Yesterday I looked at how the government shutdown is hurting the nation’s most vulnerable. Now, we need to take a look at how it’s pinching the very richest– which, as you recall, is President Trump’s claim to fame and was lauded as his major qualification for president. He’s rich. It may have come to your attention that last night, the president served the Clemson Tigers a giant stack of cold fast food in a dinner buffet. There were photos of... Read more
I want to take a moment to talk again about the government shutdown, how it’s hurting the vulnerable, and what we can do to help. It is very important to remember, first of all, that this simply isn’t a terrible accident resulting from the House and Senate not being able to agree. At this point, it’s deliberate posturing using our national parks, food-insecure citizens and thousands of government workers as pawns. Senate Majority Leader McConnell endorsed a government funding bill... Read more
My mother had a lurid fascination with apparitions. Most every Catholic I knew was interested in apparitions; everybody had a bottle of Lourdes water somewhere and made their children watch those CCC videos about Lourdes and Fatima. But my household went far beyond that. My mother got a cheap mimeographed publication called Spirit Daily delivered to the house so that she could read about every bit of supposed supernatural activity going on in the country– statues mysteriously losing fingers, icons... Read more
Every time Franciscan University shows up in the news for doing something awful, I see the byline “Steubenville, Ohio.” And I feel like I have to put in a defensive word for Ohio. People come from all over the world to Steubenville, and they say things to me, such as “why are there no tornado sirens in Ohio?” or “Why are people in Ohio so cruel to their children?” or “why are Ohio roads in such bad condition?” or... Read more
I was reading a Bible passage from the first book of Kings the other day. It’s a story I keep coming back to. You must have heard it yourself: Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and... Read more
It was only a matter of time before the defenses started. Yesterday it was brought to light that Father C. John McCloskey, the famous Opus Dei priest who brough Newt Gingrich and others into the Catholic Church, groped woman who came to him for spiritual direction several times in 2005. Opus Dei quietly paid the woman $977,000 and “curtailed” his ministry, telling him to only give spiritual direction to women in a confessional with a physical barrier between himself and... Read more
Comments, I get comments. I get comments in the form of questions. Today, after I posted an article about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing in public, I received a comment on my public Facebook page: “Are you condoning democratic socialism?” By the time I got around to reading the question, my other commentators had bantered about this question bit. I explained that I was not talking about economics in my post; I was endorsing public dancing, and I posted the official video... Read more
It seems that the biggest scandal involving the new members of our House of Representatives concerns a video. Someone “leaked” a video on the internet, which showed thirty seconds of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing on a roof in a montage. It was shared by someone called AnonymousQ, with the caption “Here is America’s favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is… High School video of ‘Sandy’ Ocasio-Cortez…” For the record, Ocasio-Cortez is not a commie but a... Read more
What do you think of, when you think of someone whose job is essential? I know that all people are essential and intrinsically valuable, but this time I mean just the labor they provide in a given profession. What do we really need to survive, physically speaking? Up until today I would have thought of a farmer to feed me and a doctor and pharmacist in case I get sick– and I would have been right. But I would’ve forgotten... Read more
Hello friends, this is only your periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, are almost entirely run on gratuities. I work from home as a writer due to my chronic illness, churning out three to seven literary art projects per week here, my husband copyedits for me, and he’s also the homemaker who takes care of Rosie and does the housework since I’m so often too sick to get off the sofa or out of the house. I... Read more
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