It’s a game I play and since we are in a debilitating rain-loop, thought I’d pass it on. Play it with your kids for hours of happy fun time! It’s easy! Let Grandma play too! Simply pay attention to headlines and first lines of news stories about the economy (or the war, or anything!). It’s educational! Teach your children how to compare and contrast by studying how first lines can make economic news seem either positive or negative, for fun... Read more
John Bolton wonders why President Obama is allowing a foreign government to prosecute Bush officials? Aw, that’s an easy one. It’s so he can vote “present,” and keep his hands nice and clean. Kind of like the extraordinary renditions begun under Bill Clinton, right? We’re remaking America. Glenn Reynolds answers another easy question. Read more
Have had a flurry of emails lately (really, an actual flurry) asking for recommended books on Saints, and the requests cover a broad range. I realized today that there are confirmations coming up in some parishes, so perhaps that is why. One person is seeking a book that discusses the sort of “personal” relationships Catholics can establish with some saints, like my son Buster’s devotion to St. Michael the Archangel, or all of the holy men and women I nag... Read more
Yesterday, President Obama and Joe Biden went out and grabbed a burger in a bit of “we’re just normal guys” political theater, a replay of what we saw back in 2004, when John Kerry and John Edwards went to Wendy’s. A breathless press told us this was part and parcel of Ben Bernanke’s statement that, while things must still bottom-out, and un-employment numbers are still going up, our economy was looking much better. So, in February, we were facing “catastrophe”... Read more
This I understand. “The truth is that I did not think my way into praying. I prayed my way into thinking.” – David P. Goldman, writing in First Things. Goldman gives a masterful exposition on why he wrote undercover as “Spengler” and looks at his journey into Jewishness, into becoming a prayerful, thinking, religious Jew. I recognize myself in some of what Goldman writes. I too blogged anonymously while writing freelance, and yes, coming out did have me pulling my... Read more
If you have never seen it, and I am betting you have not, do yourself a favor and rent a copy of Big Trouble. Released too soon after 9/11-when America had no patience for stories with naked cops running through airports while nuclear suitcases were being smuggled through airport security (“it’s a garbage disposal…”)-the film (which is based on the book by Dave Barry) deserves to be seen. It’s irreverent. It’s ineptly violent. It has goats on runways. It’s glorious.... Read more
Brilliance! RIP Dom DeLuise. A sweet, talented fellow. Read more
I’ve taken some (mostly) good-natured guff in my emails for the glittery-twitter link in my right-hand sidebar. Yes, it’s a monkey. Yes, the monkey is wearing a sort of Flying Nun habit. She’s beautiful! She’s a Flying(nun) Monkey! And she is wearing Cardinal Red which is my absolute favorite color in the whole world. I call her Sister Simian of the Glittery Guimpe. And I love her; every time I look at her, she cracks me up. This is not... Read more
Right now, up at First Things, a terrific look at Jack Kemp by David P Goldman. What attracted Jack Kemp to supply-side economics was the promise of advancement for ordinary people. At the end of a long cycle of economic expansion, it is easy to forget how it all began. Jack had been associated with future President Reagan since 1969, when he worked on the California governor’s staff in Sacramento. As a U.S. Congressman representing a working-class constituency in the... Read more
The Benedictine Suscipe; “Accept me Lord, as Thou hast promised, and I shall truly live” A Benedictine of Mary makes her First Profession I want to invite all the People of God to reflect on the theme: Faith in the divine initiative – the human response. The exhortation of Jesus to his disciples: “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38) has a constant resonance in the Church. Pray! The urgent call... Read more
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