, oh, 800 years of development of Church teaching, including rather more recent documents like Christifideles Laici. The tedium of the Gotcha Game is, above all, the sheer childish disingenousness of the thing. Guys like Turretin have absolutely zero interest in... Read more

plays Gotcha. Rules: Find some 800 year old church document tailored to the pastoral situation of an entirely different age and culture. Elevate it to Eternal Dogma. Pretend to want to know what Catholics think about it. Ignore things like, oh, 800 years of development of Church teaching, including rather more recent documents like Christifideles Laici. The tedium of the Gotcha Game is, above all, the sheer childish disingenousness of the thing. Guys like Turretin have absolutely zero interest in... Read more

and says, “SUCKERS!” The bright side is, since he is now shown to be a plagiarist in addition to his many other feats of fraud, maybe the guy who did write this stuff was actually a decent guy with something to say. 🙂 I never read anything Maciel wrote (or claimed to write). But I’ve heard it’s pretty dull stuff. A friend of mine says, “My wife and daughters were interested in Regnum Christi so I read ‘Christ is My... Read more

every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Moloch is Lord. Except (so far) for one hold out. The Son of Man, despite his numerous disappointments to his fan base (delivering war in thanks for his “I’m not George Bush” prize at Oslo), is still laboring to pay off the Dems when it comes to their sole core value. If he does that, all will be forgiven. Corporate welfare for Planned Parenthood *and* corrupt and incompetent captains of industry: how... Read more

A sudden spike in Follower Sign-ups can only mean one thing: Operation Cuteness is drawing in more souls looking to be ordered about on pointless quests. And what better time than that curious void of a day before you work a half day that is December 23. If you aren’t at the staff holiday party, permit me to give you this pointless quest by way of welcome: Download Christmas Karaoke! Dazzle your co-workers, friends, family members, and enemies with your... Read more

She’s Beyond New Improved Extra Flexi Dextra Massive Mammoth Macro Maxi Mega Magna Multi Poly Quanta Ultra Hyper Supra Tetra Tera Giga Dyna Electra Turbo Insta Posi Vita Vibra Omni Chroma Perma Therma Wondra Nutra Cute! Read more

So that anybody can comment without a bunch of rigamarole. Can somebody tell me if I’m right? Read more

I have friends whose little boy needs our prayer. Baby Thomas was born four months premature and spent the first few months fighting for his life. He miraculously pulled through, but has been living with a tracheotomy for the past year because his lungs were not fully developed when he was born. His wonderful parents have been chronicling his life, joys, and struggles here: Just recently, doctors tried removing his trach, which did not go well at all, and Baby... Read more

I have friends whose little boy needs our prayer. Baby Thomas was born four months premature and spent the first few months fighting for his life. He miraculously pulled through, but has been living with a tracheotomy for the past year because his lungs were not fully developed when he was born. His wonderful parents have been chronicling his life, joys, and struggles here: Just recently, doctors tried removing his trach, which did not go well at all, and Baby... Read more