So, I’m watching Obama single-handedly alter our relations with Cuba, and we’re reading from Politico that the president is feeling liberated and ready to be the president he always wanted to be — that is, a president who doesn’t deal with Congress and pretty much does as he damn pleases. I used to say Obama didn’t want to be president, with all of its haggling and jawboning; he just wanted to be the ceremonial prince, making speeches about end-results. Seems,... Read more
Golly I just took a look at Hot Air, and saw these two stories: University of Michigan Prof: It’s OK to hate Republicans and Defining Nearly All Sex as Rape, a notion with which one of my own Senators seems enthralled: During an MSNBC-hosted panel discussion on Monday at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Gillibrand said she was considering taking the “yes means yes” law to the federal level. “I definitely have been studying it and looking at it,” she... Read more
Earlier this year when I was really involved with the pneumonia, I learned that “Ora Pro Nobis”, my regular column for The Catholic Answer, had been honored with an award from the Catholic Press Association: Really cool, right? Hey, I am grateful for any kind word! And 2013 was the year I really got comfortable writing stuff like this, and this, and a few more. As I never cease to tell you when each issue comes out, it is an... Read more
The story goes that if the legendary composer and orchestrator Duke Ellington had met you, and gotten his hands on your mailing address, you’d have gotten a Christmas card from him. It may not come at Christmas, but at some point during the year, his personally written and signed greetings would grace your mailbox. “Duke Ellington and I exchanged Christmas greetings each year,” wrote Joe Delaney of the Las Vegas Sun. “Mine were sent in mid-December. Duke sent his when... Read more
Earlier, I posted some Christmas gift suggestions for under $50.00, but I totally forgot to recommend some kids books and also stocking stuffers, and this year we’re going heavy on stocking stuffers, ourselves, so, here we go! The first time someone gave me a giant natural sponge for a Secret Santa, I thought it was strange, but after I used it I understood. SO MUCH BETTER than a loofah, in every way. I love my sponge. This giant sponge, combined... Read more
You’ve heard her mellifluous tones gracing the airways on Relevent Radio’s Morning Air program, and EWTN’s Son Rise Morning Show, and you may have recently caught her providing live coverage and commentary for EWTN’s coverage of the the international broadcast of the Schoenstatt Movement’s Centennial events. In fact, if you’re looking up these days, you’re likely to see Marge Fenelon, somewhere, including — in 2014 — Israel, where she covered Pope Francis’ visit, and Rome, where she participated in a... Read more
In my neighborhood there are a couple of women, about 50 years of age, who will several times a week take a noonish walk about the block. This morning they were early and one of them must have said something hilariously funny to the other. As I Read more
I’m sorry to rant, but I just don’t get it. I mean, it’s one thing for extremely rich celebrities to do their everyman-poseur thing with the ripped jeans and tee shirts; their homage to working class people (who would very likely love to afford better wardrobes) has been old hat for decades. But this! This I really don’t get: Go HERE to see what I’m talking about! Why would someone as rich as Kim Kardashian — with stylists and handlers... Read more
(Editors’ Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square on Heroes of 2014. Read other perspectives at the page beginning today.) If you ask a well-established charity whether they’d rather have a large dramatic donation a few times a year or a steady income from small, dependable donors, they’ll tell you they want, need and appreciate “both”, but that if they had to choose, they’d take the everyday small donors, who manage to remain faithful in lush times... Read more
Part of what makes Patheos so interesting is this: it’s a place where you can find a progressive female Christian minister write so exquisitely about a Lutheran Advent Vespers as to make a Catholic’s soul lurch in holy envy: In those soft evenings, the quiet of late December surrounded me – but my life itself was loud. I did not know how much I needed to settle for 45 minutes into song and silence and hear someone sing about the... Read more
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